The Regulation of Seismic Exploration in the United States

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has received a revised application for Incidental Take Regulations from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on behalf of oil and gas industry operators. The specified activity considered in the application is geophysical survey activity conducted in the Gulf of Mexico over the course of five years from the date of issuance.

The original notice announcing receipt of the revised application (81 FR 88664; December 8, 2016) indicated that comments and information must be received by NMFS no later than January 9, 2017, which allowed 30 days for public input. NMFS subsequently received a request to extend the comment period by a period of 14 days. NMFS has granted that request.

Brandon Southall, Doug Nowacek, Patrick Miller, and Peter Tyack have published a paper in Endangered Species Research. This Open Access paper is entitled “Experimental field studies to measure behavioral responses of cetaceans to sonar,” and it was published as a contribution to the ESR Theme Section ” 21st Century Paradigms for Measuring and Managing the Effects of Anthropogenic Ocean Noise.”

The contents page of the respective ESR volume (v.31) can be found here. The article itself is available here. The abstract is given below.

On October 11, 2016, The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service published and sought public comment on draft 2016 Alaska, Atlantic, and Pacific regional marine mammal stock assessment reports. NMFS subsequently became aware that due to technical errors in converting between electronic formats, the draft Atlantic SARs contained incorrect information in some instances. NMFS has published corrected Atlantic SARs.

Comments must be received by January 9, 2017. If members of the public need additional time to review the draft Atlantic 2016 SARs, contact Shannon Bettridge, Office of Protected Resources, 301–427–8402, Shannon.Bettridge@noaa.gov.

Click here for NMFS’ Federal Register notice of this action, which provides additional details and links.

On December 8, 2016, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service We, published Federal Register notice of NMFS’ 12- month finding and listing determination on a petition to list the Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera edeni) as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. This NMFS Status Review report of the Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whale responds to a petition submitted by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

NMFS has determined that the Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whale is taxonomically a subspecies of the Bryde’s whale thus meeting the ESA’s definition of a species. Based on the Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whale’s small population (likely fewer than 100 individuals), its life history characteristics, its extremely limited distribution, and its vulnerability to existing threats, we believe that the species faces a high risk of extinction.

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has published Federal Register notice that NMFS has received a revised application for incidental take regulations from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on behalf of oil and gas industry operators. The specified activity considered in the application is geophysical survey activity conducted in the Gulf of Mexico over the course of five years from the date of issuance.

NMFS invites the public to provide information, suggestions, and comments on BOEM’s application. Any comments and information must be received by NMFS no later than January 9, 2017.

Click here for NMFS’ Federal Register notice of BOEM’s revised ITR application.

On November 29, 2016, the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness filed Comments on the National Marine Fisheries Service’s proposed Information Collection Request: Applications and Reporting Requirements for the Incidental Take of Marine Mammals under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. CRE’s comments included the following summary:

“NMFS intends to use its new ‘Technical Guidance for Assessing the Effects of Anthropogenic Sound on Marine Mammal Hearing’ (‘Acoustic Guidance) to establish exclusion zones and to estimate takes during NMFS’ permitting under the MMPA. NMFS’ Guidance will impose very burdensome new information collections on the oil and gas industry and on other parties subject to NMFS’ MMPA permitting. Consequently, NMFS intends to ask OMB’s OIRA to review and approve the Acoustic ICR, which would authorize these new and greatly expanded information collections.

On November 29, 2016, the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness Comments filed comments with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on BOEM’s draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Geological and Geophysical Activities on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf. CRE’s comments included the following summary:

“The PEIS violates OMB’s Peer Review Bulletin because it has not been peer reviewed.

The PEIS Appendix D Models violate OMB’s Peer Review Bulletin and Information Quality Act (“IQA”) Guidelines.

GOM G&G does not harm marine mammals or any other organism under current regulation. No change is needed in GOM regulation of G&G.

On December 21, 2016, the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness filed comments on the U.S. National Marine Fisheries’ Service’s Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement for Effects of Oil and Gas Activities in the Arctic Ocean. CRE’s comments included the following points.

NMFS should not use its new “Technical Guidance for Assessing the Effects of Anthropogenic Sound on Marine Mammal Hearing” (“Acoustic Guidance”) in the FEIS or for any other purpose. NMFS developed its Acoustic Guidance in violation of OMB’s Peer Review Bulletin. The Guidance is a rule, and NMFS developed it in violation of Executive Orders 12855 and 13563. NMFS does not have and OMB should not approve an Information Collection Request authorizing use of the Acoustic Guidance.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has published its Final 2017–2022 OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement to inform the 2017–2022 proposed Final Program. The Final Programmatic EIS provides a discussion of potential impacts of the proposed action, provides an analysis of reasonable alternatives to the proposed action, and recognizes BOEM’s preferred alternative. Under Council on Environmental Quality regulations at 40 CFR 1506.10(b)(2), the Secretary of the Interior will not finalize the 2017–2022 OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program until at least 30 days after public. The Final Programmatic EIS and more details are available here.

Andy Radford, who works with the American Petroleum Institute, has written the following article.

“Commentary: Seismic surveys play significant role in offshore drilling

A decisive majority of American voters – 80 percent – support increased production of U.S. oil and natural gas, including 94 percent of Republicans, 76 percent of Independents and 71 percent of Democrats. Voters associate energy production with job creation, economic growth, energy security and lower energy costs, polling also shows.