A New Approach to Regulating Offshore Drilling

Here’s one way to eliminate conflicts of interest.

The Obama administration has in mind to carve up the Minerals Management Service, a branch of the Interior Department that oversees offshore drilling.

One agency would be charged with inspecting oil rigs, investigating oil companies and enforcing safety regulations, while the other would oversee leases for drilling and collection of billions of dollars in royalties.

The MMS has been under fire in recent years over claims that the agency has been too close to the industry that it’s charged with regulating — an accusation that’s only intensified since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded last month in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and creating a seafloor gusher that continues to spew three weeks later.

The headlines created by the accident haven’t been lost on congressional leaders, who are holding a series of hearings Tuesday to examine the cause of the spill — and who’s to blame.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is scheduled to provide more details of the split this afternoon.