Media Coverage

OSPAR Commission Holds Virtual Annual Meeting

The OSPAR Commission for the protection of  the marine environment of the Northeast Atlantic today announced the outcomes of its annual meeting held virtually on Dec. 8-9. Discussion items included the development of OSPAR’s Northeast Atlantic Environment Strategy 2030, which will include targets to achieve a sustainably used and clean, healthy, and biologically diverse ocean and be adopted at a […]

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EPA Commemorates GLRI’s 10-Year Anniversary

The Environmental Protection Agency today commemorated the 10-year anniversary of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which has funded more than 5,400 projects worth in excess of $2.7 billion since its launch in 2010. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said that GLRI “has made a critical difference in dramatically improved water quality and sustainable habitat across the Great Lakes

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NOAA Issues Arctic Report Card

NOAA today announced the release of the agency’s 15th Arctic Report Card, which provides annual updates on surface air temperature, terrestrial snow cover, the Greenland ice sheet, sea ice, sea surface temperature, Arctic ocean primary productivity, and tundra greenness. Findings include the second-warmest land-surface air temperature on record, the second-lowest Arctic minimum sea ice extent on record,

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NMFS Announces New Tool for Analyzing Effects of Proposed Wind Projects

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service today announced the availability of new tools established to provide information about the effects of proposed Atlantic offshore wind energy projects on fisheries and fishing communities.  NMFS noted that there are currently over 16 wind energy areas stretching from Maine to North Carolina that could ultimately lead to the installation of over 2,100

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NMFS Seeks Comments on Draft Marine Mammal Stock Assessment Reports

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service today announced that it is seeking public comments by Thursday, March 4 on draft 2020 marine mammal stock assessment reports (SAR’s) for marine mammals in the Atlantic (includes Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and U.S. territories in the Caribbean), Alaska, and Pacific regions.  NMFS also seeks new information for strategic stocks that were not

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BOEM Announces Record of Decision on Gulf of Mexico G&G Activities

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today announced the availability of a Record of Decision for the 2017 Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for proposed geological and geophysical activities in the Gulf of Mexico (the announcement was later published on Dec. 4). The Record of Decision allows geological and geophysical activities to continue to be permitted and authorized,

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NMFS Declines to Delist Arctic Ringed Seal

In response to a 2019 petition filed by the State of Alaska, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope, and the North Slope Borough, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service today announced its decision not to delist the Arctic subspecies of ringed seal.  While NMFS found that the petitioned action is currently not warranted, it noted that the agency

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NMFS Seeks Comments on ESA 5-Year Review for 4 Ringed Seal Subspecies

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service today announced that it is seeking comments by Tuesday, Jan. 26 on the agency’s initiation of a 5-year review for the Arctic, Okhotsk, Baltic, and Ladoga ringed seals. The review will assess the best scientific and commercial data available, including information on the subspecies’ status, threats, and recovery that has become available since their listing

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NMFS Seeks Comments on Proposed Critical Habitat for Caribbean Coral

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service today announced that it is seeking comments by Tuesday, Jan. 26 on its proposal to designate ~5,900 square miles of critical habitat for the following threatened Caribbean corals: Orbicella annularis, O. faveolata, O. franksi, Dendrogyra cylindrus, and Mycetophyllia ferox.  The proposed critical habitat includes areas extending from off Southeast Florida to the

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Comments Sought on Offshore Wind Transmission Research Needs

The U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy today announced that it is seeking comments by Jan. 24 on offshore wind transmission system integration research needs. Comments are specifically being sought on research needs regarding the integration of large-scale offshore wind energy generation into the transmission grid, with focus areas including considerations of

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