The Obama administration is to break up an interior department agency that oversees offshore drilling, in response to the Gulf Coast oil spill.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will recommend splitting an arm of his department which inspects rigs and oversees drill leases, officials say.
The Minerals Management Service will be divided so that an independent branch is charged with enforcing safety rules.
Mr Salazar will announce the reforms as Congress investigates the spill.
At US Senate hearings on Tuesday, firms involved will offer conflicting accounts of the oil disaster, according to leaked testimony.
The Deepwater Horizon rig that blew up in the Gulf of Mexico on 20 April was owned and operated by drilling firm Transocean.
 | ATTEMPTS TO CONTROL SLICK  Booms have been partly successful although rough seas have washed oil over them Some controlled burning of oil has taken place, but it causes serious air pollution About 325,000 gallons of dispersant have been used, although scientists warn it may kill marine life A relief well is being drilled but could take many weeks A huge steel funnel suffered a build-up of ice-like crystals and had to be put aside  |
Lamar McKay, head of BP America, plans to blame the spill on the failure of a Transocean blowout preventer - a series of valves designed to stop oil from escaping, report US media.
But Transocean chief executive Steven Newman is expected to say the spill was caused by the failure of a cement wall built by a BP contractor, Halliburton.
Halliburton executive Tim Probert is expected to argue his firm followed all rules and guidelines.
The hearings of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Environmental and Public Health Committee, will be the first opportunity lawmakers have had to publicly question those involved.
On Tuesday, Interior Secretary Salazar is expected to split up the Minerals Management Service (MMS), which enforces drilling safety regulations at the same time as collecting billions of dollars in royalties from the oil industry.
A 2008 investigation by department of the interior's inspector general found the MMS was beset by conflicts of interest.
There was a "culture of substance abuse and promiscuity" at the agency, while some staff had accepted gifts and free holidays, amid "a culture of ethical failure", found the investigation.
The interior secretary is also conducting a 30-day review of offshore drilling, at the request of President Barack Obama.
Meanwhile, BP is to try again to cap the gushing well, amid growing fears of an environmental disaster along the US coast.
An attempt to drop a huge box on to the well failed at the weekend.
There are also reports BP may try to plug the well with debris, including everyday rubbish like tyres and golf balls.
Some 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) of oil are flowing into the sea every day from the damaged well.
By BBC
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