A mere 4 months after President Barack Obama banned energy development in tens of millions of acres of the Arctic Ocean, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) stating that leasing to energy companies in those areas will be resumed “to the maximum extent permitted by law.” The EO applies the same open leasing approach to other parts of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), including the Western Gulf of Mexico, Central Gulf of Mexico, Mid-Atlantic, and South Atlantic.
Titled Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy, the EO states that it is the policy of the United States “to encourage energy exploration and production, including on the OCS, to maintain the nation’s position as a global energy leader and foster energy security and resilience for the benefit of the American people while ensuring that any such activity is safe and environmentally responsible.”
Rule reviews
The EO also directs the Department of the Interior (DOI) to review and, if appropriate, revise or withdraw certain regulatory actions. These include the Air Quality Control, Reporting, and Compliance rule proposed in April 2016 by DOI’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and BOEM’s July 2016 final rule, Requirements for Exploratory Drilling on the Arctic OCS. The EO further directs the secretary of Commerce to review with the option to withdraw the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) July 2016 Technical Guidance for Assessing the Effects of Anthropogenic Sound on Marine Mammal Hearing. The intent of the guidance is to identify the received levels, or acoustic thresholds, at which individual marine mammals are predicted to experience changes in their hearing sensitivity for acute, incidental exposure to all underwater anthropogenic sound sources. Sound sources addressed in the guidance include explosives, seismic air guns, pile drivers, marine vessels, and machinery operations/construction (e.g., drilling).
New 5-year plan
After Trump signed the EO, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke promptly issued an order of his own to implement the president’s EO. Zinke directs the BOEM to immediately develop a new 5-year OCS leasing program with full consideration given to leasing the OCS offshore Alaska, Mid- and South Atlantic, and the Gulf of Mexico. It also directs the BOEM to work with the Department of Commerce’s National Marine Fisheries Service to expedite authorization requests for seismic surveys, particularly for new or resubmitted permitting applications in the Atlantic to understand the extent of America’s energy potential. Furthermore, the order ceases all activities to promulgate the proposed air quality rule noted above. In addition, Zinke directs the BOEM and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) to review a host of other rules and report progress within 21 days.
Zinke notes that of the 1.7 billion acres on the OCS, only 16.9 million acres are leased for oil and gas development, with 4.4 million of those acres producing oil and gas. The BOEM estimates that the U.S. OCS has about 90 billion barrels of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and 327 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas.
Legal challenge promised
The EO was welcomed by the energy industry.
The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) applauded the EO “as a step in the right direction for America’s energy economy and national energy security. With a proven record of offshore production that can be done safely and responsibly, IPAA has long-advocated for increased access to our offshore resources to support economic development, American jobs, and expanded energy production here at home.”
Environmental groups were particularly concerned about opening the southern Atlantic to increased energy development.
“More than 100 coastal communities and nearly 1,000 local businesses along the Southern Atlantic coast have expressed opposition to offshore drilling,” said the Environmental Defense Fund. “By his actions today, President Trump has sent a clear message that he prioritizes the oil and gas industry over the needs of working Americans in our coastal communities who depend on healthy fishing and tourism economies for their livelihoods.”
Twenty environmental groups also issued a statement asserting that presidents do not have the executive authority to subject publicly held waters to offshore leasing that previous presidents have withdrawn under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Accordingly, the groups said they intend to challenge the EO in court.