1998 Year of the Ocean Ocean Energy and Minerals 



Lands Act in 1953. Of the OCS revenues collected each year, up to $900 million is deposited in 

 the Land and Water Conservation Fund (for state and federal projects); $150 million goes to the 

 national Historic Preservation Fund; roughly $500-600 million is distributed to coastal states (in 

 accordance with section 8(g) of the OCS Lands Act; and the remainder goes to the U.S. Treasury. 

 Additional revenue is generated from taxes on industry profits and wages. 



The Human and Environmental Safety Record 



There are significant risks associated with oil and gas development. With respect to 

 possible risks to humans, some major safety concerns are blowouts, explosions, fires, and vessel 

 and helicopter accidents. Exploration, development, and production of oil and gas also may 

 impact the marine, coastal, and human environments in several ways: 



• physical disruption of the seafloor habitat and benthic communities; 



• discharge of chemicals, drilling muds and cuttings, and produced waters; 



• hydrocarbon air emissions from facilities, supply vessels, and helicopters; 



• exploration and production noise impacts on marine mammals and fisheries stocks; 



• impacts of explosive platform removals on fish species; 



• socioeconomic impacts on coastal communities and ports — of special concern in Alaska 

 are potential impacts on native Alaskan subsistence culture; and 



• accidental oil spills. 



Routine permitted activities are carefully monitored to minimize the risk of significant 

 effects on the environment. Spills generally are viewed as much more threatening to the 

 environment due to the immediate damage and disruption a large release can cause to ecological 

 resources and to coastal livelihoods and activities that depend on those resources. The number of 

 significant spills from oil production in state and federal waters has been low and the volume of 

 oil spilled has, in general, continuously decreased over the years. There has not been a spill larger 

 than 1,000 barrels from an OCS platform or rig since 1980. In fact, since 1980, OCS operators 

 have produced some 5.5 billion barrels of oil of which only 61,500 barrels (or 0.001 percent) has 

 been spilled. Natural seeps introduce about 100 times more oil into U.S. marine waters than have^ 

 spills from OCS oil and gas activities. Increased precautions by industry, enhanced safety 

 technology (e.g., blowout preventors and shut-in valves), and adherence to strict governmental 

 regulations have all contributed to minimizing the risk of oil spills from offshore activities. 



The MMS diligently strives to diminish environmental and human risks through its 

 regulatory program, which places stringent environmental and human protection requirements on 

 all OCS operators. 



Environmental Safeguards 



Through a broad range of environmental laws, the federal government has the 

 responsibility — either on its own or in cooperation with states — ^to prevent or eliminate damage 

 to the environment; to regulate pollution to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and 



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