On August 17, 2017, the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness filed comments with the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on BOEM’s National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2019-2024.
CRE’s comments commended several recent Federal Government actions in regulating OCS oil and gas. These actions include opening parts of the Atlantic to offshore seismic exploration.
However, CRE’s comments criticized BOEM and other government agencies for relying on the National Marine Fisheries Service’s recent Acoustic Guidance in their regulation of offshore activities. CRE’s criticism of the Acoustic Guidance is based on several flaws in the Guidance that are discussed in CRE’s comments.
CRE also recommended that BOEM develop written guidelines that prevent sue-and-settle consent decrees from subverting the rulemaking, congressional and OMB review processes that Congress has established.
Finally, CRE commented on the Environmental Impact Statement that will accompany BOM’s 2019-2024 Leasing Program. CRE recommended that BOEM adopt the impact conclusions in BOEM’s 2017 Multisale EIS for Gulf of Mexico oil and gas. CRE recommended that BOEM not adopt the conflicting, erroneous and unsupported impact conclusions in BOEM’s 2017 PEIS for Gulf of Mexico Geological and Geophysical Activities.
