SLS 21RS-2399 ORIGINAL
2021 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 200
BY SENATOR FRED MILLS
COMMENDATIONS. Commends Scott Angelle, the longest serving Director of the Bureau
of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, United States Department of Interior, for his
efforts regarding offshore worker safety, environmental sustainability of offshore energy,
increasing economic activity, and improving conservation of offshore resources.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To commend Scott Angelle as the United States' longest serving director of the Bureau of
3 Safety and Environmental Enforcement, United States Department of Interior, for his
4 efforts regarding offshore worker safety, environmental sustainability of offshore
5 energy, increasing economic activity, and improving conservation of offshore
6 resources.
7 WHEREAS, Scott A. Angelle of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, was appointed director
8 of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), United States Department
9 of the Interior, effective May 24, 2017; and
10 WHEREAS, Director Angelle, previous to his appointment, enjoyed a long and
11 distinguished career in local and state government within Louisiana, including serving on
12 the St. Martin Parish Police Jury, as the secretary of the Department of Natural Resources,
13 a member of the Public Service Commission, and lieutenant governor, with much of his
14 service dedicated to fighting for environmental sustainability and for the safety and jobs of
15 the men and women of the American energy industry; and
16 WHEREAS, Director Angelle continued to focus on environmental sustainability and
17 the safety and jobs of the men and women of the American energy industry, and ultimately
18 became the longest serving director of the United States Bureau of Safety and Environmental
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SLS 21RS-2399 ORIGINAL
1 Enforcement in our nation's history; and
2 WHEREAS, prior to his appointment, the United States Government Accountability
3 Office (GAO) added the restructuring of offshore oil and gas oversight segment to the
4 management of federal oil and gas resources to its biennial high-risk list in its February 15,
5 2017 report titled, High-Risk Series: Progress on Many High-Risk Areas, While Substantial
6 Efforts Needed on Others, GAO-17-317, Washington, DC; and
7 WHEREAS, the GAO's high-risk list is a list of programs and operations that are
8 "high-risk" due to their vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, or that
9 need transformation, and this list has served to identify and help resolve serious weaknesses
10 in areas that involve substantial resources and provide critical services to the public; and
11 WHEREAS, in the GAO's March 21, 2017 report titled, Oil and Gas Management:
12 Stronger Leadership Commitment Needed at Interior to Improve Offshore Oversight and
13 Internal Management, GAO-17-293, Washington, DC, the GAO reported that the
14 Department of the Interior's BSEE also struggled to implement key initiatives to improve
15 offshore oversight and internal management; and
16 WHEREAS, after the substantial improvements made by Director Angelle, the GAO
17 in its March 2, 2021 report titled, High-Risk Series Report: a Report to Congressional
18 Committees, cited Director Angelle's addressing BSEE's past long-standing deficiencies in
19 its investigative, environmental compliance, and enforcement capabilities, and
20 implementation of strategic initiatives to improve offshore oversight and internal
21 management; and
22 WHEREAS, this March 2, 2021 report specifically cited that BSEE met all criteria
23 for leadership commitment to restructure offshore oil and gas oversight and removes
24 restructuring of offshore oil and gas segment from the high-risk list; and
25 WHEREAS, BSEE Director Angelle led a change management initiative program
26 that encompassed more than one hundred eighty actions to implement reforms throughout
27 the bureau and included efforts such as an internal assessment of its environmental
28 compliance program and addressed the GAO's outstanding recommendations regarding the
29 bureau's restructuring and related strategic initiatives; and
30 WHEREAS, the United States offshore energy industry is a vital segment of the
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1 nation's economy, providing two hundred seventy-seven individual jobs with an economic
2 impact of fifty-nine billion dollars and nineteen billion dollars in payroll alone and
3 generating substantial revenue to fund coastal restoration and hurricane protection through
4 the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA), our national parks through the Great
5 American Outdoors Act, and wildlife conservation through the Land and Water
6 Conservation Fund Act.
7 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
8 does hereby expresses its deep appreciation and commends Louisiana native Scott Angelle
9 for his efforts as the nation's longest serving director of the Bureau of Safety and
10 Environmental Enforcement, United States Department of Interior, to improve offshore
11 worker safety, environmental sustainability of offshore energy, increase economic activity,
12 and improve conservation of offshore resources as recognized by the Government
13 Accountability Office.
14 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
15 Scott A. Angelle.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Tyler S. McCloud.
DIGEST
SR 200 Original 2021 Regular Session Fred Mills
Commends Scott Angelle for his efforts as the nation's longest serving director of the Bureau
of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, U.S. Department of Interior.
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