Minerals Management gets an extreme makeover

By Suzanne Kubota
Senior Internet Editor
FederalNewsRadio.com

It’s not every day that a new federal office gets started. But we have one today.

It’s the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR).

The creation of the office is part of a major overhaul of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) in the Department of Interior.

MMS was plagued in the first half of the decade by scandals involving drug use and improper relations with industry officials.

Rhea Suh, Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget told Federal News Radio “there is absolutely no excuse for that past behavior and there will be no tolerance for any similar behavior in the future.”

Suh said she’s had the chance to meet with ONRR workers in Denver.

Motivating those employees, and getting them behind the changes going on, shouldn’t be problem.

Frankly, they were mad. They were angry at those few employees who tarnished their reputation so many years ago and angry that those few employees didn’t fulfil their public trust responsibilities. So today, I think our employees are very energized and actively committed to rigorously carrying out these responsibilities, not only to the nation but to the American indian tribes that we serve as well as individual mineral owners.

Listening to Suh talk about them, her respect for the employees and the mission is clear. Every time she refers to “ONRR”, she pronounces it as “honor.”

To hear the entire interview, click on the player at the top of the page, and to read more about the ONRR in a press release from Interior, click here.

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