On May 22, 2025, the Department of the Interior announced that it has designated the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) as the lead agency to oversee the decommissioning of oil and gas rigs in the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. The BSEE is typically the agency to oversee offshore oil and gas decommissioning, but the designated lead agency for this area had previously been NOAA. Although NOAA's statutory directives are more focused on the protection of marine endangered species than the BSEE's, it is not clear whether this transfer of authority will have significant environmental impacts in the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.