oceanpolicy.com

The Interior Department today announced the disbursement of nearly $250 million in FY 2020 offshore oil and gas revenue to Texas (~$67M), Louisiana (~$110M), Mississippi (~$36.5M), and Alabama (~$35M) for conservation, restoration, hurricane protection, and resilience projects.  The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) disbursement is the second largest since GOMESA revenues started being disbursed in [...]

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service today announced that it is extending the public comment through Wednesday, May 26 on its proposal to designate critical habitat for seven threatened corals in U.S. waters in the Indo-Pacific. In announcing the second extension, NMFS cited requests received from the Directors of the American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources, Commonwealth of [...]

NOAA today announced an agreement with Ørsted Wind Power North America LLC to share physical and biological data in waters leased by the federal government.  NOAA called the agreement “the first of its kind between an offshore wind developer and NOAA” that “paves the way for similar data-sharing agreements with other developers.” NOAA Acting Administrator Ben Friedman [...]

The U.S. Secretaries of the Interior, Energy, Commerce, and Transportation convened at the White House today for a forum with representatives from states, the offshore wind industry, and labor to support the advancement of U.S. offshore wind activity, and set a target of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030.  In furtherance of the initiative, DOI plans to complete review [...]

The State Department today announced the 2-year renewal of the Shipping Coordinating Committee. The Committee was established to provide a forum for interested members of government and the public to participate in discussions about shipping initiatives to be considered by the International Maritime Organization.  The Committee solicits public views on a wide range of technical issues connected with [...]

The Interior Department today held a virtual public forum on the federal oil and gas program that included panels with representatives from indigenous communities, industry, organizations focused on the environment and equity, labor, academia. In her opening remarks, Interior Sec. Deb Haaland said that while fossil fuels “will continue to play a major role in America for years [...]

The National Science Foundation today announced that it is seeking recommendations for membership on its scientific and technical federal advisory committees, including Committees for Geosciences, Polar Programs, and Environmental Research and Education. Advisory committees typically meet twice annually to review and provide advice on program management, discuss current issues, and review and provide advice on the impact of policies, programs, and [...]

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service today announced that it will convene a virtual 4-session workshop on May 5-6, 12-13, 19-20, and 26-27 to solicit facts and information from experts to help identify and guide recovery needs for 15 Indo-Pacific threatened coral species.  Input received during the workshop, which will include public comment opportunities during each session, will inform the development of [...]

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service today announced that the final rule expanding the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary took effect on March 22.  The final rule issued in January expanded by 104 square miles and revised the sanctuary’s terms of designation.

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service today announced that it is extending the comment period on the agency’s initiation of a 5-year review for the threatened Beringia and Okhotsk distinct population segments of the Pacific bearded seal subspecies through Tuesday, May 25.  Originally due to expire on March 26, NMFS said it is extending the comment period in response [...]