(a) Your SEMS program must be audited by an accredited ASP according to the requirements of this subpart and API RP 75, Section 12 (incorporated by reference as specified in §250.198). The audit process must also meet or exceed the criteria in Sections 9.1 through 9.8 of Requirements for Third-party SEMS Auditing and Certification of Deepwater Operations COS-2-03 (incorporated by reference as specified in §250.198) or its equivalent. Additionally, the audit team lead must be an employee, representative, or agent of the ASP, and must not have any affiliation with the operator. The remaining team members may be chosen from your personnel and those of the ASP. The audit must be comprehensive and include all elements of your SEMS program. It must also identify safety and environmental performance deficiencies.

(b) Your audit plan and procedures must meet or exceed all of the recommendations included in API RP 75 section 12 (as specified in §250.198) and include information on how you addressed those recommendations. You must specifically address the following items:

(1) Section 12.1 General.

(2) Section 12.2 Scope.

(3) Section 12.3 Audit Coverage.

(4) Section 12.4 Audit Plan. You must submit your written Audit Plan to BSEE at least 30 days before the audit. BSEE reserves the right to modify the list of facilities that you propose to audit.

(5) Section 12.5 Audit Frequency. You must have your SEMS program audited by an ASP within 2 years after initial implementation and every 3 years thereafter. The 3-year auditing cycle begins on the start date of each comprehensive audit (including the initial implementation audit) and ends on the start date of your next comprehensive audit. For exploratory drilling operations taking place on the Arctic OCS, you must conduct an audit, consisting of an onshore portion and an offshore portion, including all related infrastructure, once per year for every year in which drilling is conducted.

(6) Section 12.6 Audit Team. Your audits must be performed by an ASP as described in §250.1921. You must include the ASP's qualifications in your audit plan.

(c) You must submit an audit report of the audit findings, observations, deficiencies identified, and conclusions to BSEE within 60 days of the audit completion date. For exploratory drilling operations taking place on the Arctic OCS, you must submit an audit report of the audit findings, observations, deficiencies and conclusions for the onshore portion of your audit no later than March 1 in any year in which you plan to drill, and for the offshore portion of your audit, within 30 days of the close of the audit.

(d) You must provide BSEE with a copy of your CAP for addressing the deficiencies identified in your audit within 60 days of the audit completion date. Your CAP must include the name and job title of the personnel responsible for correcting the identified deficiency(ies). The BSEE will notify you as soon as practicable after receipt of your CAP if your proposed schedule is not acceptable or if the CAP does not effectively address the audit findings. For exploratory drilling operations taking place on the Arctic OCS, you must provide BSEE with a copy of your CAP for addressing deficiencies or nonconformities identified in the onshore portion of the audit no later than March 1 in any year in which you plan to drill, and for the offshore portion of your audit, within 30 days of the close of the audit.

(e) BSEE may verify that you undertook the corrective actions and that these actions effectively address the audit findings.

(f) For exploratory drilling operations taking place on the Arctic OCS, during the offshore portion of each audit, 100 percent of the facilities operated must be audited while drilling activities are underway. You must start and close the offshore portion of the audit for each facility within 30 days after the first spudding of the well or entry into an existing wellbore for any purpose from that facility.

(g) For exploratory drilling operations taking place on the Arctic OCS, if BSEE determines that the CAP or progress toward implementing the CAP is not satisfactory, BSEE may order you to shut down all or part of your operations.

[76 FR 64462, Oct. 18, 2011, as amended at 78 FR 20442, Apr. 5, 2013; 81 FR 36151, June 6, 2016; 81 FR 46563, July 15, 2016]