THE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL OF THE MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE

VOLUME 6 ISSUE 4

MMS

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009

SCIENCE

Mapping Out a 

National Ocean Policy

What is Coastal 

and Marine Spatial 

Planning?

The Multipurpose 

Marine Cadastre: 

A Tool for Sharing 

Marine Spatial Data

Three Atlantic 

States' Coastal 

and Marine Spatial 

Planning Efforts

MMS's Environmental 

Studies Program: 

Science That Never 

Sleeps

Partnerships Helping 

the Flower Garden 

Banks Grow

Special Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning Issue! 
2 mms OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

Volume 6 Issue 4

mms OCEAN SCIENCE is published 

quarterly by the Minerals Management 

Service to communicate recent ocean 

science and technological information 

and issues of interest related to offshore 

energy recovery, ocean stewardship, and 

mineral revenues.

Please address all questions, comments, 

suggestions, and changes of address to:

Dr. Deborah Epperson

mms OCEAN SCIENCE Editor

Minerals Management Service

1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard

New Orleans, LA 70123

deborah.epperson@mms.gov

(504) 736-3257

This marine spatial planning issue of 

OCEAN SCIENCE was co-edited by 

Dr. James Kendall, Chief, Environmental 

Division, MMS.

3 The MMS and Coastal and Marine 

Spatial Planning

4 Mapping Out a National Ocean Policy

5 What is Coastal and Marine Spatial 

Planning?

6 The Multipurpose Marine Cadastre: 

A Tool for Sharing Marine Spatial Data

8 Three Atlantic States' Coastal and 

Marine Spatial Planning Efforts

10 MMS's Environmental 

Studies Program: 

Science That Never Sleeps

11 Partnerships Helping the Flower 

Garden Banks Grow

12 Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing

14 Studies in the Arctic:

Not Your Father's Research Tools!

16 New Waves

Late-Breaking News & Information

ABOUT THE COVER

Top left: Wind turbines along the coast, at 

sunset.

Top middle: Perdido production platform in 

the Gulf of Mexico. Photo courtesy of Shell.

Top right: The piping plover (Charadrius 

melodus), a threatened species along the 

Atlantic Coast. 

Main photo: New Jersey Baseline Ecosystem 

Study map showing the spatial distribution of 

total bird density. 

Back page: Background platform image by 

Gregory S. Boland.

All photos courtesy of Minerals Management Service 

unless otherwise noted.

Publication services provided by Schatz Publishing Group

THE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL OF THE MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE

For more information about the Minerals Management Service, 

check out our website:

www.mms.gov

Subscribe

To receive mms OCEAN SCIENCE, sign up at

www.gomr.mms.gov, then click on e-mail subscriptions on the 

left-hand column, check the box marked Environmental Studies or 

e-mail deborah.epperson@mms.gov or call (504) 736-3257

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 Volume 6 Issue 4

MMS

SCIENCE

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 3

With the ever-expanding 

uses of coastal and ocean 

areas there is a need now, 

more than ever before, to consider 

the entire range of uses and users. 

From the basic concept of their 

value as ecosystems and habitats 

to their economic importance to 

communities, a more comprehensive 

approach must be taken during 

planning and decisionmaking 

processes. Today, this approach is 

referred to as Coastal and Marine 

Spatial Planning, or CMSP.

The principles of CMSP are not 

new to the Minerals Management 

Service (MMS). Many have been 

integral to how we have carried 

out our day-to-day regulatory 

and stewardship responsibilities. 

For example, MMS has a long 

history of managing offshore 

energy and marine minerals by 

working collaboratively with other 

Federal agencies, coastal States, 

and countless other stakeholders. 

These efforts strive to avoid conflicts 

among multiple users engaged 

in everything from navigation, 

recreation, commercial and 

recreational fishing, and military 

training, as well as for the protection 

of sensitive ecological habitats.

In fact, in their final report, An 

Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century, 

the U.S. Commission on Ocean 

Policy found that “today the OCS 

oil and gas program has a well 

institutionalized and reasonably 

comprehensive management 

regime.” Further, the Commission 

went on to say, “the program seeks 

to balance the many competing 

interests involved in offshore 

energy activity, requires state and 

local government input in federal 

decisions, and specifies detailed 

procedures to be followed by those 

seeking offshore leases.”

Together with an adaptive 

and ecosystem-based approach 

to management, MMS views 

CMSP as a collaborative process 

of working with all stakeholders to 

utilize the most up-to-date scientific 

information and state-of-the art 

geospatial tools to make the best 

possible decisions as transparently 

as possible. The same can be said 

for the Department of the Interior 

as a whole, where stewardship, 

conservation, and regulatory 

responsibilities extend nearly 

seamlessly from upland areas, 

through river basins, watersheds, 

estuaries, and coastal wildlife 

refuges to coastal and oceanic 

national parks and wildlife refuges 

and the lands beneath our oceans. 

It is for these reasons, and in 

support of President Obama’s goal 

of developing a national framework 

for CMSP, that we have devoted 

this issue of MMS Ocean Science to 

Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning. 

THE MMS AND COASTAL AND MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING

Marine spatial planning facilitates the efficient use of the ocean while protecting habitats and the species using those habitats like this barrel 

sponge with finger coral (Porites) inside and small fish fry above. Photo courtesy of National Marine Sanctuaries.
4 mms OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

MAPPING OUT A NATIONAL OCEAN POLICY

Our oceans, coasts, and the 

Great Lakes are critical to 

our Nation. We depend on 

their diverse ecosystems for valuable 

energy resources, food, national 

security, recreation, shipping, trade, 

and transportation—all of which 

also provide jobs. Their habitats are 

also home to numerous species.

Like many of our federally 

managed onshore lands, our oceans 

and coasts are under increasing 

pressure and stress. Some of the 

challenges include potential conflicting uses, pollution, habitat loss, 

rising sea levels, ocean acidification, and degraded water quality. 

New uses, such as aquaculture 

and renewable energy development, will bring new pressures, 

including space use conflicts.

Maintaining healthy, resilient, and sustainable oceans and 

coasts is a primary concern and 

responsibility of local, State, 

and Federal agencies, and other 

groups and stakeholders. As 

demands on our coastal and 

marine resources increase, we 

must increase the coordination 

and vigilance of our stewardship.

To meet these challenges, the 

Interagency Ocean Policy Task 

Force was established by President 

Obama on June 12, 2009. Led 

by Council of Environmental 

Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, the 

Task Force includes senior policylevel officials from the executive 

departments, agencies, and offices 

represented on the Committee 

on Ocean Policy (established 

December 17, 2004, by Section 

3 of Executive Order 13366).

The Task Force is 

responsible for developing recommendations which address:

1. A national policy 

that provides for an 

adaptive management 

approach to ensure and 

enhance the protection, maintenance, and 

restoration of the health 

of our ocean and coastal 

economies, ecosystems, 

heritage, and resources.

2. A policy-coordinated 

framework that 

ensures and improves 

integration and collaboration across 

jurisdictional lines, 

including coordination 

with the Homeland 

Security Council 

and the National 

Security Council.

3. An implementation 

strategy that identifies 

and prioritizes national 

policy objectives.

4. A coastal and marine spatial 

planning framework that is comprehensive, ecosystem-based 

and that addresses conservation, economic activity, user 

conflicts, and sustainable uses 

of marine resources, consistent 

with international law.

An Interim Report, released 

on September 17, 2009, for public 

comment, includes the first three 

recommendations. Input from 

stakeholders and interested parties 

Bureaus within the Department of the Interior.

began in August with regional 

public meetings and other public 

involvement activities. The report 

offers proposals for a more integrated comprehensive national 

approach to uphold our stewardship responsibilities and ensure 

accountability for our actions. 

The fourth recommendation—

a coastal and marine spatial 

planning framework for the conservation and sustainable use 

of our ocean resources—was 

released on December 14, 2009, 

for public review and comment.

For more information:

Interim Report of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force

www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/initiatives/oceans/ 

Presidential Memo on a National Policy for the Oceans, 

Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes

www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/2009ocean_mem_rel.pdf 
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 5

The objective of coastal and marine spatial 

planning (CMSP) is to help us manage 

marine areas in ways that balance multiple 

and often conflicting uses and needs, such 

as ecological, economic, and sociological interests. At 

its most basic, CMSP entails identifying activities that 

take place, the locations of those activities, jurisdictions, and habitats.

As a process for identifying the spatial and temporal 

distribution of human activities in coastal and marine 

areas, CMSP can lead to many benefits. Done well, it 

can reduce conflicts among users, increase regulatory 

efficiency, help maintain and improve ecosystems and 

ecological processes, and facilitate newly emerging 

industries such as renewable energy.

Several States are pursuing the principles of CMSP 

to help them develop plans to manage their State waters. 

Oregon, for instance, has a long history of ocean planning, such as the Territorial Sea Plan adopted in 1994. 

As part of the work of the New York Ocean and Great 

Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Council, New York has 

begun a spatial planning effort for its marine and Great 

Lakes waters.

Atlantic States with a high potential for offshore 

wind energy development—such as Massachusetts, 

New Jersey, and Rhode Island—are using CMSP principles to ensure that they make responsible decisions 

about activities in their waters.

At the national level, to better protect and responsibly 

manage our ocean resources, the Minerals Management 

Service (MMS) has been using many of the concepts of 

CMSP to help us in our efforts to take a more adaptive 

and ecosystem-based approach to our stewardship activities. More specifically, in our day-to-day work, especially 

the leasing process itself, we collaborate with Federal, 

State, and local agencies and other stakeholders to identify 

and minimize user conflicts, protect the environment, 

and balance multiple needs.

Through our environmental and technical research 

and the development and use of cutting edge geospatial 

tools, we continually update and advance information 

that guides our stewardship of the ocean environment.

For example, MMS, in cooperation with the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

(NOAA) and other Federal agencies, led the development of the Multipurpose Marine Cadastre (MMC). 

This web-based spatial information system shows how 

a particular marine area is being used, the legal boundaries, and more. We can also see what natural resources, 

habitats, ecosystems, and species are in that area.

With CMSP and cutting-edge tools, decisionmakers 

have the best available and most current data to make 

better informed, transparent decisions.

For more information

Multipurpose Marine Cadastre Viewer, MMS

www.mms.gov/offshore/mapping/Viewer.htm 

Marine Spatial Planning, NOAA

www.msp.noaa.gov/

Wind turbines, Horns Reef, Denmark. Photo courtesy of Vestas Wind 

Systems A/S.

WHAT IS COASTAL AND MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING?
6 mms OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

Our oceans and coasts are becoming 

more crowded. As renewable energy 

development moves offshore, accurate, 

directly-accessible spatial information 

about the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) becomes more 

imperative for responsible stewardship. Keeping track of 

spatial information, such as the many boundaries, rights, 

responsibilities, and restrictions, is a daunting task. But 

now direct access to cadastral marine information is 

readily available to users online and free of charge.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) continues 

its coastal and marine spatial planning (CMSP) efforts 

by coordinating the development and implementation of 

the Multipurpose Marine Cadastre (MMC). This marine 

information system brings together data layers about 

environmental, physical, political, and social aspects of 

the OCS. In a single, interactively generated map, users 

can see all official boundaries, rights, restrictions, and 

responsibilities in State and Federal waters.

A TOOL FOR SHARING MARINE 

SPATIAL DATA

This MMC view of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine 

Sanctuary shows nearby pipelines, coastal national wildlife 

refuges (light green areas), and relevant boundaries established 

by U.S. and international law.

THE MULTIPURPOSE MARINE CADASTRE: 

WHAT IS CADASTRAL DATA? 

The geographic extent of the past, current, 

and future rights and interests in real property, 

including the spatial information necessary to 

describe the geographic extent. “Rights and 

interests” are the benefits or enjoyment in real 

property that can be conveyed, transferred, or 

otherwise allocated to another for economic 

remuneration.

The establishment of the Outer Continental 

Shelf Mapping Initiative by the Secretary 

of the Interior—in cooperation with the 

Secretary of Commerce, the Commandant 

of the Coast Guard, and the Secretary of 

Defense—is directed in the Energy Policy 

Act of 2005, Section 388. The Initiative’s 

goal is to assist decisionmaking related to 

renewable energy uses on the OCS. The 

MMS responded in 2006, in cooperation 

with NOAA and other agencies and groups, 

by leading the development of the MMC.

Flower Garden Banks

Gulf of Mexico
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 7

This multidimensional, evolving 

information system integrates layers 

of data to provide partners, coastal 

States, tribes, commercial industry, 

and the academic community with 

resources for planning purposes. 

Each partner agency or group is 

responsible for updating their data.

Having up-to-date data is 

the key for any comprehensive 

view of sometimes-overlapping 

boundaries. Core cadastre layers, or 

jurisdictional boundaries, include, 

for example, Submerged Lands Act 

Boundaries, Contiguous Zones, 

National Marine Sanctuaries, 

Coastal Indian Lands, Coastal 

National Wildlife Refuges, Outer 

Continental Shelf Lease Blocks, and 

MMS Planning Areas. Key supporting data layers to inform CMSP 

efforts include oil and gas well 

location sites, drilling platforms, 

What’s a cadastre?

A cadastre is a registry of ownership, tenure, boundaries, land use, 

legal location and coordinates, and other information about spatial 

areas. The term is derived from the Late Latin capitastrum, which refers 

to a register of the poll tax, and the Greek katastikhon, which means a 

list, line by line.

Generally, a cadastral survey investigates land ownership. A cadastral 

map is a map that shows boundaries and ownership of parcels of land. 

An early example of a cadastral survey is the Domesday Book completed 

in England in 1086 for William the Conqueror.

Cadastral surveys are the basis of title to all land that is now or has 

been part of the Public Domain of the U.S. For example, the Department 

of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management operates the Cadastral 

Survey program, which conducts legal boundary surveys for many 

Federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of 

Reclamation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Forest Service.

pipelines, active oil and gas leases, 

shipwrecks and obstructions, and 

military zones.

In developing the MMC, the 

MMS collaborated with many 

agencies and groups, including the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA), the U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service, the 

National Park Service, The Nature 

Conservancy, and California Coastal 

Conservancy, to name a few. A new 

version of the MMC, with enhanced 

tools and information, will be available in 2010.

Coastal and marine spatial 

planning tools, like the MMC, 

facilitate MMS’s efforts to pursue 

an ecosystem-based approach to 

management and, thus, our goal 

of safe and responsible use of our 

shared marine resources.
8 mms OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

One question underpins all 

resource management at 

the local, State, Federal, 

and international levels: How do 

we balance competing and multiple 

uses, allow for responsible development of resources, and protect and 

enhance the environment?

As offshore renewable energy 

in the U.S. gets closer to becoming 

a reality, Federal and State agencies are identifying habitats and 

biological resources, other ongoing 

uses and users, and investigating 

potential impacts along with the 

best sites for renewable energy 

facilities. This information is 

foundational for ecosystem-based 

management discussions and for 

transparency. Several States are 

already focusing on coastal and 

marine spatial planning principles 

to enhance their stewardship of 

their coasts and waters.

The Commonwealth of 

Massachusetts is pioneering the 

effort to develop a comprehensive 

Ocean Management Plan. The 

Plan is being developed by the 

Executive Office of Energy and 

Environmental Affairs, in consultation with a 17-member ocean 

advisory commission and a science 

advisory council.

Mandated by the Commonwealth's Oceans Act of 2008, 

the Ocean Management Plan 

aims to manage development in 

Massachusetts waters, balancing 

natural resource preservation with 

traditional and new uses, such 

as renewable energy. A draft was 

released for review in June 2009 

and public hearings were held in 

September. 

New Jersey has an aggressive 

mandate to include renewable 

energy sources in the State’s energy 

portfolio. By 2021, each supplier/

provider that serves retail customers in the State must include, in 

the electricity it sells, 22.5 percent 

renewable energy.

The Office of Science at 

the New Jersey Department of 

Environmental Protection is conducting an environmental baseline 

study to shed light on potential 

effects of wind farm development 

in their coastal waters. The Office 

of Science is working closely with 

the Minerals Management Service, 

other Federal agencies involved in 

regulating offshore wind farms, and 

other agencies.

The study area—about 1,300 

square nautical miles—includes 

areas potentially viable for energy 

development. To answer questions 

about which species use what areas 

and to what degree, the $7 million 

study is documenting the number 

and locations of birds, marine 

THREE ATLANTIC STATES’ COASTAL AND 

MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING EFFORTS

mammals, and sea turtles in New 

Jersey’s waters.

Rhode Island is working on an 

Ocean Special Area Management 

Plan (SAMP) to define “use 

zones” for its waters. The project, 

begun in 2008, uses a research and 

planning process that integrates 

public involvement and the best 

available science. Led by the State’s 

coastal management agency, the 

Rhode Island Coastal Resources 

Management Council, the project 

has technical support from scientists and experts at the University of 

Rhode Island and Rhode Island Sea 

Grant Program.

The “use zones” are intended 

to protect and enhance current uses, 

including habitat and commercial and 

recreational uses, while providing for 

future uses. The SAMP is expected to 

U.S. Marine Cadastre view of the New Jersey coast, showing bathymetry contours (dark grey) 

and Atlantic seafloor sediments.
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 9

For more information

Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan

www.mass.gov/?pageID=eoeeatopic&L=3&L0=Home&L1=Ocean+%26+Coast

al+Management&L2=Massachusetts+Ocean+Plan&sid=Eoeea

Ocean/Wind Power Ecological Baseline Studies, New Jersey 

Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Science

www.nj.gov/dep/dsr/ocean-wind/index.htm

Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan

http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/oceansamp/

be released in August 2010.

Among the SAMP team’s 

accomplishments are the following: 

mapping commercial and recreational fishing areas, with fishermen; 

mapping marine transportation paths 

of freight and passenger vessels; 

characterizing wave and storm surge; 

and identifying the distribution and 

relative abundance of marine mammals and sea turtles. Regarding the 

latter, researchers have developed 

detailed analyses showing the 

seasonal occurrences of more than 

30 species of marine mammals and 

4 species of sea turtles.

Though site-specific assessments will be necessary before any 

facilities are permitted, comprehensive data about the current uses and 

potential effects of future uses are 

crucial to responsible ecosystembased management.

“Each state knows what they are faced with, particularly the 

environmental, social, and economic issues. Each state should 

customize their data-gathering information to get at those specific 

issues .... The key messages are understanding what the marine 

environment is like and the implications of having offshore energy 

facilities, and partnering with federal agencies that will eventually 

be authorizing them.” Maureen Bornholdt, Program Manager, MMS 

Office of Renewable Energy Programs

Detail of Massachusetts coast from: The New England coasting pilot from 

Sandy Point of New York, unto Cape Canso in Nova Scotia and part of Island 

Breton..... Cyprian Southack; London, 1734. Courtesy of the Library of 

Congress, Geography and Map Division.

MMC view of a section of Massachusetts' coast, showing shipping lanes (bright blue lines), transmission lines (black lines), 

military danger zones (red), bathymetry contours (grey lines), 

and shipwrecks and obstructions (small black figures).
10 mms OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

Because the myriad interactions of the natural and human worlds are 

dynamic, we never stop learning 

about them. The more we learn, 

the better and more balanced 

our decisions can be. Renewable 

energy development in the U.S. is 

relatively new. It calls for a management approach that takes into 

account uncertainties and it relies 

on the best available science.

Three recently awarded 

Minerals Management Service 

(MMS)-funded studies show 

MMS’s commitment to acquiring 

new information and developing more efficient marine spatial 

planning tools to ensure a more 

comprehensive view of our 

Nation’s marine resources.

The Atlantic and Pacific Outer 

Continental Shelf (OCS) areas have 

high potential for offshore renewable energy development. Also 

used for fishing, shipping, recreational boating, sand and gravel 

extraction, and military uses, these 

areas have high potential for spaceuse conflicts, as well.

A new study, “Outer 

Continental Shelf Alternative 

Energy and Space-Use Conflicts 

and Related Mitigation,” will 

identify potential space-use 

conflicts among renewable energy 

development and other marine 

activities on the Pacific and 

Atlantic OCS. Social scientists 

will carry out field research in 

coastal communities and meet 

with citizens, local fishermen, 

shipping operators, and other 

interested parties to help identify 

potential areas and causes of 

space-use conflicts and to discuss 

possible mitigation. The study 

data will populate a geospatial 

database and mapping system, 

a tool that will help MMS make 

better, balanced decisions about 

MMS’S ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES PROGRAM:

SCIENCE THAT NEVER SLEEPS

siting and monitoring of renewable energy development.

Given the Atlantic OCS 

Region’s potential for renewable 

energy activity and the possibility 

of new oil and gas activity, MMS 

is developing more comprehensive 

information about the ecology of 

the Atlantic region. A recently 

funded study will result in a 

searchable EcoSpatial Information 

Database (ESID). The ESID will 

reference ecological information 

sources, describe their geographic 

coverage, and include spatially 

referenced data from those sources. 

The geographic information system 

(GIS)-based database will also 

include biologic data about benthic 

habitats, commercially important 

species, migratory pathways, and 

spatial and temporal distribution 

and habitat use. The GIS-based 

database will also include data 

about topography, sediment, 

salinity, temperatures, and currents. An important new marine 

spatial planning tool, the ESID 

will support our ecosystem-based 

management approach to MMSpermitted activities.

To protect and properly 

manage historic shipwrecks and 

prehistoric sites, MMS requires 

energy companies to carry out 

remote-sensing surveys before they 

conduct any bottom-disturbing 

activities, and then submit an 

analysis of the gathered data. 

Targets identified as potential 

archaeological resources must 

then be avoided or investigated. 

This mitigation strategy, which 

complies with pertinent laws, has 

led to the discovery and protection 

of many sites and resources, such 

as the U-166, a German U-boat. 

However, its effectiveness has been 

only minimally tested.

In an ongoing study in the 

Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 

MMS archaeologists will evaluate the strategy’s effectiveness by 

determining if the sites identified 

by remote sensing do, in fact, have 

archaeological significance. The 

study, “Archaeological Analysis 

of Submerged Sites on the Gulf of 

Mexico Continental Shelf,” will 

groundtruth, positively identify, 

and assess the potential National 

Register significance of probable 

shipwreck sites in the Gulf 

of Mexico.

Since 1973, MMS's Environmental Studies Program has 

sponsored, funded, and managed 

over 2,000 research projects in 

the OCS. What we learn helps to 

guide our adaptive and ecosystembased approach to management, 

as we broker responsible access to 

offshore resources.

For more information

MMS Environmental Studies

www.mms.gov/eppd/sciences/esp/

index.htm

Archaeological Analysis of 

Submerged Sites on the Gulf 

of Mexico Outer Continental 

Shelf

www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/

regulate/environ/ongoing_studies/

gm/GM-09-04.html

Ongoing Renewable Energy 

Studies, MMS

www.mms.gov/offshore/

RenewableEnergy/Studies.htm

A view of the ocean from Great Head, 

Acadia National Park, Maine. Photo 

courtesy of the U.S. National Park Service.
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 11

The Flower Garden Banks 

off the coasts of Texas and 

Louisiana demonstrate the 

beneficial results of collaborative 

ecosystem-based management.

Their health is evidence that 

lease stipulations can provide 

effective mitigation of impacts from 

offshore energy operations and that 

long-term monitoring can provide 

for adaptive management.

In 1973, as oil and gas companies began exploring the deeper 

waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the 

Minerals Management Service 

(MMS), then the Bureau of Land 

Management, began extensive 

studies of the Banks and sponsored 

opportunities for public input. 

These studies led to protection of 

the reef communities, thanks to 

individuals, industry, universities, 

State and Federal agencies, and 

conservation groups.

One management tool MMS 

used was the lease stipulation: 

specific protective measures—

requirements added to the 

lease—that reflected the initial 

uncertainty about impacts of production near the Banks. The lease 

stipulation set a no-activity zone 

and a four-mile shunt zone around 

the reefs. The lease stipulation also 

required lessees to monitor environmental conditions at production 

sites and at the Banks themselves, in 

accordance with MMS guidelines.

As we learned more about the 

Banks, it became clear that the 

protective measures were effective. 

The initial requirements were 

modified in an adaptive manner, 

as appropriate.

For example, years of monitoring by MMS and the lessees 

indicated that shunting was working 

and that no damage was being done 

to the Banks or the adjacent biota.

However, damage was being 

caused by vessels anchoring on the 

reefs, rather than by oil and gas 

exploration activities.

The Gulf Reef Environmental 

Action Team conceived of, and the 

MMS participated in, a solution: 

mooring buoys were installed at 

the Banks so that vessels can tie up 

easily and not drop anchor.

Partnerships and long-term monitoring led to the protection of the 

Banks and their designation in 1992 

as a National Marine Sanctuary, 

while still allowing tourism and oil 

and gas exploration nearby.

Lease stipulations continue to 

be modified as necessary (adaptive management) and Notices to 

Lessees and Operators are issued 

based on new information from 

ongoing studies and monitoring.

Thanks to the cooperation of 

diverse stakeholders, the Banks continue to provide habitat for a variety 

of marine species, a destination for 

recreational divers, and important 

information about reef ecosystems 

for researchers and resource managers. With the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration 

(NOAA), MMS continues to 

monitor this precious ecosystem, 

and the NOAA sanctuary manager 

is involved in all proposed oil- and 

gas-related activities near the Banks.

PARTNERSHIPS HELPING

A single colony of staghorn coral (Acropora palmata) known at the East Flower Garden Bank. 

Photo courtesy of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.

THE FLOWER GARDEN BANKS GROW

For more information:

Environmental Studies Program Results at the East and West 

Flower Garden Banks

www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/regulate/environ/flow_gar/flowgard.html
12 mms OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASING

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) manages approximately 1.7 billion acres on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) with approximately 43 

million acres under lease (over 8,000 active leases) and 

accounting for about 15 percent of the U.S. domestic 

natural gas production and about 27 percent of domestic 

oil production. The MMS has cradle-to-grave oversight 

responsibility for oil and gas leasing activities on the OCS.

As would be expected, such a process must rely 

on effective collaboration and coordination with State 

and Federal agencies, industry, and others, as well as 

the most up-to-date environmental and socioeconomic 

information available. 

When one considers the continuous stakeholder 

involvement and geospatial nature of the information 

on which decisions are based—a process that incorporates coastal and marine spatial planning concepts as 

well as those of adaptive and ecosystem-based management—collaboration becomes much more than a goal. 

It becomes essential to the process.

Results of the most current research, surveys, 

and monitoring are included at several stages of the 

leasing process, as well as in the development of lease 

stipulations and Notices to Lessees and Operators 

(NTL's). Being able to respond quickly to new scientific 

information is a key part of MMS’s adaptive approach to 

resource management.

First, a 5-year oil and gas leasing program is prepared and submitted to the Secretary of the Interior for 

review and approval. The program includes a schedule of 

proposed lease sales and shows, as precisely as possible, 

the location, size, and timing of leasing activity.

Developing a 5-Year Program follows a statutorily 

mandated process that includes three separate comment 

periods, two separate draft proposals, a final proposal, 

and the development of an environmental impact statement. The process typically takes 21⁄2 years. After the 

Secretary approves the Proposed Final Program, it goes 

to Congress. The new 5-Year Program will take effect 60 

days after it is submitted to Congress.

No specific lease sale can be held unless it is 

included in an approved 5-Year Program. Whether MMS 

holds a lease sale depends on a sale-specific analysis. 

Like the 5-year process, the lease sale process includes 

opportunities for public input, analysis, and documentation required under the National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA), and Coastal Zone Management Act 

(CZMA) certification. Geospatial information permeates and is a critical component of the process.

Lease stipulations are further requirements/guidelines that may be added to a lease in response to concerns raised by coastal States, Federal agencies, and 

other stakeholders. Examples include required biological 

surveys of sensitive seafloor habitats, archaeological 

resource surveys and reports to determine the potential 

for historic or prehistoric resources, special operating 

procedures near military bases or their zones of activity, 

and other restrictions. Lease stipulations are legally 

binding, contractual provisions designed as mitigating 

measures to address specific concerns.

Lessees must also comply with rules and regulations 

that may be issued after the lease is awarded. These 

typically provide for natural resource conservation, 

safety, and waste prevention. The MMS issues NTL's 

to quickly notify operators about changes in practices 

or procedures for complying with rules, regulations, 

and lease stipulations and/or to clarify requirements to 

convey information.

Before exploratory drilling can begin, an 

Exploration Plan (EP) and its supporting information 

must be submitted to MMS for approval. Each EP must 

contain a certification of consistency with approved 

Coastal Zone Management (CZM) programs of States 

that could be affected by the exploration activities. For 

each well, a lessee must have an approved Application 

for Permit to Drill that includes lease-specific conditions 

to address matters specific to conditions in the area.

Day-to-day operations include performance-based 

and prescriptive requirements to ensure safety, conserve 

natural resources, and protect the environment. If the 

lease owner fails to comply, the leases may be forfeited 

or canceled.

If oil and/or natural gas are discovered, a Development and Production Plan (DPP) or Development 

Operations Coordination Document (DOCD) must 

be submitted for MMS approval. The DPP or DOCD 

includes the number and locations of wells, their 

structure type, and how the oil and natural gas will be 

Purple finger sponge in a field of yellow pencil coral (Madracis mirabilis) at the East Flower Garden Bank.
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 13

transported to shore. The DPP/DOCD must also have 

CZM certification.

At all post-activity stages, MMS conducts NEPA 

reviews and analyses and complies with other laws and 

regulations that apply to offshore operations. These 

reviews lead to decisions about how, when, and where 

activities can be conducted.

Part of MMS’s success is its presence at offshore 

facilities. The MMS monitors compliance with regulations throughout the permitting process and during 

operations. But nothing compares to MMS personnel in 

the field ensuring that operators are complying with the 

regulations. In fact, on average, MMS has carried out 

between 20,000 and 25,000 annual inspections.

For more information

“Oil and Gas Leasing on the Outer Continental 

Shelf,” MMS

www.mms.gov/OffshoreOilGasLeasingProcess.htm

CD Sent to

States

Solicit

Comments

45-day 

Comment

Period

Draft

Proposed

Program

Published

60-Day

Comment

Period

90-Day

Comment

Period

Proposed

Final

Program

Final EIS 

Published

60-Day

Period

for

Congress

Final 5-Year

Program

Announced

The OCS Oil and Gas Leasing, Exploration, and Development Process

Call for

Information

Published

45-Day 

Comment

Period

Define

Sale

Area

Draft EIS

Published

45-Day 

Comment

Period

30-Day 

Comment

Period

60-Day 

Comment

Period

90-Day 

Review

Final

Notice

of Sale

Published

30-Day

Period Sale Leases

Issued

Pre-lease Develop 5-Year Program

Planning for Specific Sale

Exploration

Plan

Submitted

Environmental

Assessment

Exploration

Plan

Review

90-Day 

CZM

Review

APD

Decision

Permits

Granted

Exploration

Drilling

Starts

First

Exploration

Well(s)

Completed

Delineation

Well

Drilling

Post-lease Exploration Plan Approval

Development

& Production

Plan Submitted

Company

Submits CZM

Consistency

Certification

MMS

Prepares

NEPA

Analysis

CZM Consistency

Concurrence from State

Then Development and

Production Plan Decision

Production 

Well

Application

First

Oil/Gas

Production

Abbreviations: APD, Application for Permit to Drill; CD, Consistency Determination; CZM, Coastal Zone Management; EIS, Environmental Impact Statement;

NEPA, National Environmental Policy Act

Development and Production Plan or Development Operations Coordination Document Approval

Proposed

Program

Draft EIS

Published

Proposed

Notice

Final EIS

Published

Leasing and operation activities 

on the OCS are subject to some 30 

Federal laws administered by Federal 

departments and agencies. Some of 

these are as follows:

1. Clean Air Act

2. Clean Water Act

3. Coastal Zone Management Act

4. Endangered Species Act

5. Federal Water Pollution Control Act

6. Marine Mammal Protection Act

7. National Environmental Policy Act

8. National Historic Preservation Act

9. Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act

10. Ports and Water Safety Act
14 mms OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

Managing the exploration and development of energy resources on 

the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) 

while protecting the environment 

is a challenge that the Minerals 

Management Service (MMS) meets 

on a daily basis. Cutting-edge 

tools and technologies are giving 

researchers and scientists more 

timely information than ever before.

By facilitating collaboration and 

an unprecedented sharing of data 

and information, new technologies 

vastly expand the potential for adaptive management and mitigation. 

Advanced tools and technologies—combined with long-term 

studies—also help us understand 

the effects of climate change 

on our marine environment.

Tools, then and now. In the 

1980's, research on marine mammals 

and birds and their environments 

followed a lengthy, often circuitous 

course. Months, and sometimes 

years, passed between gathering data 

in the field and releasing reports. 

Now, climate change, 

environmental conditions, and 

animal populations are changing 

so rapidly that we literally see the 

differences from year to year.

Technology and research tools 

are keeping pace. Sophisticated 

satellite technology, computers 

and software, mass storage, and 

miniaturized instruments make 

near-real-time monitoring one 

of the most exciting advances 

in resource management.

Information can be quickly—

sometimes instantly—shared 

with researchers, resource 

managers, and the public.

Satellite transmitters now 

routinely report marine mammal locations and behaviors. 

Instruments carried by marine 

mammals record oceanographic 

conditions. These tools can also 

record sounds, like marine mammal 

vocalizations and noise from ships 

and other anthropogenic activities.

Moorings provide invaluable information about animals 

and climate change. Some record 

measurements of ocean conditions 

continuously for longer than a year. 

Passive acoustic listening moorings 

use hydrophones and high-storage 

capacity to record vocalizations 

and ambient noise continuously for 

a year. Others broadcast, via satellite, summaries of whale calls and 

are linked with websites that can 

be monitored in near-real-time.

In the field, research and 

monitoring data can be input and 

instantly converted into useful formats, such as summaries and tables. 

Adding additional data downloaded 

from a global positioning network 

(GPN), researchers display animals’ 

movements with current data about 

ice coverage, water depth, and other 

environmental characteristics.

Equally important, as soon as 

reports are written, papers published, and data gathered, they can 

A tagged bowhead whale moves along the edge of “fast ice” (unbroken solid ice, in solid grey) 

on one side and, on the other side, ice through which it can surface for air. Photo courtesy of 

Alaska Department of Fish & Game.

STUDIES IN THE ARCTIC:

NOT YOUR FATHER'S RESEARCH TOOLS!

be shared electronically and globally.

See for yourself! Several 

MMS-funded projects in the Alaska 

OCS Region use new technologies, 

partnerships, and data sharing, 

enhancing our stewardship.

Bearded seals (Erignathus 

barbatus), a key component of Arctic 

marine ecosystems, are an important 

subsistence resource to the Native 

peoples of coastal northern and 

western Alaska. But little is known 

about their abundance, foraging 

ecology, seasonal movements, and 

haul-out behavior. To remedy this, 

MMS is funding a multiyear project, 

carried out by the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration's 

(NOAA) National Marine Mammal 

Laboratory (NMML), to capture 

and tag adult bearded seals in 

the Bering and Chukchi Seas.

Tagging began in Kotzebue 

Sound in June 2009. Mounted on 

the seal’s head with epoxy, one 

tag gives data about timing and 

depth of the seal’s dives. Attached 

to the seal’s rear flipper, a different 
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 15

For more information

Bearded Seal Study, Native Village of Kotzebue

http://kotzebueira.org/current_projects3.html

Bowhead Whale Aerial Survey, National Marine Mammal 

Laboratory

www.afsc.noaa.gov/NMML/cetacean/bwasp/flights_BWASP.php

Satellite Tracking of Western Arctic Bowhead Whales, Alaska 

Department of Fish & Game

www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=marinemammals.bowhead

MMS Alaska OCS Region Environmental Studies

www.mms.gov/alaska/ess

kind of tag relays information for 

up to 3 years about haul-out timing and seasonal movements.

The adult bearded seal 

study is a collaboration among 

the Native Village of Kotzebue, 

Alaska Department of Fish & 

Game, University of Alaska 

Fairbanks, and the NMML.

Since 1979, MMS has studied 

the fall migration of bowhead 

whales (Balaena mysticetus) through 

the Beaufort Sea. The Bowhead 

Whale Aerial Survey Project 

(BWASP), funded by MMS and 

managed by NMML (since 2007), 

continues to gather data vital to 

helping us understand not only 

several marine mammal species but 

also the effects of climate change.

The BWASP flight summary 

reports include information about 

bowheads, belugas, walruses, 

bears, bearded seals, and other 

animals. Tracking maps are sent 

in emails and are viewed on the 

Internet. Combined with GPN and 

geographic information system 

data, such as sea state, maps can 

be instantly generated and shared.

An MMS-funded University 

of Alberta study of polar bears 

(Ursus maritimus) in the Canadian 

Beaufort Sea area provides data 

about the population structure 

of polar bears in North America 

and how they use land, nearshore, 

and OCS habitats at various life 

stages. A website will soon be 

online where users can see monthly 

movements of tracked polar bears.

Interactive websites are also an 

efficient way of sharing information. 

Methods, data, findings, and resulting publications are often available 

on the Internet. While this research 

has been conducted to facilitate the 

responsible development of offshore 

marine resources, it is available for 

use by researchers and students, 

who can download study data and 

other information for analyses.

Paths of three tagged adult bearded seals. As the seasonal ice was rapidly disappearing, all 

three seals moved north along the coast to points between Cape Lisburne and Point Franklin. 

Image courtesy of Peter Boveng, NMML.

Core team members capture and tag bearded seals in Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, June 2009. Left 

to right: John Jansen (NMML), Virgil Naylor (Alaska Native hunter), Shawn Dahle (NMML), 

and Jeff Barger (Alaska Native hunter). Photo courtesy of Michael Cameron, NMML.

Movements of adult (74627) and

sub‐adult (74626, 74630) bearded

seals, 27 June – 6 July 2009
mms OCEAN SCIENCE

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Permit No. 28

MMS: A steward of 

the ocean environment

NEW WAVES Late-Breaking News & Information

I

n April 2009, President Obama announced that 

the Minerals Management Service (MMS) had 

finalized the framework for renewable energy 

development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). 

This framework establishes the process for granting 

leases, easements, and rights-of-way for offshore 

renewable energy development activities, such as 

the siting and construction of wind generation 

facilities on the OCS. It also provides for MMS to 

use task forces in carrying out its responsibilities 

for authorizing OCS renewable energy activities 

in partnership with State, local, and tribal 

governments, and Federal agencies.

At the invitation of State governors, MMS establishes intergovernmental task forces to consult with 

States, local, and tribal governments and Federal 

agencies about renewable energy leasing and development on the OCS.

Interagency task forces for several Atlantic States 

have begun holding or have scheduled meetings, and 

others States are gearing up.

Delaware’s first task force meeting was held 

on October 29, 2009. Rhode Island held its first 

meeting on November 17. The Commonwealth of 

Massachusetts’ task force held its first meeting on 

November 19. New Jersey’s first meeting was held 

on November 24. Virginia’s task force held its first 

meeting on December 8, 2009. Maryland’s meeting 

is tentatively set for February 2010.

Maine is considering asking MMS to form a 

task force. North Carolina held their meeting on 

December 15, 2009, to discuss the purpose and 

composition of a task force.

The MMS is working with Maryland, New York, 

North Carolina, and South Carolina to form task 

forces.

MMS Collaborates with Atlantic States’ Renewable Energy Task Forces 

Interior Secretary 

Salazar talks about the 

potential of alternative 

energy development 

on Atlantic Outer 

Continental Shelf. To 

the right is Delaware 

Senator Tom Carper. 

Photo courtesy of 

Tami Heilemann, 

Department of the 

Interior.