The International Association of Geophysical contractors recently posted the above-titled article by Robert W. Chase on one of IAGC’s websites. This article begins as follows:
“If you care about our nation’s economy and jobs, now is not the time to oppose seismic testing in the Atlantic Ocean. Yet that is precisely what several East Coast governors have done in an effort to block oil and natural gas exploration and production on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has published notice of BOEM’s intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. This SEIS is expected to be used to inform the decisions for each of the two proposed oil and gas lease sales scheduled in 2020 and the subsequent lease sales through 2022 that are comprised of the Gulf of Mexico Western and Central Planning Areas, and a small portion of the Eastern Planning Area not subject to Congressional moratorium. These planning areas are located off the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. There is no public comment period for BOEM’s notice.
The International Association of Geophysical Contractors has announced that its 48th Annual Conference–Accelerating Exploration, Expanding Energy Possibilities—will be held on Wednesday, February 20, 2019 7:00 AM – 6:30 PM CST, at the Hilton Westchase, 9999 Westheimer Road, Houston, TX 770422.
Click here for more details and relevant links.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, upon request from the U.S. Navy, has issued regulations pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act to govern the taking of marine mammals incidental to the Navy’s training and testing activities conducted in the Hawaii-Southern California Training and Testing Study Area over the course of five years beginning in December 2018. These regulations, which allow for the issuance of Letters of Authorization for the incidental take of marine mammals during the described activities and timeframes, prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammal species or stocks and their habitat, and establish requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such taking. They are effective from December 21, 2018 through December 20, 2023.
The U.S. National and Marine Fisheries Service has received a request from the U.S. Navy to amend NMFS’ Marine Mammal Protection Act regulations authorizing the take of marine mammals incidental to Navy training and testing activities conducted in the Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Study Area from November 2018 to November 2023 to cover seven years of the Navy’s activities, instead of five.
The Canadian Press posed the above-titled article, which reads as follows:
“Ottawa and Inuit groups say they’ve reached a deal on benefits for the people who live near vast new marine protected area in Canada’s Arctic.
The agreement means the waters north of Baffin Island — more than 100,000 square kilometres of some of the richest and most productive seas in the North — are one step closer to becoming Canada’s largest protected area.
Formerly called Lancaster Sound, it will now be called TallurutiupImanga National Marine Conservation Area.
The agreement includes jobs in the five communities around the area as well as promises for mobile food processors to support hunters and increase the supply of country food.
The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has published Federal Register notice of that NMFS has issued incidental harassment authorizations to five separate applicants to incidentally harass marine mammals during geophysical survey activities in the Atlantic Ocean. These IHAs are issued under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act. They are effective for one year from the date of effectiveness. The IHAs are effective upon written notification from the applicant to NMFS, but not beginning later than one year from the date of issuance or extending beyond two years from the date of issuance.
NMFS’ Federal Register notice contains NMFS’ response to comments on its proposed Atlantic IHAs.
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences include the above-titled article, which includes the following Abstract:
The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has issued incidental harassment authorizations to five separate applicants to incidentally harass marine mammals during geophysical survey activities in the Atlantic Ocean.These authorizations are effective for one year from the date of effectiveness. They are issued under
Section 101(a)(5)(D) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, 16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq., which directs the Secretary of Commerce (as delegated to NMFS) to allow, upon request, the incidental, but not intentional, taking of small numbers of marine mammals by U.S. citizens who engage in a specified activity (other than commercial fishing) within a specific geographic region if certain findings are made and notice of a proposed authorization is provided to the public for review.
Energy Voice posted the above titled article by Mark Lammey. The article reads as follows:
“The UK oil industry’s regulator said today that it was ‘encouraged’ by the response to the latest North Sea frontier licensing round.
But the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) remains concerned about low levels of drilling activity in the UK continental shelf (UKCS).
Mike Tholen, upstream policy director at industry body Oil and Gas UK (OGUK), said the 31st bidding round showed the appetite for exploration had grown, but agreed more urgency was needed.
