PART 1 -- U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



Part 1 of this report reviews the organizational structure and 

 programs of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 



Part 2 discusses OCS oil and gas leasing procedures, stipulations, 

 and permits for lease tracts of the Outer Continental Shelf under 

 Federal jurisdiction. Because of the number of agencies involved, 

 keeping Federal environmental interests coordinated under the Outer 

 Continental Shelf Lands Act [1] is a complex and time consuming task. 



Part 3 of the report concerns the inshore component, i.e., review 

 of permits for nearshore and onshore developments related to OCS oil 

 and gas activities. Pipelines, platform construction yards, service 

 bases and other facilities usually require one or more Federal permits 

 before operation may begin. 



1.1 FISH AND WILDLIFE ORGANIZATION AND OBJECTIVES 



The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principle Federal Agency 

 responsible for preserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife 

 resources and environments. FWS has participated in rapid growth of 

 environmental responsibilities in many areas of the Federal Government 

 in the last decade. Passage of a number of Acts of Congress has been 

 instrumental in this transition period; consequently, FWS has been 

 called upon to supply increasingly more complex and useful information 

 and recommendations on fish and wildlife problems and conservation. 

 Some of the programs of the Fish and Wildlife Service and those 

 activities or impacts related to offshore oil and gas development are 

 described in the following subsection. 



1.1.1 Fish and Wildlife Service Programs 



Fish and wildlife conservation and environmental protection are 

 administered by the Director and Deputy Director and managed by 

 Associate Directors for Environment and Research, Fish and Wildlife 

 Management, and Federal Assistance (Figure 1). The Associate Directors, 

 each with specific programs, manage their programs by program objec- 

 tives. Although most offshore and coastal environmental problems are 

 managed principally by the Associate Director for Environment and 

 Research through the Biological Services and Land and Water Resources 

 Development Planning Programs, five other programs are related to 

 coastal functions. The seven programs [2] are listed and described 

 below. 



1. The Biological Services Program of the Office of Biological 

 Services provides ecosystems information, baseline data, planning and 



1 



