CHAPTER X 



OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT 



Activities and oil spills associated with exploration 

 and development of offshore oil and gas resources may 

 adversely affect marine mammals and the ecosystems of which 

 they are a part. Under the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) 

 Lands Act, the Department of the Interior's Minerals Manage- 

 ment Service is responsible for predicting, detecting, and 

 mitigating the adverse effects of OCS exploration and 

 development. The National Marine Fisheries Service and the 

 Fish and Wildlife Service are responsible, under the Marine 

 Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act, for 

 reviewing proposed actions and advising the Minerals Manage- 

 ment Service of measures that may be needed to assure that 

 those actions will not be to the disadvantage of marine 

 mammals and other wildlife. The Commission reviews relevant 

 policies and activities of these agencies and recommends 

 actions that appear necessary to protect marine mammals and 

 their habitats. The Commission's activities in this regard 

 in 1986 are discussed below. 



Proposed OCS Lease Sale #97 

 Beaufort and Chukchi Seas 



Lease Sale #97, tentatively scheduled for January 1988, 

 involves up to 3,930 blocks (approximatley 8.6 million acres) 

 of submerged lands in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off the 

 North Slope of Alaska. Eight species of marine mammals occur 

 in the area, including two endangered whale species, the 

 bowhead whale and the gray whale. The Minerals Management 

 Service's Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the pro- 

 posed action, provided to the Commission and others for 

 review and comment in November 1986, concludes that possible 

 effects on endangered and non-endangered marine mammals are 

 likely to be minor. The draft Statement further concludes 

 that the cumulative effects of offshore oil and gas develop- 

 ment activities on endangered whales in the area are likely 

 to be moderate. 



The Commission, in consultation with its Committee of 

 Scientific Advisors, reviewed the draft Statement and, at the 

 end of 1986, was preparing comments for submission to the 

 Minerals Management Service. Although the draft Statement 

 considers many of the possible impacts of the proposed 



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