CHAPTER IX 



OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF OIL, GAS, AND MINERAL DEVELOPMENT 



Activities and environmental contamination associated with 

 exploration and development of coastal and offshore oil and gas 

 resources may adversely affect marine mammals and the ecosystems 

 of which they are a part. Under the Outer Continental Shelf 

 (OCS) Lands Act, the Department of the Interior's Minerals 

 Management Service is responsible for predicting, detecting, and 

 mitigating the adverse effects of OCS exploration and develop- 

 ment. The National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service are responsible, under the Marine Mammal 

 Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act, for reviewing 

 proposed actions and advising the Minerals Management Service of 

 measures that may be needed to assure that those actions will not 

 have adverse effects on marine mammals or species listed as 

 endangered or threatened. The Commission reviews relevant 

 policies and activities of these agencies and recommends actions 

 that appear necessary to protect marine mammals and their 

 habitats. The Commission's activities in this regard in 1989 are 

 discussed below. 



Proposed Oil and Gas Lease Sales #131. #135. and #137 

 Central, Western, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico 



The Minerals Management Service is tentatively planning to 

 hold three proposed lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico in 1991. 

 Sale #131 (scheduled for March 1991) would involve up to 5,657 

 blocks or 30.3 million acres of submerged lands in the central 

 Gulf; sale #135 (August 1991) would involve 5,072 blocks or 27.9 

 million acres in the western Gulf; and sale #137 (November 1991) 

 would involve 8,345 blocks or 47.5 million acres in the eastern 

 Gulf. Twenty-eight species of marine mammals, including seven 

 endangered species, are known to occur in or migrate through the 

 proposed lease sale areas. Two marine mammal species of special 

 concern found in the Gulf of Mexico leasing areas are the 

 endangered West Indian manatee ( Trichechus manatus ) and the 

 bottlenose dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus) . 



On 10 May 1989, the Minerals Management Service announced 

 its intent to prepare an environmental impact statement on the 

 proposed lease sales and asked the Commission and others for any 

 pertinent information on the proposal. The Commission, in 

 consultation with its Committee of Scientific Advisors, reviewed 

 the Service's "Call for Information and Notice of Intent" on the 

 proposed action and, by letter of 12 June 1989, forwarded 

 comments and recommendations to the Service. 



173 



