Minerals Management Service (MMS)
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) was established in 1982 to enhance the management of mineral resources in the United States, particularly focusing on oil, gas, and mineral extraction on federal lands and American Indian reservations, as well as the outer continental shelf. It operates through two primary programs: the Royalty Management Program, which is responsible for overseeing revenue from mineral production, and the Offshore Minerals Management Program, which regulates activities and ensures environmental safety in offshore operations. The MMS has regional offices in New Orleans, Camarillo, and Anchorage, with headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The agency has significantly improved the efficiency of revenue disbursement, increasing timely payments from 92% to 99%. Its efforts have also led to a rise in the number of leases and production output from both gas and oil. In addition to managing economic interests, the MMS conducts extensive environmental assessments, including studies on oil spill risks, air quality, and the potential impacts on marine life, ensuring that exploration activities do not adversely affect ecosystems. The organization prioritizes the well-being of both the environment and local communities, making informed decisions regarding how resources are developed and managed.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Minerals Management Service (MMS)
- DATE: Established 1982
The Minerals Management Service is the agency within the US Department of the Interior that collects, accounts for, and distributes revenues from mineral production on federal and Native American lands. It also manages the mineral resources and the natural gas and oil leasing programs for federal lands that exist below sea level on the continental shelf.
Background
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) was established in 1982 on the recommendation of the Independent Commission on Fiscal Accountability. The MMS formed the Royalty Management Program to account for revenues related to production on all federal lands and Native American reservations and the Offshore Minerals Management Program to account for revenues generated on the outer continental shelf. The outer continental shelf includes submerged lands that lie between individual states’ seaward jurisdiction and the seaward extent of federal jurisdiction. The MMS also seeks to ensure that exploration and production of the US offshore natural gas, oil, and mineral resources is done in an environmentally safe manner.
Impact on Resource Use
The day-to-day management of oil and gas development and leasing programs on the federal outer continental shelf is supervised by three regional offices located in New Orleans, Louisiana; Camarillo, California; and Anchorage, Alaska. The MMS headquarters, located in Washington, DC, is responsible for providing national policy guidelines and regulations for offshore leasing programs, conducting resource and environmental safety assessments, and directing international marine minerals programs.
The establishment of the MMS increased government efficiency in minerals management. The Royalty Management Program designed a centralized, automated fiscal and production accounting system that increased timely revenue disbursement from 92 percent to 99 percent. The Offshore Minerals Management Program has increased the number of leases, the number of hectares leased, and the volume of gas and oil production that it oversees. It has also increased the number of pipeline kilometers available to the producers. The MMS has conducted studies on the continental shelf of the United States to support risk assessment analysis regarding oil spills and to provide safer transport of potential pollutants on the ocean. Ocean circulation studies have been conducted in order to plan safer routes and reduce oil spills. The MMS has also significantly reduced the rate of oil spills since its inception.
The MMS has performed air quality studies in the northern Gulf of Mexico to assess the effect of emissions on air pollutants generated on the outer continental shelf as a result of offshore and oil development activities near the states of Texas and Louisiana. Research has also been done on the long-term, chronic, sublethal impacts to marine life from offshore gas and oil discharges. The MMS monitors the distribution, behavior, habitats, and migrations of bowhead whales and other marine mammals and sea turtles to ensure that they are not adversely affected by the oil and gas industry. The MMS studies the effects on the environment and the social and economic benefits and costs to communities before making decisions regarding leasing arrangements, pipeline routings, and landfalls.
Frank, Wright Jay. "The Role of the Minerals Management Service in Offshore Renewable Energy Development." Oceanography 2 Oct. 2015, tos.org/oceanography/article/the-role-of-the-minerals-management-service-in-offshore-renewable-energy-de. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.
"Minerals Management Service." UNT Digital Library, 18 Dec. 2024, digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc111037/. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.
Urbina, Ian. "Inspector General's Inquiry Faults Regulators." The New York Times, 24 May 2010, www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/us/25mms.html. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.