Chapter Vm — OCS Development 



3 July letter, the Commission noted that such sources 

 of mortality must be considered when assessing the 

 possible effects of oil and gas activities on these 

 species. Thus, the Commission recommended that, if 

 it had not already done so, the Minerals Management 

 Service consult the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 to: (1) obtain the best available information on the 

 status, trends, and incidental catch of small cetaceans 

 that occur in the Cook Inlet Planning Area, (2) deter- 

 mine what additional information would be required 

 to realistically assess the direct, indirect, and cumula- 

 tive effects of oil and gas activities on these species, 

 and (3) determine how any additional information 

 needs could best be met. 



It would be prohibitively costly, if not impossible, 

 to obtain the quality and quantity of information 

 necessary to accurately predict the possible impacts of 

 oil and gas activities on each species and population 

 of marine mammal that could be affected by such 

 activities. Even so, the Minerals Management Service 

 is required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and 

 other relevant legislation to ensure that such activities 

 do not have adverse impacts on these species. The 

 Commission believes that such requirements might 

 best be met, at least in part, by identifying and 

 monitoring a subset of "indicator" species most likely 

 to be affected in detectable ways. Therefore, the 

 Commission recommended that, if it had not already 

 done so, the Service determine how site-specific and 

 long-term monitoring programs may help the agency 

 meet its statutory responsibilities. 



Impact of Oil Spills on Arctic Natives 



On 24 March 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker 

 ran aground in Prince William Sound, spilling approx- 

 imately 1 1 million gallons of crude oil into the Sound 

 (see Chapter VII for a discussion of efforts to assess 

 and mitigate the effects of the spill on marine mam- 

 mals). As noted in the previous Annual Report, in 

 the months following the Exxon Valdez spill, more 

 than 20 pieces of legislation were introduced on tanker 

 safety and pollution liability. The result of this 

 legislative activity was enactment of the Oil Pollution 

 Act of 1990, signed into law on 18 August 1990. The 

 primary goal of the Act is to prevent ftiture oil spills. 



For spills that do occur, the Act sets forth measures 

 designed to provide quick and efficient cleanup, 

 minimize damage to fisheries, wildlife, and other 

 natural resources, provide adequate compensation for 

 victims of oil spills, and assign costs for such efforts 

 to the oil industry. 



Section 8302 of the Act directs the Secretary of the 

 Interior, in consultation with the Governor of Alaska, 

 to conduct a study and provide a report to Congress 

 by 31 January 1991 on issues related to recovery of 

 damages, contingency plans, and coordination actions 

 in the event of an oil spill in the Arctic Ocean. In 

 partial response, the Department of the Interior's 

 Office of Environmental Affairs drafted and, on 11 

 July 1991, forwarded to the Commission and others a 

 draft report on the impact of potential crude oil spills 

 in the Arctic Ocean on Alaska Natives. 



The Commission, in consultation with its Commit- 

 tee of Scientific Advisors, reviewed the draft report 

 and, on 16 August 1991, provided comments to the 

 Department. The Commission noted that, as it under- 

 stood the intent of Congress, the purpose of the report 

 was to obtain objective assessments of: (1) the risk of 

 oil spills occurring and impacting Native communities 

 and subsistence resources along the Arctic coast of 

 Alaska; (2) the types and scale of damages that could 

 occur and the means available to Natives for recovery 

 of damages incurred, and (3) the adequacy of contin- 

 gency plans and technology for containing, cleaning 

 up, and minimizing the socio-economic and environ- 

 mental impacts of oil spills along the Arctic coast of 

 Alaska. 



The Commission advised the Department that, in 

 its opinion, the draft did not provide all of the re- 

 quested assessments. It did not, for example, provide 

 assessments of: (1) the risks of oil spills occurring 

 and impacting fish and wildlife resources upon which 

 many Native communities depend, (2) the types and 

 scale of damages that could occur, or (3) the adequacy 

 of existing technology and plans for containing, 

 cleaning up, and minimizing or mitigating the impacts 

 of oil spills on Native communities and subsistence 

 resources. The final report was submitted to Con- 

 gress on 24 December 1991. 



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