1998 Year of the Ocean Ocean Energy and Minerals 



stakeholders early in the planning stages, maintaining a meaningful dialogue, and assuring that 

 non-federal concerns play an important and crucial role in the decision process. This new way of 

 doing business and interacting with constituents has been characterized as ^'moving beyond 

 conflict to consensus." 



While disagreement and contention still exist today, involved parties are talking and 

 interacting in a positive manner, and a general atmosphere of trust and respect is replacing the 

 mistrust of only a few years ago. There is a need to build upon this new paradigm so that as the 

 United States enters the 21st century, all parties will continue to work toward a national 

 consensus on development of offshore oil and gas resources while being sensitive to regional and 

 local issues and concerns. This also applies to the relatively new arena of using offshore sand and 

 gravel resources for beach renourishment. As more and more coastal communities look to OCS 

 sand for replenishing beaches and protecting property, and as the commercial sector becomes 

 increasingly interested in OCS aggregate for building materials, it is likely that the issue will 

 become highly contentious if the various stakeholders are not involved early in the decision 

 process. 



In October 1993, the OCS Policy Committee's Subcommittee on OCS Legislation 

 offered the following specific recommendations for forwarding the new paradigm of moving 

 beyond conflict to consensus: 



1. Regional task forces representing all OCS program stakeholders should be established 

 to focus more on reaching consensus on OCS leasing decisions in an effort to obviate 

 the need for moratoria. 



2. A prompt and suitable resolution should be attained for the leases that have been 

 targeted for buyback and are subject to litigation. Generally, section 5 of the OCS 

 Lands Act, as amended, should be the means for considering leases for cancellation 

 and compensation, and section 5 is not in need of amendment at this time. 



3. A portion of the revenues derived from OCS program activities should be shared with 

 coastal states. Great Lakes states, and U.S. territories. 



4. Economic and technical incentives should be thoroughly analyzed and considered for 



implementation by the Department of the Interior to encourage the U.S. oil and gas 

 industry's continued participation in the OCS program. 



Implementation of these recommendations may go a long way toward ensuring that the 

 OCS program continues to be a reliable and significant contributor to the energy supply and 

 economic well-being of the United States. Involvement of all stakeholders in the planning and 

 decision processes are important to ensure that development and production activities are carried 

 out in a maimer consistent with the highest standards of human safety and environmental 

 protection. This approach can also serve as a blueprint for establishing successful OCS mineral 

 programs. 



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