Joint Meeting of the Monterey Bay andGulf of the Farallones National

Marine Sanctuary Advisory Councils

December 9, 2005Half Moon Bay

When is a NationalMarine Sanctuary Not

a Sanctuary?Recent 2005 Legal Authority for

Seismic Oil and Gas Exploration usingShip-Towed Airgun Arrays within All

US National Marine Sanctuaries

Current Protections onOuter Continental Shelf:

1. Annual Congressional OCSMoratorium until Oct. 1, 2006.

2. Presidential OCS Deferrals until2012.

3. National Marine Sanctuaries.4. OCSLAA Exclusionary Zones.

Legislative OCSMoratorium

• Began in 1981, as part of FY 1982 DOIAppropriations Bill.

• Renewed annually with bipartisancooperation.

• Included in Bush budget for FY 2006.• Final Passage in July of 2005.• Bans OCS “leasing, pre-leasing, and

related activities”.

PresidentialOCS Deferrals

• 1990: Former President GeorgeBush Sr. impanels NationalResearch Council of Nat’lAcademy of Sciences to studyOCS leasing.

PresidentialOCS Deferrals

• 1991: National Research Council, after oneyear of studies, determines that scientificdata is inadequate to permit OCS leasingwithin moratorium areas and ensure thatthe environment will be protected.

PresidentialOCS Deferrals

• 1991: President Bush, Sr., issues order,pursuant to OCS Lands Act, that no OCSleasing will occur within moratorium areasuntil after 2002.

• 1998: President Clinton extends thisadministrative order until after the year2012.

OCS Lands ActExclusionary Zones

National MarineSanctuaries

Omnibus Energy Actof 2005:

• REQUIRES “OCS Inventory” using seismicsurveys, even within sensitive coastalwaters protected by the Congressionalmoratorium.

• NO EXEMPTION for National MarineSanctuaries from the OCS Inventory.

Energy Act of 2005:• Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. No. 109-

58) SEC. 357. COMPREHENSIVEINVENTORY OF OCS OIL ANDNATURAL GAS RESOURCES.

• (a) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of theInterior shall conduct an inventory andanalysis of oil and natural gasresources beneath all of the waters ofthe United States Outer ContinentalShelf (`OCS')....

Energy Act of 2005:

• The inventory and analysis shall--• (1) use available data on oil and gas

resources in areas offshore of Mexicoand Canada that will provideinformation on trends of oil and gasaccumulation in areas of the OCS;

• (2) use any available technology, exceptdrilling, but including 3-D seismictechnology to obtain accurate resourceestimates….

Energy Act of 2005:• 3) analyze how resource estimates in

OCS areas have changed over time inregards to gathering geological andgeophysical data, initial exploration, orfull field development, including areassuch as the deepwater and subsaltareas in the Gulf of Mexico;

• (4) estimate the effect that understatedoil and gas resource inventories haveon domestic energy investments;and…..

Energy Act of 2005:• (5) identify and explain how legislative,

regulatory, and administrative programsor processes restrict or impede thedevelopment of identified resourcesand the extent that they affect domesticsupply, such as moratoria, lease termsand conditions, operational stipulationsand requirements, approval delays bythe Federal government and coastalStates, and local zoning restrictions foronshore processing facilities andpipeline landings…..

Energy Act of 2005:

• (b) REPORTS- The Secretary ofInterior shall submit a report toCongress on the inventory ofestimates and the analysis ofrestrictions or impediments,together with anyrecommendations, within 6months of the date of enactmentof the section. The report shall bepublicly available and updated atleast every 5 years.

Omnibus Energy Billof 2005 also:

• Grants unilateral authority over offshoreLNG terminals, subsea petroleumpipelines, offshore wind and wave energyfacilities, to the Secretary of Interior, forleasing, permitting, regulation, andenforcement.

• State role in coastal LNG siting isessentially removed.

“Ocean State Options Act”,proposed in House BudgetReconciliation Package by

Rep. Pombo• Would immediately rescind OCS moratorium

nationwide, no further congressional control overoffshore drilling decisions.

• Coerce coastal states into accepting newoffshore leasing.

• States could request 5-years of protection, onlytwice, for 10 years total.

• Would undo “OCS Inventory” in previous bill.

Rep. Pombo’s “Ocean StateOptions Act”

• Not adopted in House BudgetReconciliation Package.

Seismic Surveys:- Tens of thousands of high-decibel

explosive impulses in order to gathergeologic profiles from seabed rockstructures.

- Seismic survey vessels tow long cableswhich trail arrays of “airguns” andacoustic transducers for the purpose ofemitting and receiving intense soundwaves to evaluate subsea geologicformations.

- Common seismic survey configurationsinvolve 24 airguns in each array.

Seismic Surveys:- Sound source is a periodic, repetitive

explosion in the water column created bya high-pressure gas airgun, whichconstantly sends a sharp spike of loudacoustic pulse through the water and deepinto the seafloor.

- Airgun arrays produce sound atfrequencies that are concentrated in therange from 20 to 150 Hz, which is withinthe auditory range of many marinespecies, including large whales.

U.S. Department of Interior,Minerals Management

Service (MMS)• Five-Year OCS Program establishes

the size, timing, and location ofleasing actions.

• Broad Secretarial Discretion.• Limited meaningful input by

Congress, states, localities.

Five-Year Program is thetemplate for all OCS leasingactions between 2007-2012

• Solicitation of public comments on EISand Programmatic Document has beencompleted.

• Draft EIS and Program.• Final Program to Congress and then to the

President.

Rep. Peterson’sNatural GasLegislation:

• Drilling impacts similar to offshore oil.• Discharge of drill muds and cuttings.• Radioactive discharges in Gulf areas .• Air quality issues, on and offshore.• Pipeline construction impacts.• Waterborne spills of liquid gas condensates.• Shoreline industrialization.