The Regulation of Seismic Exploration in the United States

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has issued an Incidental Harassment Authorization to Hilcorp Alaska, LLC to take, by harassment, small numbers of marine mammals incidental to a shallow geohazard survey in the Beaufort Sea, Alaska, during the 2015 Arctic open-water season. This IHA is effective July 1, 2015, through September 30, 2015.

NMFS’ Federal Register notice of this final IHA responds to comments filed by the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission on the proposed IHA. There follows NMFS’ rejection of the MMC’s argument that “the sub-bottom profiler, echosounder, and other sonars are nonimpulsive acoustic sources and that NMFS should use the behavioral harassment threshold of 120 dB re 1 mPa instead of 160 dB”:

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has published its draft Polar Bear Conservation Management Plan. The polar bear is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and is also considered ‘‘depleted’’ under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. The draft Polar Bear Plan identifies objective, measurable recovery criteria, site-specific recovery actions, and time and cost estimates, and also serves as a conservation plan. FWS requests review and comment on the draft Polar Bear Plan from agencies, organizations, and individuals with an interest in polar bear conservation.

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service proposes to issue to ExxonMobil Alaska LNG LLC, an Incidental Harassment Authorization to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to a geophysical and geotechnical survey in Cook Inlet, Alaska. This survey would investigate the technical suitability of a pipeline study corridor across Cook Inlet and potential marine terminal locations near Nikiski. The proposed activity would occur for 12 weeks during the 2015 open water season after August 7, 2015. The following specific aspects of the proposed activities are likely to result in the take of marine mammals: sub-bottom profiler (chirp and boomer), and a seismic airgun. Take, by Level B Harassment only, of individuals of four species is anticipated to result from the specified activities.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has contracted with the U.S. National Academy of Sciences for a new NAS standing committee that “will provide independent information on issues relevant to BOEM’s environmental studies and assessment activities and support discussions on relevant issues.” BOEM issued a press release that reads in part as follows:

“The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced today an agreement to have the National Academies establish a new standing committee on environmental science and assessment for offshore energy and mineral resources. The committee will provide independent information on issues relevant to BOEM’s environmental studies and assessment activities and support discussions on relevant issues. The committee’s services will be provided under a three-year contract with the National Research Council (NRC), the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has issued an Incidental Harassment Authorization under the Marine Mammal Protection Act to Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc. (Shell) to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to offshore exploration drilling on Outer Continental Shelf leases in the Chukchi Sea, Alaska. This IHA is effective July 1, 2015, through October 31, 2015.

The Federal Register notice of this action includes NMFS’ response to several critical comments on the proposed IHA. For example, NGOs commented that there

The National Science Foundation Division of Ocean Sciences has sent the following message to
“To the Scientific Ocean Drilling Community”:

“Regional Framework Plan for Marine Seismics – OCE Communication, Early Summer 2015

OCE is carefully considering input from the marine seismic community and the UNOLS Marcus Langseth Science Oversight Committee (MLSOC) regarding ways to improve experiment planning. This advice, together with internal NSF discussions, leads us to adopt a Regional Framework Path for marine seismic data acquisition. As the NSF reply to the NRC/NAS Decadal Survey ‘Sea Change’ indicated, we are investigating options for how to support future marine seismic research, including deep crustal seismic capability. A regional approach is expected to be relevant for any feasible model, and thus we intend to get underway with a regional plan so as to understand the ramifications of operating in this mode. Moving forward, we will continue to work with MLSOC and the community at large to assess any need for adjustment.

The following report is now out: “A review of seismic mitigation measures used along the coast of northern South America, from North Brazil up to Colombia,” reference document for the MaMa CoCo SEA Steering Committee. GHFS (2015).

This report is available here.

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has issued an incidental harassment authorization to Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc. to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to ice overflight surveys in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, Alaska. This authorization is issued under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act, and it is effective June 10, 2015, through June 9, 2016.

Click here to read NMFS’ Federal Register notice of this authorization, which also includes NMFS’ response to the Marine Mammal Commission and other comments on NMFS’ proposed authorization.

The State of New Jersey has filed suit in federal court, trying to stop seismic exploration offshore of New Jersey. The defendants include the National Science Foundation; the National Marine Fisheries Service; NOAA’s Office of Coastal Managemen; and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.

New Jersey’s complaint claims that this seismic authorization was issued in violation of the Coastal Zone Management Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the U.S. National Environmental Protection Act. Among other relief requested, The State asks the court to:

Enviros have sued again over Shell in the Arctic. This time, they filed a petition for review in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Defendants are the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Department of the Interior. Shell has moved to intervene in the case.

The Enviros’ petition for review states in part: