ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING FOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS 

 FOREWORD 



This report is one in a series prepared by The Conservation Founda- 

 tion for the Office of Biological Services of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service (Contract 14-16-0008-962). The series conveys technical informa- 

 tion and develops an impact assessment system relating'to the recovery 

 of oil and gas resources beyond the three-mile territorial limit of the 

 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The series is designed to aid Fish and 

 Wildlife Service personnel in the conduct of environmental reviews and 

 decisions concerning OCS oil and gas development. In addition, the 

 reports are intended to be as helpful as possible to the public, the 

 oil and gas industry, and to all government agencies involved with 

 resource management and environmental protection. 



Oil and gas have been recovered for several decades from the Outer 

 Continental Shelf of Texas, Louisiana and California. In the future, 

 the Department of the Interior plans to lease more tracts, not only 

 off these coasts, but also off the frontier regions of the North, Mid- 

 and South Atlantic, eastern Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Northwest and Alaska. 

 Within the set of constraints imposed by the international petroleum 

 market (including supply, demand and price), critical decisions are made 

 jointly by industry and government on whether it is advisable or not to 

 move ahead with leasing and development of each of the offshore frontier 

 areas. Once the decision to develop a field is made, many other deci- 

 sions are necessary, such as where to locate offshore platforms, where 

 to locate the onshore support areas, and how to transport hydrocarbons 

 to market. 



Existing facilities and the size of the resource will dictate 

 which facilities will be needed, what the siting requirements will be, 

 and where facilities will be sited. If the potential for marketable 

 resources is moderate, offshore activities may be staged from areas 

 already having harbor facilities and support industries; therefore, 

 they may have little impact on the coast adjacent to a frontier area. 

 An understanding of these options from industry's perspective will 

 enable Fish and Wildlife Service personnel to anticipate development 

 activities in various OCS areas and to communicate successfully with 

 industry to assure that fish and wildlife resources will be protected. 



