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Risk Management and Financial Assurance for OCS Lease and Grant Obligations; Extension of Public Comment Period

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is extending the public comment period on our notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) titled "Risk Management and Financial Assurance f...

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Department of the Interior

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

30 CFR parts 550, 556, and 590
[Docket No. BOEM-2025-0042]
RIN 1010-AE26

AGENCY:

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice of proposed rulemaking; extension of public comment period.

SUMMARY:

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is extending the public comment period on our notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) titled “Risk Management and Financial Assurance for OCS Lease and Grant Obligations” by seven days. Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted and will be fully considered.

DATES:

The comment period for the proposed rule “Risk Management and Financial Assurance for OCS Lease and Grant Obligations,” which was published on March 9, 2026, at 91 FR 11212, is extended by 7 days. Online comments submitted at https://www.regulations.gov must be uploaded by 11:59 p.m. eastern daylight time on May 15, 2026. Hardcopy comments submitted by a parcel delivery service must be received by BOEM or postmarked on or before May 15, 2026.

ADDRESSES:

The publicly available documents relevant to this action are available for public inspection electronically at https://www.regulations.gov in Docket No. BOEM-2025-0042.

Submitting Comments. You may send comments regarding the substance of this proposed rule, identified by Docket No. BOEM-2025-0042 or regulation identifier number (RIN) 1010-AE26, using any of the following methods: ( printed page 25256)

Federal e-rulemaking portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Search for and submit comments on Docket No. BOEM-2025-0042.
U.S. Postal Service or other parcel delivery service: Send comments on the proposed rule to the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Office of Regulatory Affairs, Attention: Karen Thundiyil, Office Director, Office of Regulatory Affairs, BOEM, 1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20240.

Instructions: All comments submitted regarding this proposed rule should reference Docket No. BOEM-2025-0042 or RIN 1010-AE26. All comments received by BOEM will be reviewed and may be posted to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided with the submission. For further instructions on protecting personally identifiable information, see “Public Availability of Comments” under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION .

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Karen Thundiyil, Office Director, Office of Regulatory Affairs, BOEM, 1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20240, at email address regulatory.affairs@boem.gov, or at telephone number (202) 742-0970.

Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services for contacting the contacts listed in this section. These services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services offered within their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

On March 9, 2026, BOEM published the proposed rule “Risk Management and Financial Assurance for OCS Lease and Grant Obligations.” 91 FR 11212. The major proposed amendments include returning to the previous BOEM practice of considering the financial strength of jointly liable predecessor lessees, revising the credit rating threshold for determining whether oil, gas, and sulfur lessees, right-of-use and easement grant holders, and pipeline right-of-way grant holders on the OCS are required to provide supplemental financial assurance above the required general financial assurance amount to ensure compliance with their Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act obligations, revising the decommissioning estimate used to determine the amount of supplemental financial assurance required, and revising the appeals bond provision related to the Interior Board of Land Appeals appeal procedures. With this notice, we are extending the public comment period on the NPRM by seven days.

Public Availability of Comments

You may submit your comments and materials by one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. Before including your name, return address, phone number, email address, or other personally identifiable information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personally identifiable information—may be made publicly available. In order for BOEM to withhold from disclosure your personally identifiable information, you must identify, in a cover letter, any information contained in the submittal of your comments that, if released, would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of your personal privacy. You must also briefly describe in such cover letter any possible harmful consequences of the disclosure of information, such as embarrassment, injury, or other harm. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personally identifiable information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. Even if BOEM withholds your information in the context of this rulemaking, your submission is subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and any relevant court orders. If your submission is requested under the FOIA or such court order, your information will only be withheld if a determination is made that one of the FOIA's exemptions to disclosure applies or if such court order is challenged. Such a determination will be made in accordance with the Department's FOIA regulations and applicable law.

Jennafer L. Foreman,

Chief of Staff, BOEM, Exercising the Delegated Authority of the BOEM Director.

[FR Doc. 2026-09208 Filed 5-7-26; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4340-98-P

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Federal Register Citation

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91 FR 25255

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“Risk Management and Financial Assurance for OCS Lease and Grant Obligations; Extension of Public Comment Period,” thefederalregister.org (May 8, 2026), https://thefederalregister.org/documents/2026-09208/risk-management-and-financial-assurance-for-ocs-lease-and-grant-obligations-extension-of-public-comment-period.