Five-Year PCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program 



On 2 July 1987, the Secretary of the Interior approved a 

 Final Five-Year OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program for the period 

 mid-1987 to mid-1992. In response to legal challenges filed by 

 several states and environmental groups, the U.S. Court of 

 Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the Final 

 Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on the proposed leasing 

 program failed to adequately analyze cumulative effects, 

 including effects of simultaneous development in different 

 regions, on migrating species of birds, marine mammals, and fish. 

 Therefore, to help determine if changes in the five-year leasing 

 program might be warranted, the Minerals Management Service 

 prepared a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 

 (DSEIS) on the program. By letter of 16 August 1989, the 

 Commission was asked to review and comment on the supplemental 

 statement. 



The Commission, in consultation with its Committee of 

 Scientific Advisors, reviewed the Supplemental Statement and, by 

 letter of 17 October 1989, provided comments to the Minerals 

 Management Service. In its letter, the Commission noted that the 

 DSEIS had concluded, among other things, that the level of 

 cumulative impact on northern fur seals is likely to be high; the 

 level of cumulative impact on Steller sea lions is likely to be 

 moderate; and the level of cumulative impacts on other migratory 

 marine mammals, including both endangered and non-endangered 

 species, is likely to range between moderate and very low. The 

 Commission noted, however, that the DSEIS considered potential 

 cumulative impacts only in the Alaska and Pacific Regions. It 

 was not clear whether the Service planned to consider separately 

 the cumulative effects on migratory species in the Atlantic and 

 Gulf of Mexico Regions or whether the Service had concluded that 

 it was unnecessary to consider possible cumulative impacts in 

 those Regions. Therefore, the Commission recommended that, if no 

 separate analysis or document is planned, the DSEIS either be 

 revised to indicate why analysis of possible cumulative impacts 

 in the Atlantic and Gulf Regions was considered unnecessary or 

 that it be expanded to consider possible cumulative impacts on 

 marine mammals and other migratory species in those OCS Regions. 



In its letter the Commission also noted that, with respect 

 to the Alaska and Pacific OCS Regions, the DSEIS considered 

 potential cumulative impacts on some, but not all migratory 

 marine mammals. For instance, it did not address cumulative 

 impacts on many small cetaceans or pinnipeds known to migrate 

 through those Regions. Therefore, the Commission also 

 recommended that the DSEIS be modified to indicate why the 

 Minerals Management Service believed it unnecessary to consider 

 possible cumulative impacts on all migratory species or that the 

 document be expanded to do so. The Commission further 

 recommended that the DSEIS be expanded to: (a) better reflect 



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