The only exceptions are Texas and the west coast of Florida, where state jurisdiction extends from the coastline to no more than 3 marine leagues (16.2 km) into the Gulf of Mexico.

These regulations provide a framework for issuing leases, easements and rights-of-way for OCS activities that support production and transmission of energy from sources other than oil and natural gas.

[5] On November 15, 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was signed into law and gave the Department of the Interior the authority to grant a lease, easement, or right-of-way on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for long-term sequestration of carbon dioxide that would otherwise go into the atmosphere and contribute to further climate change.

BOEM is working with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) on a draft rule to implement this authority over the OCS CS projects.

[9] In an announcement with United States Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm on April 27, 2022, Lefton said that her agency would focus on efforts to promote offshore wind projects, saying that BOEM would work to "inspire confidence and demonstrate commitment" for lease planning and calling it her "number-one priority," National Fisherman reported.

These shipwrecks, particularly when over fifty years old, may be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places,[12] and any new wells or pipelines have to be studied for their potential effect on archaeological sites on the outer continental shelf.

This was questioned, and the sinking was attributed to a United States Coast Guard Grumman G-44 Widgeon that reported an attack over 100 miles away, thought to be the U-166.