The federal government should streamline its regulation of offshore drilling safety, according to the latest probe into last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.

Eight federal agencies currently have responsibility for overseeing various aspects of the offshore drilling process. That number should be whittled down to one, the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council said in their final report released today.

The Interior Department manages the bulk of the responsibility, but other agencies -- including U.S. EPA and the U.S. Coast Guard -- have jurisdiction during a well blowout. The FBI would step in during a terrorist attack. And the Federal Aviation Administration governs helicopter crashes.

The 15-member panel suggests a more streamlined approach.

"A single U.S. government agency should be designated with responsibility for ensuring an integrated approach for system safety for all offshore drilling activities," the report says.

But the panel is not recommending that oversight be taken away from other agencies like the Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and EPA. Instead, the panel suggests one agency should work with the others to delegate responsibilities and monitor enforcement of all aspects of system safety in offshore drilling projects.

"A lot of energy has been put into making sure that the Coast Guard, Interior, FAA are all deconflicted. The problem is this is not a problem that is easily deconflicted," Donald Winter -- chairman of the committee investigating the oil spill, a University of Michigan engineering professor and a former Navy secretary -- told reporters this morning on a conference call about the report. "What is needed is an agency that has responsibility over all aspects of safety."

"We're not talking about taking away oversight from the other agencies but making sure all oversight is provided within context and that one organization ensures responsibility -- that all various aspects that could impact safety are accounted for," he added.

The panel stopped short of formally recommending which agency should oversee safety management. But Winter hinted that Interior would be a good fit.

"I will note that whoever does take that responsibility is going to have to be most knowledgeable about all unique aspects of drilling offshore wells," Winter said.

The conclusion that a singular agency should have responsibility over offshore drilling safety is one of the few new recommendations to emerge from the 113-page report, which comes nearly a year after a separate panel appointed by President Obama released its findings about the disaster. Countless other reports and probes have highlighted various causes or results of the disaster, and today's addition offers few new specific findings.

Instead, the new report provides a wide look at the scope of the disaster by encompassing the findings and results of the various other probes. And the broad theme of the report is risk management.

"Envisioning failure is key to the safe development and operation of systems, particularly systems that incorporate the complexity of a deepwater well," the report says. "Risks must be recognized, quantified and mitigated. Designers, developers, operators and regulators must know and understand that the risks are real and conduct themselves accordingly."

"If they do not, they face the likelihood of dealing with the consequences of the risks," the report adds.

The only other outstanding investigations into the disaster are the ongoing probes being conducted by the Justice Department and the U.S. Chemical and Hazard Investigation Board.

Today's report release comes as the Interior Department is holding its first lease sale for the Gulf of Mexico since the April 20, 2010, disaster that claimed the lives of 11 rig workers and launched the nation's worst oil spill.

Click here to read the report.