The Regulation of Seismic Exploration in the United States

ABC News Australia posted the above-titled article, which reads in part as follows article:

“Oil and gas testing is set to take place in the Great Australian Bight this year, after the national petroleum regulator granted permission to exploration company PGS.

Environmental groups have slammed the decision to allow seismic testing near Kangaroo Island and Port Lincoln, while the tuna industry has questioned whether it is even likely to go ahead.

Seismic testing involves firing soundwaves into the ocean floor to detect the presence of oil or gas reserves.

NMFS has received a request from Hilcorp Alaska LLC for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to oil and gas activities in Cook Inlet, Alaska, over the course of five years (2019–2024). As required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NMFS is proposing regulations to govern that take, and requests comments on the proposed regulations.  Comments and information must be received no later than May 1, 2019. NMFS’ Federal register notice of this action does not discuss an Alaskan court’s recent decision against Arctic offshore oil and gas.

Click here for more details and relevant links.

The United States District Court for the District of Alaska ruled that President Trump has no authority to issue an Executive Order revoking former President Obama’s withdrawal of certain offshore areas from oil and gas leasing under OCSLA.  The withdrawn areas include areas offshore Alaska and in the Atlantic Ocean.

Click here to read the court’s opinion.

The Pew Charitable Trusts posted the above-titled article, which reads in part as follows:

“Although much scientific study and planning is involved at every stage of creating large, remote, offshore marine protected areas (MPAs), even ocean science experts concede they have limited knowledge of these regions.

That’s because most MPA research has focused on small, coastal protected areas, which have existed for longer than their bigger, offshore cousins and are easier to monitor due to their proximity to shore. Some work has been done to extrapolate coastal research findings to remote MPAs, but it doesn’t offer a complete picture of what is happening in the larger regions. Achieving that understanding would require comprehensive research and reporting, which in turn should help governments, scientists, and conservationists design and implement large MPAs that deliver strong ecological outcomes.

Multiple plaintiffs have sued NOAA and other federal government defendants in the United States District Court for South Carolina, challenging NOAA’s issuance of Incidental Harassment Authorizations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act for oil and gas exploration offshore the Atlantic Coast.  Most of the plaintiffs filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction o n their claims.  The State of South Carolina, a recent entry into the case, filed a separate Motion for Preliminary Injunction on its claims. Most of the plaintiffs have joined both motions.

The court granted the Government’s unopposed motion to file a single, consolidated brief of up to 58 pages in response to the two Preliminary Injunction Motions.

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service published Federal Register notice that NMFS has received a request from the U.S. Navy for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to the use of Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active sonar systems onboard U.S. Navy surveillance ships for training and testing activities in the western and central North Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean beginning August 2019.

On March 4, 2019, the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (CRE) filed with NOAA an Information Quality Act (IQA) Alert concerning NOAA’s proposed marine mammal Incidental Take Rules for oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM Take Rule). An IQA Alert is a mechanism authorized by the Information Quality Act. It notifies a federal agency that if the contents of a proposed information dissemination remain unchanged, then final dissemination of the information will be subject to an IQA Request for Correction; in this instance one to be filed by CRE.

The International Association of Geophysical Contractors posted the following notice:

“Africa Oil Week 2019

Monday, November 04, 2019 – Friday, November 08, 2019 CST

Cape Town International Convention Centre 2
Cape Town, South Africa

Africa Oil Week is the leading oil and gas event for the continent, with over 1500 key executives attending from around the world to broker new deals. The global E&P community – government, NOCs, international oil companies, independents, investors and service providers – is brought together here like no other event.”

Click here for more details and relevant links.

The State of South Carolina has moved to intervene as a plaintiff in the court challenges to NOAA/NMFS’ Marine Mammal Protection Act permits for seismic oil and gas exploration off parts of the U.S. Atlantic coast.  This litigation is in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

The South Carolina federal district court in court in South Carolina Coastal League v. Rosshas extended the deadline for the federal government’s response to the plaintiffs’ complaint until April 11, 2019.  This is the second response extension for the federal defendants that the court has granted.