SC/58/E8. Minerals Management Service Overview of Seismic Survey Mitigation and Monitoring on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf

The Minerals Management Service administers about 7,500 active leases on 40 million acres of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Under statutory authority of the OCS Lands Act, we regulate oil and gas exploration and development related seismic survey activity on the U.S. OCS and have been actively involved in research and environmental analysis of those activities for over 20 years. The MMS protected species program involves complying with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA); analyzing impacts; designing mitigation, monitoring guidelines; providing information necessary for promulgating regulations; and identifying, funding, and participating in research necessary for the protection and enhancement of protected species and their habitat. MMS implements mitigation and monitoring measures to avoid or reduce the potential impacts of noise through a variety of mechanisms which include our regulations (30 CFR Part 250- Oil and Gas and Sulphur Operations in the OCS) that implement provisions of the OCS Lands Act (U.S. Code Title 43, Chapter 29 Subchapter III), lease stipulations, and notices to lessees (to clarify requirements addressed in our regulations). MMS has focused two programmatic environmental analyses (under the National Environmental Policy Act-NEPA) on seismic surveys, one for the Gulf of Mexico and the other for the Alaskan Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. The MMS approach to mitigation and monitoring is based on the best scientific information available rather than requiring scientific certainty. We assess the available data and apply our technical expertise to make judgments based on scientific data in a manner consistent with the conservation purposes of laws such as the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA)