Pacific Oil and Gas Decommissioning Activities

Welcome to the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Oil and Gas Decommissioning Activities on the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf Webpage

Introduction

Lessees and owners of operating rights must decommission their facilities, pipelines and other equipment or obstructions, in accordance with the governing regulations and lease conditions. There are currently 23 oil and gas platforms off the Southern California coast, installed between the late 1960s and 1990, and all are subject to eventual decommissioning.

On Oct. 12, 2022, The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) announced the availability of the draft programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for Oil and Gas Decommissioning Activities on the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Release of the draft PEIS initiated a 45-day comment period to solicit further input from industry and the public.

On Oct. 27, 2023, BSEE published the Final PEIS in the Federal Register. This Final PEIS will inform future decisions on decommissioning applications for offshore oil and gas platforms in federal waters off southern California.

On December 12, BSEE announced the publication of a Record of Decision (ROD) for the decommissioning of offshore energy infrastructure on the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

BOEM assisted BSEE in the preparation of the environmental analysis and will maintain information about the PEIS on this website, but has no role in approving decommissioning that requires analysis. For a more detailed look at this issue, see BSEE’s page on Pacific Region Federal OCS Decommissioning.

Federal Register Notice: Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Decommissioning of Oil and Gas Platforms off Southern California 
 

• Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS)
• Final PEIS Appendices
  • Appendix A: Decommissioning Activities and Methods that Could be Employed under the Proposed Action
  • Appendix B: Environmental Assessment Point Arguello Unit Well Conductors Removal
  • Appendix C: Final Environmental Assessment Santa Clara Unit (Platforms Grace and Gail) Conductor Removal Program
  • Appendix D: Acoustic Impact Analysis for EROS Removal of Oil and Gas Structures Off of Southern California
  • Appendix D1: Acoustic (BSEE Underwater Calculator 3 Report) 
  • Appendix D2: Acoustic (Additional Impact Results) 
  • Appendix E: Navigation 
  • Appendix F: Air Emissions and Total Program GHG Emissions, Social Costs, and Emission Equivalencies 
  • Appendix G: Summary of Public Comments and Bureau Responses 
• Record of Decision for Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Decommissioning of Oil and Gas Platforms off Southern California

Information and Background

Bight '18 Sediment Quality

Selected BOEM & BSEE-Funded Research Informing Oil & Gas

BOEM hosted two virtual public meetings to share information about BOEM’s environmental review process and to solicit public input. Each meeting was recorded and will be posted to this site. All comments and questions received during the meetings are part of the public record.

Dates and Times

• Thursday, November 10, 2022
  • Agenda
  • Meeting Recording
  • Meeting Summary
• Wednesday, November 15, 2022 
  • Agenda
  • Meeting Recording
  • Meeting Summary
• Meeting Materials
  • Meeting Presentation

On July 23, 2021, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The NOI initiated a 45-day comment period to gather input on the scope of the PEIS and identify potentially relevant information, studies, and analyses to inform future decommissioning application decisions for offshore oil and gas platforms and associated infrastructure off the Southern California coast. At the request of several stakeholders, the comment period was re-opened to accept input through October 15, 2021.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) assisted BSEE in the preparation of the environmental analysis and will maintain information about the PEIS on this website but has no role in approving decommissioning that requires analysis.

Federal Register Notice - Notice of Intent to Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Decommissioning of Oil and Gas Platforms off Southern California

Summary of Public Comments for the Scoping Period - November 2021

• Public comments can be viewed in full by navigating to Regulations.gov, searching for Docket No. BOEM-2021-0043, and clicking on the “Comments” tab. This record includes comments submitted during the comment periods for both the Scoping Period (July 23, 2021- October 15, 2021) and the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Oct 12, 2022- January 10, 2023).
• News Release - BSEE Publishes Notice of Intent to Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement Regarding Pacific Decommissioning
• News Release: BSEE Invites Public Comment on Draft Statement for Decommissioning Oil and Gas Infrastructure Off California Coast
• Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) 
• Spanish-translation Draft PEIS Executive Summary: El resumen ejecutivo es disponible en español.
• Draft PEIS Appendices:
  • Appendix A - Decommissioning Activities and Methods that Could be Employed under the Proposed Action
  • Appendix B - Environmental Assessment Point Arguello Unit Well Conductors Removal
  • Appendix C - Final Environmental Assessment Santa Clara Unit (Platforms Grace and Gail) Conductor Removal Program
  • Appendix D - Acoustic Impact Analysis for EROS Removal of Oil and Gas Structures Off of Southern California
  • Appendix D1 - Acoustic  (BSEE Underwater Calculator 3 Report)
  • Appendix D2 - Acoustic (Additional Impact Results)
  • Appendix E - Navigation
• PEIS Public Meetings (See PEIS Public Meetings tab)
• Final PEIS document can be found on the Overview tab.