The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has issued an authorization to Neptune LNG LLC, to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to maintenance, repair, and decommissioning activities at a liquefied natural gas deepwater port off the coast of Massachusetts. An electronic copy of the application, proposed IHA Federal Register notice (81 FR 58478; August 25, 2016), issued IHA, and a list of references used in this document may be obtained by visiting the internet here.
The Committee on the Assessment of the Cumulative Effects of Anthropogenic Stressors on Marine Mammals; Ocean Studies Board; Division on Earth and Life Studies; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has published its report entitled “Approaches to Understanding the Cumulative Effects of Stressors on Marine Mammals.” This NAS report was funded by The Office of Naval Research, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission. Its purpose is to review the understanding of cumulative effects of anthropogenic stressors, including sound, on marine mammals and to identify new approaches that may improve the ability to estimate cumulative effects.”
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management seeks public comment on a Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement to evaluate potential environmental effects of multiple Geological and Geophysical activities on the Gulf of Mexico OCS. These activities include, but are not limited to: seismic surveys, sidescansonar surveys, electromagnetic surveys, and geological and geochemical sampling. In addition to soliciting public written comment, BOEM is also holding public meetings on the Draft PEIS.
This Draft PEIS considers G&G activities for the three program areas managed by BOEM: Oil and gas exploration and development; renewable energy; and marine minerals. After the public meetings and the written comment period, BOEM will publish a Final PEIS.
December 2, 2016, is the deadline for comment on the U.S. National Marine Fisheries’ Information Collection Request covering NMFS’ new Acoustic Guidance. This ICR is prepared and published by NMFS under the Paperwork Reduction Act. After NMFS receives and responds to comments on the ICR, there will be an additional 30-day comment period to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on the ICR. Unless and until OMB approves this ICR, NMFS cannot require anyone to comply with any information collection requests based on the Acoustic Guidance (e.g., Acoustic Guidance based monitoring requirements in Take Permits issued by NMFS under the Marine Mammal Protection Act).
The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has published (1) Its intent to prepare an Environmental Assessment to analyze the environmental impacts of issuing annual incidental harassment authorizations pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act for the taking of marine mammals incidental to anthropogenic activities in the waters of Cook Inlet, Alaska, for the 2017 season; and (2) its intent to continue an annual cycle for issuing MMPA IHAs in Cook Inlet such that companies planning to submit IHA applications for work to be conducted in Cook Inlet in 2017 do so by no later than October 15, 2016.
The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has issued modified Letters of Authorization to the U.S. Navy for the take of marine mammals incidental to training and testing activities conducted in the Mariana Islands Training and Testing Study Area and the Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Study Area. These modifications reflect changes to Navy watchstander reporting requirements, which do not affect current mitigation measures, for observed behavior of marine mammals during Major Training Exercises in the MITT and AFTT study areas.
Click here for NMFS’ Federal Register notice of this action.
BOEM Publishes Final GOM SES
Sep 22
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has published its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Central Planning Area (CPA) Oil and Gas Lease Sale 247. The Final SEIS provides a discussion of potential significant impacts of the proposed action, provides an analysis of reasonable alternatives to the proposed action, and identifies the Bureau’s preferred alternative. The Final SEIS is available on the agency Web site here.
Click here for BOEM’s Federal Register notice of this action.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has published its final new “Ocean Noise Strategy Roadmap.” According to NOAA:
“Offices across NOAA have collaborated to develop an agency-wide Ocean Noise Strategy, which seeks to ensure that NOAA is more comprehensively addressing noise impacts to aquatic species and their habitat over the next 10 years.
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management published the following notification on BOEM’s website here.
“BOEM published in the August 19, 2016, Federal Register, a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The NOI seeks input on the scope of the Gulf of Mexico OCS Lease Sales: 2018; Gulf of Mexico Lease Sales 250 and 251, Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (GOM 250 and 251 Supplemental EIS) for proposed GOM Lease Sales 250 and 251.
As part of the scoping process, BOEM’s public scoping meetings will be held at the following places and times:
The international Association of Geophysical contractors published the following article on the IAGC website,
“A coalition of groups supportive of responsible resource development in and off the coast of Alaska today unveiled a new broadcast, print and digital advertising campaign calling on the Obama administration to keep intact the Arctic leasing areas currently contained in the Interior Department’s draft proposed plan.
The draft program, revealed in March, allows for the possibility of lease sales to be held for federally controlled tracts in the Beaufort (2020) and Chukchi (2022) seas. But activist groups continue to wage an aggressive campaign to have those areas removed from the final schedule.
