455 



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B. Future Directions for the BTF 



The Biological Task Force must aggressively begin to 

 counter this inverted science. The BTF must stress, and Interior 

 must recognize, that baseline data should play a more dominant role 

 in choosing where and when to lease, and not merely be used to 

 regulate OCS operations already underway. 



The BTF may approach this problem by pursuing the responsi- 

 bilities set forth in its founding charter. To date, the Task 

 Force has focused almost exclusively on the Monitoring Program. 

 Yet its other duties, according to its charter, include: 



1) identifying zones of special biological significance; 



2) recommending specific studies for these zones; 



3) recommending criteria for the adverse biological 

 effects on the Georges Bank ecosystem; including, 

 where feasible, the establishment of specific 

 standards; (and) 



4) recommending mitigation measures for biological resources. 

 It is also crucial that the BTF be given a more authoritative 



role. Presently, the BTF recommendations are purely advisory 

 and are readily ignored by Interior. BTF positions and recom- 

 mendations should be granted far greater weight, and perhaps made 

 binding in appropriate circumstances . 



Members of the BTF should be carefully chosen from 

 agency personnel active in the Georges Bank region, yet those 

 with sufficient seniority and authority to render major policy decisions 

 and commit their respective agencies to implementation. 



Serious efforts should be directed to synthesis of 

 scientific information generated outside the Monitoring Program 

 itself. This, of course, is one of the fundamental purposes of an 

 interagency task force. Little integration has occured to date. 



A review of the Sale 52 EIS confirms this conclusion. The EIS 



