Fwd: HR 3133 this is really important for all marine mammals
Taffy Williams
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FACT SHEET
EVISCERATION OF IMPORTANT PROTECTIONS
FOR MARINE MAMMALS
Bill Summary
Fact Sheet on H.R. 3133
H.R. 3133, the Streamlining Environmental Approvals (SEA Act), would gut core provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to fast-track seismic airgun surveys and other activities in the ocean that can harm marine mammals. The bill would gravely weaken the legal standards for issuing Incidental Harassment Authorizations (IHAs), prevent the regulatory agency from requiring almost any kind of mitigation, and require automatic approval of IHAs if the agency misses a series of tight deadlines. Since “harassment” is defined in the MMPA to include permanent injury and disruption of vital functions, the negative consequences of these changes for marine mammal conservation would be profound.
The bill clearly reflects the wish list of companies seeking to conduct seismic air gun surveys for oil and gas deposits in the Atlantic. It favors the oil and gas industry, and other industrial activities in the ocean, over protecting whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals. Fishing activities are not affected by this bill.
What would H.R. 3133 do?
Allow harm to huge numbers of whales and dolphins. The bill would remove important safeguards, including the requirement that harassment of marine mammals is limited to “small numbers” of specific species or population stocks. This expansion removes an important check on NOAA’s authority to issue IHAs, which was put in place to account for the gaps in scientific data on some marine mammal stocks. It would also drop the condition that the activities allowed by the permits have the “least practicable impact” on marine mammals—putting these animals at much greater risk.
Allow harm to marine mammals in much larger areas of the ocean. H.R. 3133 would delete the requirement that IHAs can only be issued within a “specific geographic region.” The current requirement limiting permits to specific geographic regions allows for better application of the best available science and tailoring of measures to mitigate the impacts of the activity allowed by the permit.
Permit harassment without mitigation. The bill would sharply curtail NOAA’s authority to require mitigation measures to reduce the impacts of activities that harass marine mammals.
Cover up cumulative impacts. The bill would limit any requirements for monitoring of the impacts on marine mammals to the period in which the activity—such as a seismic airgun survey—is taking place. The bill would not allow the agency to require monitoring of long-term or cumulative impacts after the activity has ended, thereby missing significant, but not immediately evident, effects on marine mammals.
Rush permitting process/automatically approve permits. H.R. 3133 would lay out a highly unrealistic timeline for agency scientists to review permit applications, determine whether sufficient information has been submitted, and evaluate the impacts of the proposed activity on marine mammals. For example, the bill would give agency scientists only 15 calendar days to determine whether the information in the lengthy and complex permit application is sufficient—and would allow only one request for additional information. After that, the application would be deemed complete, and scientists would have only 120 days to analyze it. If the review is not completed in 120 days, the Incidental Harassment Authorization would automatically be granted, regardless of the potential harm to marine mammals, and without any of the mitigation that may be necessary to eliminate or minimize that harm.
Automatically extend permits. For an existing IHA, which has a one-year term, the bill would require the agency to grant a one-year extension of the permit, and would give agency scientists only 14 days to determine whether an extension is appropriate. The agency would only be able to withhold the extension if there has been a substantial change in the activity for which the permit was originally granted, or in the status of the affected marine mammal species or stock.
Create a dangerous loophole in Endangered Species Act protections. H.R. 3133 would exempt IHA permit holders from complying with the Endangered Species Act’s prohibition on the take of threatened and endangered species. It would substitute the bill’s abbreviated approval process for the obligation the Endangered Species Act puts on federal agencies to ensure their actions are not likely to jeopardize the survival and recovery of endangered and threatened species.
Contact Information
Lara Levison, Senior Director, Federal Policy, Oceana: llev...@oceana.org
Nora Apter, Legislative Advocate, Natural Resources Defense Council: nap...@nrdc.org
CT Harry, Marine Campaigner, International Fund for Animal Welfare: cha...@ifaw.org Keisha Sedlacek, Senior Regulatory Specialist, Humane Society Legislative Fund: ksed...@hlsf.org Naomi Rose, Marine Mammal Scientist, Animal Welfare Institute: na...@awionline.org
Begin forwarded message:From: TAFFY WILLIAMS <tlwil...@optonline.net>Subject: OG Journal on HR 3133Date: February 25, 2018 at 10:49:31 AM ESTUS House committee passes bill aimed at streamlining offshore permitting
WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 11
01/11/2018
By Nick Snow
OGJ Washington Editor
http://www.ogj.com/articles/2018/01/us-house-committee-passes-bill-aimed-at-streamlining-offshore-permitting.html
The US House Natural Resources Committee approved a measure that aims to streamline offshore oil and gas producers’ applications for incidental harassment authorizations not directly related to exploration and production. H.R. 3133 passed by voice vote on Jan. 10 after two amendments proposed by Democrats on the committee were defeated.
The bill, which Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) introduced on June 29, 2017, would amend portions of the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act. It specifically would exempt an authorized taking—the accidental killing of a fish or mammal—from prohibition under Section 9 of the 1973 Endangered Species Act.
“Washington bureaucrats should never have the authority to halt coastal initiatives based on their own politically biased agendas. Yet many permit approvals are prolonged, including coastal restoration efforts and critical naval operations, specifically for that reason,” Johnson said following the vote to send the measure to the House floor.
“Dogma and outdated federal mandates are stalling beneficial conservation and economic development activities,” said Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), the committee’s chairman. “This bill establishes accountability within the bureaucracy and reconciles conflicting federal requirements to make the law work better for people and the environment.”
Ranking Minority Member Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) called the measure “a dangerous bill that was solely written to fulfill the oil and gas industries wish list” and vowed to oppose it further if it comes before the full House.
“No one supports this bill other than big industries that will profit from more drilling,” Grijalva said. “Republicans should be listening to the scientists who support keeping the Marine Mammal Protection Act in place, the coastal communities who oppose opening our oceans to drilling, and the government officials who say this will add undue burden on the federal agencies.”
The committee approved Johnson’s bill less than a week after the Government Accountability Office publicly released findings that both the National Marine Fisheries Service and US Fish & Wildlife Service need to better explain how they conduct incidental harassment permit reviews for offshore oil and gas geologic and geophysical surveys to meet the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s 120-day deadline.
GAO investigators found that NMFS, which is part of the US Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, could not provide accurate dates on when the agency deems an application adequate and complete, while FWS, a US Department of the Interior agency like BOEM, does not even record the information.
Contact Nick Snow at ni...@pennwell.com.
Taffy Williams
NY4Whales/NY4Wildlife
Yonkers, NY 10707 USA
914-793-9186
www.ny4whales.org
www.ny4wildlife.org
A 501(c)(3) non-profit for whales and wildlife
Follow/Tweet @ny4whales
Member, Board of Directors
Cetacean Society International
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator
FAA Certified Remote Pilot
ny4w...@optonline.net
914-793-9186
Taffy Williams
NY4Whales.org/NY4Wildlife.org
Yonkers, NY 10707 USA
914-793-9186
A 501(c)(3) non-profit for whales and wildlife
Follow/Tweet @ny4whales
Member, Board of Directors
Cetacean Society International
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator
FAA Certified Remote Pilot
ny4w...@optonline.net
914-793-9186