Media Coverage

The State Department today announced that it will hold a public teleconference meeting on Tuesday, May 25 in preparation for the 45th session of the International Maritime Organization’s Facilitation Committee, to be held virtually June 1-4 and on June 7. Agenda items include a regulatory scoping exercise for the use of maritime autonomous surface ships, technical cooperation activities related to […]

The U.S. Coast Guard today announced that it is seeking comments by Wednesday, May 12 on its efforts to conduct a Port Access Route Study to evaluate the adequacy of existing vessel routing measures and whether additional vessel routing measures are necessary for port approaches to New York and New Jersey and international and domestic transit areas in

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service recently announced the issuance of an authorization and potential 1-year renewal for Skipjack Offshore Energy, LLC to take 16 marine mammal species by Level B harassment incidental to marine site characterization high-resolution geophysical surveys offshore Delaware.  The surveys will provide a baseline assessment of seabed, ecological, and archeological conditions within the footprint of

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service today highlighted the findings of two new annual Northeast Fisheries Science Center reports developed for the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Councils regarding the current status of the Northeast Shelf marine ecosystems in the New England (Georges Bank/Gulf of Maine) and Mid-Atlantic (Mid-Atlantic Bight) regions. In addition to covering new areas such as

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