The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness sent the Department of Commerce a letter requesting that Commerce stop NOAA/NMFS’ use of their Technical Memorandum NMFS-OPR-55 of July 2016 (“Acoustic Guidance”). CRE’s letter included the following paragraphs:
“NOAA/NMFS continue to use their Technical Memorandum NMFS-OPR-55 of July 2016 (“Acoustic Guidance”) for several purposes. This continued regulatory use conflicts with several Presidential Executive Orders and other regulatory requirements such as the Paperwork Reduction Act. On behalf of the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (“CRE”), I request that you bring these conflicts to the attention of the appropriate Commerce staff and officials so they can stop this improper use of the Acoustic Guidance.
President’s Trump’s Offshore Energy Executive Order 13795 requires the Secretary of Commerce to review the Acoustic Guidance. This Order further requires the Commerce Secretary to “take all steps permitted by law to rescind or revise that guidance, if appropriate.”
The Commerce Secretary has not yet completed his review of the Acoustic Guidance, yet NOAA/NMFS are using the Acoustic Guidance in their proposed Marine Mammal Protection Act (“MMPA”) Take Authorizations for Atlantic oil and gas.”
Click here to read CRE’s entire letter.
