News

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA have announced that they are seeking comments by Tuesday, May 25 on a draft Monument Management Plan and related Environmental Assessment for the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument that addresses goals, objectives, and strategies for managing the monument through 2035. Established by Presidential Proclamation in Jan. 2009, the monument is comprised of […]

NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research today announced that the Ocean Exploration Advisory Board (Board) will hold a public virtual public meeting on Apr. 7-8. The meeting, which includes a 15-minute public comment period, includes discussion of topics including ocean exploration in the context of administration priorities, review of the competitive grants program, and Office of Ocean

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today announced the decision to cancel Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 257, which had been scheduled to take place on March 17, 2021.  The lease sale would have offered ~80 million acres in federal waters off Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. In rescinding the Record of Decision that was announced in January,

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today announced its decision to issue the first lease for a wave energy research project in federal waters off the West Coast, calling the development “another step forward in achieving the Biden administration’s goals to address climate change and promote offshore renewable energy production.” The lease, issued to Oregon State University, covers

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today announced that they are reopening the comment period through Friday, Apr. 9 on their proposal to revise 21 existing regulations and add 13 new regulations governing exploration drilling in U.S. Arctic waters.  The previous comment period closed on Feb. 8. In announcing the reopening,

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service last month announced that it is providing an additional 30 days of public comment through Mar. 27 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

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today announced that Amanda Lefton will serve as Director.  Lefton’s background includes experience as First Assistant Secretary for Energy and the Environment for New York, Deputy Policy Director for The Nature Conservancy, Albany District Director for the Rochester Regional Joint Board of Workers United, and legislative aide in the New York

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today announced the withdrawal of the public review period and virtual public hearings for proposed Cook Inlet oil and gas Lease Sale 258 that had previously been scheduled for Mar. 1 and throughout February, respectively. In announcing the decision, BOEM cited the Jan. 2021 Executive Order on “Tackling the Climate Crisis at

Environment America today announced the release of a new report on “New Life for the Ocean: How Marine Protections Keep Our Waters Wild.”  Conducted by the organization’s Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group, the study includes recommendations that, among other things, call on the federal and state governments to adopt goals to protect at least

The State Department today announced that the Shipping Coordinating Committee will hold a public meeting on Thursday, Apr. 29 in preparation for the 103rd session of the International Maritime Organization’s Maritime Safety Committee, to be held remotely on May 5-14.  Agenda items include a regulatory scoping exercise for the use of maritime autonomous surface ships, measures to enhance maritime