The Regulation of Seismic Exploration in the United States

The Iron Triangle, often defined as the  cozy relationship  “between members of Congressional Committees, Bureaucrats, and interest groups”,  has been revisited by a former UK environmental official.

 More specifically Mr. Owen Patterson,  the former UK Environment Secretary ,  describes the   “tangled triangle of unelected busybodies”  as consisting of public officials, renewable energy companies and environmental groups.

 This “tangled triangle” often is on the forefront of inaccurate assertions that seismic exploration is detrimental to marine mammals.

 In the three posts that follow we have:

1.  An article by Mr. Patterson on the “tangled triangle”.

‘The Green Blob’: A tangled triangle of unelected busybodies that claims to have the interests of the planet at heart

By Owen Paterson, UK Environment Secretary

Writing for The Telegraph, the former environment secretary, Owen Paterson, says he is proud of standing up to the green lobby

Every prime minister has the right to choose his team to take Britain into the general election and I am confident that my able successor at Defra, Liz Truss, will do an excellent job. It has been a privilege to take on the challenges of the rural economy and environment. However, I leave the post with great misgivings about the power and irresponsibility of – to coin a phrase – the Green Blob.

Scientific Conclusions:

• No Major Changes in Fish Behaviour
• No Damage to Coral Assemblages
• No Impacts on Fish Hearing
• No Long term Impact on Fish Populations

The study involved detailed measurements of fish hair cells in otoliths (fish hearing organ) as well as the effects of sound on other reef organisms.

Ocean bottom and ocean column hydrophones monitored sounds emitted by a large 3D seismic survey.

Dr. Chris Battershill with the Commonwealth’s Government’s Australian Institute of Marine Science summarized the findings by stating that there is “No effect whatsoever from the seismic air-guns”.

Effects of seismic operations on bowhead whale behaviour: implications for distribution and abundance assessments.
Frances C. Robertson. 2014. University of British Columbia, Canada. 131pp.

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has received an application from the National Science Foundation Division of Polar Programs, and Antarctic Support Contract,on behalf of two research institutions, University of Texas at Austin and University of Memphis, for an Incidental Harassment Authorization to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting a low-energy marine geophysical survey in the Scotia Sea and South Atlantic Ocean,  from September to October 2014. Pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NMFS requests comments on its proposal to issue an IHA to NSF and ASC to incidentally harass, by Level B harassment only, 26 species of marine mammals during the specified activity. Comments and information must be received by NMFS no later than September 4, 2014.

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has received an application from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, in collaboration with the National Science Foundation, for an Incidental Harassment Authorization to take marine mammals, by harassment, incidental to conducting a marine geophysical survey in the northwest Atlantic Ocean off the North Carolina coast from September through October, 2014.  In accordance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NMFS requests comments on their proposal to issue an Authorization to Lamont-Doherty to incidentally take, by Level B harassment only, 24 species of marine mammals during the specified activity.  NMFS must receive comments and information on this proposal on or before September 2, 2014.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has extended the public comment period for BOEM’s Request for Information and Comments on the Preparation of the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. The RFI was released in mid-June as the initial step in the multi-year offshore oil and gas planning process. This extension of the comment period is being issued in response to requests from several states. The June publication of the RFI began a 45-day comment period. With the extension, BOEM will now accept comments until August 15, 2014.

Click here to read BOEM’s notice extending the comment period.

On July 29, 2014, the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness filed comments on the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Request for Information and Comments on the Preparation of the 2017–2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas LeasingProgram.  CRE’s comments include the following executive summary:

“BOEM and NMFS will conduct environmental reviews of the OCS Program. A recent court opinion and numerous agency studies correctly conclude that oil and gas seismic is safe under current regulation.

The International Association of Geophysical Contractors has published online its Marine Mammal Protection Act Incidental Take Authorization Reference Guide. This Guide was presented at the New Frontiers: Environmental Considerations for US Geological & Geophysical Activities Workshop, on March 27, 2014. It can be accessed here.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has published BOEM’s Record of Decision (ROD) for the Atlantic OCS Proposed Geological and Geophysical Activities, Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic Planning Areas (AOI”), Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS).  These documents select the following mitigation measures for all G & G activities in the Atlantic, including seismic surveys.

 Mitigation Measures for All G&G Activities

 Subject to site-specific analysis, the following mitigation measures apply to all G&G activities within the AOI for which BOEM authorization is required: