The Regulation of Seismic Exploration in the United States

I believe you should include the attached study into your library.

The study focused on the impact of sesimic operations on whales in the Sakhalin Islands of Russia.

It concluded:

“In summary, after accounting for environmental variables, no correlation was found between seismic survey variables and the linearity of whale movements,
changes in whale swimming speed between theodolite fixes, mean direction of whale movement, mean number of whale exhalations per minute at the surface, mean time at the surface, and mean number of exhalations per minute during a whales surfaceto-dive cycle. In contrast, at higher received sound energy exposure levels, whales traveled faster, changed directions of movement less, were recorded further from shore, and stayed under water longer
between respirations.”

 Interested parties: CRE  is conducting a peer review of “A Review of the Effects of Seismic Surveys on Marine Mammals”.

 The study is available at  A Review of Sesimic Surveys.pdf (324 KB)

A library of the  studies referenced in the aforementioned Review has been compiled  to make it easier for the public to submit comments.  The library also contains many of the regulatory filings made by CRE in the past decade on marine sound.

 Studies posted on this page need not be limited to the articles referenced in the aforementiioned “Review”; please feel free to add other  studies of particular  significance by sending  copies of the  studies to CRE  by making a post with a copy of the study as an attachment to  CRE.

 Editor’s Note:  The public is encouraged to provide comments on each of the following  posts by either using the “comment” section below each post or providing a new post by using the mechanism to the right of this post. 

CRE’s involvement in marine sound issues for nearly a decade has resulted in the creation of  two  Interactive Public Dockets (IPD),  Marine Mammals, its Archives   and the Ocean  Zoning  IPD  which assist the public in formulating their comments.

CRE Brazil  has also  published numerous articles on marine sound and related issues and is invovled in a multinational  effort  to foster international harmonization on marine sound issues.

 Request to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for Incidental Take regulations governing Seismic Surveys on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) (A response to Subpart I — MMPA Request Requirements at 50 CFR §216.104)

 Revision to original request package submitted December 20, 2002. Revisions cover new information that has become available since submission of the 2002 original and 2004 request packages.

 http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/permits/boemre_application2011.pdf

 Federal Register Notice   FR Notice 2011 Petition

Marine Mammal Commission  Report  MMC     

 The Minerals Management Service (MMS) hereby petitions, as a precautionary measure, for rulemaking under section 10 I (a)(5) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to authorize any potential take of marine mammals incidental to seismic surveys “specified activity”) in the Gulf of Mexico (“specified geographic region”) .

 This taking will involve only small numbers of marine mammals, have no more than a negligible impact on the species or stock, and have no unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the species or stock for subsistence uses.

 On December 20, 2002, MMS petitioned NMFS, as a precautionary measure, for rulemaking under section 101(a)(5)(A) of the MMPA to authorize any potential take of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) incidental to conducting seismic surveys during oil and gas exploration activities in the GOM (MMS, 2002a).

 MMS has preliminarily determined that the taking will involve only small numbers of sperm whales; have no more than a negligible impact on the species and stocks of affected marine mammals; and not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of marine mammals for subsistence uses. It should be noted that MMS expects to update its petition for regulations to include the incidental take of other species of marine mammals, such as dolphins, beaked whales, and Bryde’s whales (Balaenoptera edeni), based upon information currently being assessed under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

 An IPD is an Interactive Public Docket.. The purpose of an IPD is to break the government’s monopoly over what is contained in a regulatory docket.

 More specifically  public input into the  determination of the contents of a docket for a regulatory proceeding and access to to such content is very limited.  Presently the regulators are the sole determinant of what papers used in the pre-Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) stage goes into the docket; the regulators are also the sole determinant of what papers go into the docket subsequent to the close of the public comment period. The public can only affect the content of the docket in a limited time period of,  for example , the 60 to 90 day time period alloted for public comment  out of a time  period of several or more years needed to complete a rulemaking.