The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness prepared and sent to NOAA/NMFS a Supplement to CRE’s previously filed Information Quality Act (“IQA”) Alert on NOAA/NMFS’ proposed Gulf of Mexico Take Rules for oil and gas exploration. CRE’s Supplement is entitled
“PROPOSED GULF OF MEXICO TAKE RULES FOR OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION DO NOT COMPLY WITH OMB’s IQA IMPLEMENTATION MEMORANDUM.”
CRE’s Alert Supplement included the following summary (footnotes omitted):
“The National Marine Fisheries Service (‘NMFS’) has proposed rules under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (‘MMPA’) for oil and gas geophysical activities in the Gulf of Mexico (‘GOM Take Rules’). These proposed rules authorize and regulate the number of marine mammal ‘Takes’ that companies are allowed when they explore for oil and gas in the GOM. NMFS currently intends to publish final GOM Take Rules in November 2019.
On March 4, 2019, the CRE filed with NMFS an IQA Alert on NMFS’ proposed GOM Take Rules. CRE’s Alert identified and discussed several IQA errors and omissions in the proposed Rules. CRE requested that NMFS take specified actions necessary to correct these errors and omissions and to comply with the IQA.
On April 24, 2019, the Office of Management and Budget’s (‘OMB’) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (‘OIRA’) published a ‘Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies’ entitled Improving Implementation of the Information Quality Act. OMB’s IQA Implementation Memorandum supports the claims and corrective actions requested in CRE’s IQA Alert on NMFS’ proposed GOM take rules. Consequently, CRE is filing this brief supplement to its IQA Alert.
NMFS’ GOM Take Rules have to comply with OMB’s IQA Implementation Memorandum. They do not comply for the following and other reasons:
- NMFS did not perform the required pre-dissemination review for IQA compliance;
- NMFS did not perform the IQA-required pre-dissemination peer review; and
- NMFS’ use of proprietary models does not meet IQA reproducibility and transparency requirements because, inter alia, the models were not peer reviewed.”
Click here to read CRE’s entire Alert Supplement.
