The Regulation of Seismic Exploration in the United States

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service seeks public comment on NMFS’ User Manual for Optional User Spreadsheet Tool (Version 2.0) for NMFS’ 2018 Revisions to Technical Guidance for Assessing the Effects of Anthropogenic Sound on Marine

Mammal Hearing: Underwater Acoustic Thresholds for Onset of Permanent and

Temporary Threshold Shifts (2018 Revised Technical Guidance). This User

Manual provides detailed instruction sand examples on how to use NMFS’ optional User Spreadsheet tool, which incorporates the 2018 Revised Technical

Guidance’s acoustic threshold levels to determine whether and how sound-producing activities are expected to result in hearing impacts to marine mammals.

The International Association of Geophysical Contractors posted this YouTube video about marine seismic surveys,

The U.S. Department of Commerce has submitted to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for clearance the following proposal for a new collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35):

The Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan, developed under the authority of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, seeks to enable the National Marine Fisheries Service to reduce injuries and deaths of large whales, especially right whales, due to incidental entanglement in United States commercial fishing gear.

The U.S. Coast Guard is withdrawing its proposed rule entitled ‘‘Outer Continental Shelf Activities’’ that they published on December 7, 1999. The Coast Guard is withdrawing this proposed rule due to the passage of time, advances in technology, and changes in industry practices that have rendered the proposed rule obsolete.

In their NPRM, the Coast Guard proposed revisions of their Outer Continental Shelf regulations that pertain to workplace safety and health on vessels and facilities engaged in the exploration for, or development or production of, minerals on the OCS. The Coast Guard initiated this rulemaking in response to the various advances that had changed the nature of the offshore industry since the last major revision of our OCS regulations in 1982.

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has issued an incidental harassment authorization to Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University to incidentally take, by Level A and/or Level B harassment, marine mammals during a Marine Geophysical Survey in the North Pacific Ocean. This Authorization is effective from September 1, 2018, through August 31, 2019. This authorization is issued under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Click here for more information and relevant dates.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is soliciting nominations for members of the NOAA Science Advisory Board. The SAB is the only Federal Advisory Committee with the responsibility to advise the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans, Atmosphere, and NOAA Administrator on long- and short-range strategies for research,education, and application of science to resource management and environmental assessment and prediction. The SAB consists of approximately fifteen members reflecting the full breadth of NOAA’s areas of responsibility, and assists NOAA in maintaining a complete and accurate understanding of scientific issues critical to the agency’s missions. Nominations must be received by NOAA by October 15, 2018.