FuelFix filed a report today about a new National Academy of Sciences (NAS) study recommending the U.S. Interior Department tap industry expertise in determining best available technologies for offshore safety. The focus of the NAS report is the government’s planned Ocean Energy Safety Institute, which is being developed to help federal regulators keep pace with developments in offshore safety. NAS rightly asserted it’s impossible for DOI to keep up with rapidly advancing technologies related to health, safety and environmental without outside consultation. In addition, the federal government faces the challenge of attracting qualified in-house personnel with its limited funding model for the institute. NAS recommends either hiring oil and gas retirees to staff the institute or establishing a “cross-posting” program in which technical staff would rotate between government and private jobs.