wildlife resource and habitat protection in oil and gas leasing and 

 production areas. The coordinator communicates current FWS policies 

 and guidelines to Regional Activity Leaders for day-to-day oil leasing 

 and production decisions. The Coastal Ecosystems Team provides infor- 

 mation, methodology, and technical assistance. 



OBS Regional Activities Leaders and the OCS Coordinator propose 

 environmental studies that may be conducted by FWS or by BLM and other 

 agencies or institutions. Recent Executive Instructions and Secretarial 

 Orders have called on BLM and USGS to give greater weight to environ- 

 mental factors in OCS oil and gas development and affected areas. 



The OCS coordinator also handles formal contacts, reports, and 

 recommendations with other Department of Interior agencies such as BLM, 

 USGS, and NPS in the leasing and production process. 



1.2 FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE ROLE IN REVIEWING OCS RELATED DEVELOP- 

 MENT PROJECTS 



Two Federal programs for environmental study and information 

 exchange created a major role for the Fish and Wildlife Service as an 

 environmental advisor to other agencies that review Federally funded 

 or managed projects related to OCS development. The roles were out- 

 lined in the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1958 as amended, 

 and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Both Acts give 

 FWS cooperative authority with other Federal agencies. FWS regularly 

 communicates with about 24 Federal Program areas, principally through 

 several types of referral /review procedures as indicated in Table 2. 



In addition to the above, coordination measures are outlined in 

 Secretarial Order 2974 which formalizes the planning and operating 

 functions of the OCS minerals program in the Department of Interior. 



1.2.1 The Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act 



Amendments to the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1958 

 broadened the authority of the Department of the Interior for consulta- 

 tions with other Federal and state agencies for water-related permits 

 and projects. The 1958 legislation established the following basic 

 FWS review authority [9]: 



"...whenever the waters of any stream or other body of water are 

 proposed or authorized to be impounded, diverted, the channel deepened, 

 or the stream or other body of water otherwise controlled or modified 

 for any purpose whatever, including navigation and drainage, by any 



