The Regulation of Seismic Exploration in the United States

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has received a request from Excelerate Energy, L.P. and Tetra Tech, Inc. on behalf of the Northeast Gateway® Energy BridgeTM, L.P.  and Algonquin Gas Transmission, L.L.C. for an authorization to take small numbers of 14 species of marine mammals, by Level B harassment, incidental to operating, maintaining, and repairing a liquefied natural gas port and the Algonquin Pipeline Lateral facilities by NEG and Algonquin, in Massachusetts Bay.

Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NMFS requests comments on its proposal to issue an authorization to NEG and Algonquin to incidentally take, by Level B harassment, small numbers of marine mammals during the specified activity for a period of one year.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management recently published a draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for oil and gas G & G activities in the Gulf of Mexico. The International Association of Geophysical Contractors and the American Petroleum Institute commented on this PEIS.

Click here for IAGC’s article on the PEIS and their comments.

The International Association of Geophysical Contractors has issued a press release entitled:

“Seismic Surveys Successfully Coexist with Tourism and Fisheries Despite Erroneous Claims.”

The first couple of paragraphs of IAGC’s press release explain:

Environmental activist groups have increasingly used misinformation targeting geophysical surveys in an effort to halt oil and gas exploration and development. One such example of their recent propaganda attempts to mislead the Belizean community to believe that seismic surveys are harmful to marine life and threaten fishing and tourism.  These allegations are simply false.

The workshop “Estimating Marine Mammal Abundance from Line Transect Surveys” will be held during the Latin American Society of Aquatic Mammal Experts meeting in Valparaiso, Chile on the 26th and 27th of November 2016.

The principal instructor will be Prof Philip Hammond (University of St Andrews) Click here to view his bio.

This workshop will introduce participants to the methods used to estimate the abundance of marine mammals, especially cetaceans. Methodology will be presented in a statistical framework but the focus will be on practical application of the methods and analysis of the data, and on understanding and dealing with potential biases that arise from applying the methodology in practice.

The Danish Hydraulic Institute is running a course at the end of November 15-16, 2016, at DHIs in Hoersholm, Denmark, on Risk Assessment of Environmental Noise Impacts and Underwater Acoustics Modelling.

This course will train participants in numerical modelling and how to combine it with biological knowledge (noise from dredging, shipping, wind farm operations and oil and gas exploration and production, etc.). The course is aimed at regulators, environmental consultants, researchers and policy/ environmental professionals.
 

For further information and registration click here.

Dear Dr. Lewandowski:

You are listed as the contact person for questions about the DPEIS. Consequently, on behalf of the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (“CRE”) I am asking you the following questions regarding the administrative record for the models identified and/or discussed in Appendix D of the DPEIS.

Is the “Literature Cited” in Appendix D, pages D-2005 through D-220, the entire administrative record for BOEM’s use and reliance on the Appendix D models? If not, then where is the rest of the administrative record for these models.

See complete letter boem-models-letter

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has published its ‘‘Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Effects of Oil and Gas Activities in the Arctic Ocean.’’ The purpose of the FEIS is to evaluate, in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of implementing the alternative approaches for authorizing take of marine mammals incidental to oil and gas activities in the Arctic Ocean pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has received a request from the U.S. Navy for authorization to take, by harassment, marine mammals incidental to conducting operations of Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active sonar for the period beginning August 2017 and ending August 2022. Pursuant to the implementing regulations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NMFS seeks information, suggestions, and comments on the Navy’s application and request. NMFS must receive any comments and information no later than November 21, 2016.

Click here for more information and for relevant links.

The International Association of Geophysical Contractors posted the following article about the WOC on the IAGC website:

“The World Ocean Council is an unprecedented international, cross-sectoral industry leadership alliance on “Corporate Ocean Responsibility”.

The World Ocean Council (WOC) brings together the diverse ocean business community to collaborate on stewardship of the seas. This unique coalition is working to improve ocean science in support of safe and sustainable operations, educate the public and stakeholders about the role of responsible companies in addressing environmental concerns, more effectively engage in ocean policy and planning, and develop science-based solutions to cross-cutting environmental challenges that cannot be solved by one company or industry, such as: invasive species, ocean noise, marine mammal impacts, marine debris, the Arctic, and others.

Randall Luthi is President of the National Ocean Industries Association. He recently wrote about the need for oil and gas exploration in the Arctic. There follows an excerpt from his article:

“The Arctic has long held the potential for abundant energy development, which is supported by most Alaskan natives. However, like much of the Arctic, the Alaska OCS remains largely unexplored. Economic conditions and politics have literally put oil and natural gas explorationin the US Arctic on ice. As demonstrated by the recent cruise through the Northwest Passage, thawing ice is allowing for a new source of economic and social development through the tourism industry. Likewise, the economics of the energy industry are expected to improve, providing incentive for oil and natural gas explorers to prove the energy potential of the Arctic.