-- Environmental impact assessment 



-- The departmental decision process 



-- Lease sales 



-- Post sale management 



-- Environmental studies 



The reorganization of energy related activities in the Federal 

 government shifts some agency responsibilities, and in broad outlines, 

 separates lease sales and management from environmental evaluation, 

 leaving the latter in the Department of the Interior and moving sales 

 and management to the new energy agency [33]. A draft of the current 

 legislation is appended. Though no other reference to this proposal is 

 made, it will have a significant effect on agency designations and on fine 

 details of the leasing procedure as the reorganization plan is implemented. 



2.1 FEDERAL PROGRAM RESPONSIBILITIES 



The Bureau of Land Management (BLfl), in the U.S. Department of the 

 Interior, has primary responsibility for leasing Outer Continental Shelf 

 lands for oil and gas recovery, with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) also 

 in Interior, playing a corresponding role in the post-leasing phase, super- 

 vising exploration, offshore development and production. Both agencies 

 work in close cooperation with the FWS to monitor potential impacts on fish 

 and wildlife resources and habitats on the Outer Continental Shelf [34]. 

 The FWS relies heavily on the OCS Coordinator in Washington, D.C., the 

 National Coastal Ecosystems Team in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and 

 Regional Activity Leaders in each of the regions where leasing evaluations 

 are underway to represent FWS interests in the leasing process. Nearshore 

 and onshore OCS permit activities are discussed in Part 3 of this report. 



Regulations and procedures for leasing are prepared under the 

 "umbrella" authority of the OCS Lands Act [35] which names the Secretary 

 of the Interior as the agent with authority to lease OCS tracts for oil 

 and gas development. Each agency involved in the process (BLM, USGS, 

 NPS, FWS, COE, USCG, etc.) publishes its own regulations or procedures 

 for internal agency operations [36]. FWS cooperative work with state 

 Coastal Zone Management Programs may also exert an indirect influence on 

 planning for OCS development [37]. 



Within the Department of the Interior, the key to these procedures 

 is Che Memorandum of Understanding of November 26, 1972 (revised January 

 19, 1977) among four key groups, BLM, USGS, NPS, FWS, supplemented by 

 Secretarial Order 2974 [38]. The U.S. Department of the Interior has 

 defined a complex system of cross references between the four agencies 

 reflecting their different roles. USGS is generally concerned wTth 

 optimal resource exploitation and associated operations; the FWS with 

 fish, wildlife and habitat issues; NPS with antiquities and cultural 

 factors; and BLM must weigh and interpret these interests and others 

 (fof instance^, state coastal zone management programs ) in th e process 

 of evaluating potential lease tracts and drawing lease stipulations. 



17 



