Chapter VII 



OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF OIL AND GAS 

 EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT 



Exploration and development of coastal and off- 

 shore oil, gas, and hard mineral resources may ad- 

 versely affect marine mammals and their habitat. 

 Under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the 

 Department of the Interior's Minerals Management 

 Service is responsible for assessing, detecting, and 

 preventing or mitigating the adverse effects of these 

 activities in offshore waters beyond state jurisdiction. 

 Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the 

 Endangered Species Act, the National Marine Fisher- 

 ies Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service are 

 responsible for reviewing proposed actions and 

 advising the Minerals Management Service and other 

 agencies on measures needed to ensure that those 

 actions will not have adverse effects on marine 

 mammals or endangered or threatened species. The 

 Army Corps of Engineers also has related regulatory 

 authority over oil and gas development projects that 

 require certain permits under the Clean Water Act. 



The Marine Mammal Commission reviews relevant 

 policies and activities of these agencies and recom- 

 mends actions that appear necessary to protect marine 

 mammals and their habitats. The Commission's 

 activities in this regard in 1998 are discussed below. 



The Marine Mammal Protection Act directs the 

 Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce to authorize, 

 in certain instances, the unintentional taking of small 

 numbers of marine mammals by U.S. citizens inci- 

 dental to activities other than commercial fishing 

 operations. Such authorizations related to offshore oil 

 and gas activities are discussed in Chapter IX. 



Beaufort Sea/Northstar Project 



As discussed in previous annual reports, BP 

 Exploration (Alaska) Inc. is undertaking oil and gas 



development and production in an area of the southern 

 Beaufort Sea off Alaska known as the Northstar Unit. 

 The project includes construction of an artificial 

 island, subsea pipelines, and associated ice roads 

 connecting the island to existing infrastructure in 

 Prudhoe Bay. Among other things, these facilities 

 require a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers 

 under section 404 of the Clean Water Act. As a 

 related matter, requests by BP for authorization to 

 take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to 

 seismic testing in the Northstar area have been dis- 

 cussed in previous reports. BP's request for a small- 

 take authorization relative to construction of the 

 offshore structure and related activities is discussed in 

 Chapter IX of this report. 



On 1 June 1998 the Army Corps of Engineers 

 issued a draft environmental impact statement for the 

 issuance of a section 404 permit for construction of an 

 artificial island and buried pipeline as part of the 

 Beaufort Sea/Northstar Project. The Marine Mammal 

 Commission, in consultation with its Committee of 

 Scientific Advisors, reviewed the draft statement and 

 on 30 June 1998 provided comments to the Corps. 



In its letter, the Commission noted that the draft 

 statement provided a succinct summary of the environ- 

 mental and socioeconomic impacts of the proposed 

 development and the potential effects of construction 

 and daily operation of the Northstar Unit on marine 

 mammals and other biota. The Commission com- 

 mended the preparers of the draft statement for the 

 extensive consideration given the endangered bowhead 

 whale. However, less consideration had been given 

 other marine mammal species that could be affected 

 by the proposed construction. For instance, the 

 Commission noted that the project could adversely 

 affect polar bears and ringed seals and recommended 

 that these species be given greater consideration. 



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