U.S. Geological Survey Report Released: A history of Herpetologists and Herpetology in the U.S. Department of the Interior

Today the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released a unique environmental history monograph titled A history of Herpetologists and Herpetology in the U.S. Department of the Interior (2012) (available here).  According to the abstract,

The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has a long and distinguished history of employing herpetologists to conduct basic and applied research to better manage amphibian and reptile populations on public lands and even outside the boundaries of the United States. This history extends back over 125 years with roots in the U.S. Biological Survey, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and later, the National Biological Service. In more recent times, the DOI employed more professional herpetologists than any single organization in the world, especially in the U.S. Geological Survey. In 1938, Henry Fitch was the first Interior scientist hired who conducted substantial herpetological research. William and Lucille Stickel of the Fish and Wildlife Service conducted herpetological research throughout the period from the 1940s-1980s but most DOI herpetologists were hired from 1975-80 with another hiring spike from 2000-2005. The former spike was congruent with early versions of the Endangered Species Act while the latter reflected growing recognition of global amphibian decline and the creation of the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative in DOI. Collectively, these herpetologists produced hundreds of books, scientific publications and other scholarly publications, many of which are classics in the literature. In addition, many have served as officers and on the boards of numerous scientific societies particularly those specializing in amphibian and reptile research. The DOI shows a continuing commitment to funding herpetological research by hiring young scientists to replace the aging ranks of herpetologists who started their careers in the 1970s. This commitment is critical given the global decline of both amphibians and reptiles, including those found on public lands in the United States.

GAO Report Released: Interior’s Reorganization Complete, but Challenges Remain in Implementing New Requirements

Recently the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its report, titled
Interior’s Reorganization Complete, but Challenges Remain in Implementing New Requirement GAO-12-423 (July 30, 2012). This 143 page report, available here, was conducted by the GAO in the wake of the Deepwater Drilling incident in order to:

assess[ ] (1) Interior’s reorganization of its oversight of offshore oil and gas activities; (2) how key policy changes Interior has implemented since this incident have affected Interior’s environmental analyses, plan reviews, and drilling permit reviews; (3) the extent to which Interior’s inspections of drilling rigs and production platforms in the Gulf identify violations or result in civil penalty assessments; (4) when stakeholders provided input to Interior on proposed oil and gas activities, and the extent which they believe Interior considered their concerns; and (5) key challenges, if any, Interior faces in overseeing offshore oil and gas activities in the Gulf.

Based on its research the GAO recommended that the Department of the Interior improve the efficacy of its inspections with the "timely input of violation correction data, its capacity for categorizing oil and gas activities according to risk, and its strategic planning for information technology and workforce efforts."

Oil and Gas: Interior Has Strengthened Its Oversight of Subsea Well Containment, but Should Improve Its Documentation, GAO

Oil and Gas: Interior Has Strengthened Its Oversight of Subsea Well Containment, but Should Improve Its Documentation, GAO-12-244, February 29, 2012.

From the Highlights:

"Since the Deepwater Horizon incident, the oil and gas industry has improved its capabilities to respond to a subsea well blowout—the uncontrolled release of oil or gas from a well on the ocean floor—in the Gulf of Mexico. In particular, operators have formed two new not-for-profit organizations that can quickly make available well containment equipment, services, and expertise. Among the equipment that these organizations can provide are capping stacks—devices used to stop the flow of oil or gas from a well. This improved well containment response equipment consists primarily of existing technologies that have been modified to support well containment, according to industry representatives.

Following the Deepwater Horizon incident, Interior strengthened its review plans and resources to contain a subsea well blowout; however, its internal oversight processes have not yet been fully documented. Interior has issued guidance to operators outlining information that must be provided to Interior to demonstrate that operators can respond to a well blowout. Interior officials said that they expect to have documentation of their process for reviewing this information in place by spring 2012. Also, Interior incorporated tests of an operator’s well containment response capabilities into two unannounced spill drills, and Interior officials told us they intend to incorporate such tests into future spill drills. However, Interior has not documented a time frame for incorporating these tests, and until it does so there is limited assurance of an operator’s ability to respond to a subsea well blowout.

Subsea well containment capabilities developed for the Gulf of Mexico could generally be used elsewhere, including Alaskan waters, according to industry representatives and Interior officials. However, because other areas lack the infrastructure and equipment present in the Gulf of Mexico, well blowout response capabilities are more limited. Two operators have submitted plans to Interior to drill in waters north of Alaska as early as the summer of 2012. They are developing, but have not submitted, final well containment plans to Interior, and these plans will need to be approved by Interior before drilling. Oil and gas exploration and production off the coast of Alaska is likely to encounter environmental and logistical risks that differ from those in the Gulf of Mexico because of the region’s cold and icy conditions—factors that would also likely affect the response to a well blowout.

Draft Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance -- DOI

The Department of the Interior has created a Draft Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance document that addresses Wind Enery issues:

From the Fact Sheet:

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a Final Eagle Permit Rule (Eagle Permit Rule) on September 11, 2009 under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (Eagle Act) authorizing limited issuance of permits to take Bald and Golden eagles where the take is associated with but not the purpose of an otherwise lawful activity. The Eagle Protection Act has prohibited take of Bald Eagles since 1940 and Golden Eagles since 1962. Take means pursue, shoot, shoot at, poison, wound, kill, capture, trap, collect, destroy, molest, or disturb. Since publication of the Eagle Rule, the planned development of wind-power facilities has increased dramatically in the core range of Golden Eagles in the western United States. Golden Eagles, in particular, are vulnerable to collisions with wind turbines. In some areas such collisions are a major source of mortality, and the documented level of take is increasing.


The draft Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance explains the Service’s approach to issuing programmatic eagle take permits and provides guidance to applicants and biologists for conservation practices and adaptive management necessary to meet standards required for issuance of these permits and to be in compliance with the Eagle Act. The draft Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance interprets and clarifies the provisions of the Eagle Permit Rule and does not impose additional regulatory requirements. Programmatic take permits will authorize limited incidental mortality and disturbance of eagles at wind facilities, provided effective offsetting conservation measures are carried out.

The draft Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance is written to guide wind-facility projects starting from the earliest conceptual planning phase. For projects already in the development or operational phase, implementation of all stages of the recommended approach in this Guidance may not be applicable or possible. Project proponents with operating or soon-to-be operating facilities at the time the draft Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance was first released that are interested in obtaining a programmatic eagle take permit should coordinate with the Service. The Service will work with project proponents to determine if the facility might meet the permit requirements by conducting eagle fatality and disturbance monitoring and by adopting reasonable operational avoidance and minimization measures that might reduce future eagle fatalities detected through monitoring. Sections of Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance that address these topics are relevant to both planned and operating wind facilities.

The draft Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance calls on wind turbine developers to consult with the Service in a 5-tiered process that includes: 1) early landscape-level site assessments; 2) site specific surveys; 3) risk assessment; 4) avoiding, minimizing and mitigating impacts; and 5) post-construction monitoring. Based on the presence of eagles relative to proposed projects, the draft Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance calls for categorizing the projects into one of four categories: Category 1 – High risk to eagles with low potential to avoid or mitigate impacts; Category 2 – High to moderate risk to eagles with opportunities to mitigate impacts; Category 3 – Minimal risk to eagles; and Category 4 – uncertain risk to eagles. For additional information, visit the Service’s website at http://www.fws.gov/windenergy"

Final Land-Based Wind Energy Guidelines -- DOI

The Department of the Interior has issued Final Land-Based Wind Energy Guidelines

The Department of the Interior today released guidelines designed to help wind energy project developers avoid and minimize impacts of land-based wind projects on wildlife and their habitats. The voluntary guidelines will help shape the smart siting, design and operation of the nation's growing wind energy economy.

Secure Water Act Report to Congress -- DOI

This report  Reclamation Climate Change and Water 2011 from the Bireau of Reclamation assesses climate change risks and how these risks could impact water operations, hydropower, flood control, and fish and wildlife in the western United States.

The report to Congress represents the first consistent and coordinated assessment of risks to future water supplies across eight major Reclamation river basins, including the Colorado, Rio Grande and Missouri river basins.  The report, which responds to requirements under the SECURE Water Act of 2009, shows several increased risks to western United States water resources during the 21st century.

The report notes that projected changes in temperature and precipitation are likely to impact the timing and quantity of stream flows in all western basins, which could impact water available to farms and cities, hydropower generation, fish and wildlife, and other uses such as recreation.

Oil and Gas: Interior's Restructuring Challenges in the Aftermath of the Gulf Oil Spill -- GAO

This Government Accountability Report (GAO-11-734T), dated June 2, 2011, states that "GAO is concerned with Interior's ability to undertake this reorganization while meeting its revenue collection and oil and gas oversight responsibilities.

Balancing Responsibilities: GAO has reported that Interior has experienced several challenges with meeting its responsibilities for providing for the development of oil and gas resources while managing public lands for other uses, including wildlife habitat. For example, in September 2009, GAO reported that BLM's use of categorical exclusions under Section 390 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was frequently out of compliance with the law and BLM's internal guidance.

As a result, GAO recommended that BLM take steps to improve the implementation of Section 390. BLM has taken steps to address these recommendations, but it has not yet implemented all of them. Human Capital: GAO has reported that BLM and MMS have encountered persistent problems in hiring, training, and retaining sufficient staff to meet their oversight and management responsibilities for oil and gas operations. For example, in March 2010, GAO reported that BLM and MMS experienced high turnover rates in key oil and gas inspection and engineering positions responsible for production verification activities. As a result, Interior faces challenges meeting its responsibilities to oversee oil and gas development on federal leases, potentially placing both the environment and royalties at risk.

Revenue Collection: While federal oil and gas resources generate billions of dollars in annual revenues, past GAO work has found that Interior may not be properly assessing and collecting these revenues. In September 2008, GAO reported that Interior collected lower levels of revenues for oil and gas production in the deep water of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico than all but 11 of 104 oil and gas resource owners whose revenue collection systems were evaluated in a comprehensive industry study. As GAO recommended, Interior is undertaking a comprehensive assessment of its revenue collection policies and processes--the first in over 25 years. Interior expects to complete this study later this year.

Development of Existing Leases: In October 2008, GAO reported that Interior could do more to encourage the development of existing oil and gas leases. Federal leases contain one provision--increasing rental rates over time for offshore 5-year leases and onshore leases--to encourage development. In addition to escalating rental rates, states undertake additional efforts to encourage lessees to develop oil and gas leases more quickly, including shorter lease terms and graduated royalty rates. Recently, Interior has stated its intent to pursue legislation establishing a per acre fee on non-producing leases to encourage development of federal leases.

Framework for Early Restoration Addressing Injuries Resulting from the Deeepwater Horizon Oil Spill -- NOAA

From the press release by NOAA "Under an unprecedented agreement announced today by the Natural Resource Trustees for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (Trustees), BP has agreed to provide $1 billion toward early restoration projects in the Gulf of Mexico to address injuries to natural resources caused by the spill. The Trustees involved are: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, the Department of the Interior (DOI), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Department of Justice provided assistance in reaching the agreement. This early restoration agreement, the largest of its kind ever reached, represents a first step toward fulfilling BP’s obligation to fund the complete restoration of injured public resources, including the loss of use of those resources by the people living, working and visiting the area. The Trustees will use the money to fund projects such as the rebuilding of coastal marshes, replenishment of damaged beaches, conservation of sensitive areas for ocean habitat for injured wildlife, and restoration of barrier islands and wetlands that provide natural protection from storms."

Oil and Gas Bonds: BLM Needs a Comprehensive Strategy to Better Manage Potential Oil and Gas Well Liability -- GAO

This Government Accountability Office report (GAO-11-292), dated February 25, 2011, finds that the number of oil and gas wells on leased federal land has increased dramatically.

To help manage the environmental impacts of these wells, the Department of the Interior's (Interior) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) requires oil and gas operators to reclaim disturbed land in a manner it prescribes. To help ensure operators reclaim leased land, BLM requires them to provide a bond before beginning drilling operations. BLM refers to oil and gas wells and leased land that will require reclamation as potential liabilities because BLM may have to pay for reclamation if the operators fail to do so.

GAO was asked to determine (1) BLM's policies for managing potential federal oil and gas well liability, (2) the extent to which BLM has implemented these policies, and (3) the challenges, if any, BLM faces in managing potential oil and gas well liability. GAO analyzed agency data on bonding and wells and interviewed BLM officials. We surveyed all 48 BLM field offices with an oil and gas program, and received 33 responses covering these offices.

Forest Service Research and Development: Improvements in Delivery of Research Results Can Help Ensure That Benefits of Research Are Realized -- GAO

This Government Accountability Office report (GAO-11-12), dated October 29, 2010, finds that the scope of Forest Service R&D’s work spans a range of research organized into seven strategic program areas: invasive species; inventory and monitoring; outdoor recreation; resource management and use; water, air, and soils; wildland fire; and wildlife and fish.

End users identified areas requiring additional attention by Forest Service R&D, such as social science research to better understand human interaction with natural resources. Forest Service R&D has taken steps to improve its ability to fulfill its mission in several areas, including increasing its efforts to deliver knowledge and tools to end users and involving end users in setting research agendas; improving funding allocation processes; and increasing coordination with other federal research
agencies.

Despite these efforts, challenges persist, particularly in the area of science delivery—that is, how research results are communicated. While Forest Service R&D has created a more formal system for science delivery at multiple levels within the agency, and several research stations have specific programs dedicated to science delivery, numerous officials and end users told GAO that Forest Service R&D places greater emphasis on peer-reviewed journals as a means of science delivery than on other types of science delivery efforts, such as workshops, that are often more useful to end users. Without improved delivery of research results, land managers and others may be unable to fully benefit from the agency’s work.

Federal Oil and Gas Leases: Opportunities Exist to Capture Vented and Flared Natural Gas, Which Would Increase Royalty Payments and Reduce Greenhouse

This Government Accountability Office report (GAO-11-34), dated October 29, 2010, finds that data collected by Interior to track venting and flaring on federal leases likely underestimate venting and flaring because they do not account for all sources of lost gas.

For onshore federal leases, operators reported to Interior that about 0.13 percent of produced gas was vented or flared. Estimates from EPA and the Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP) showed volumes as high as 30 times higher. Similarly, for offshore federal leases, operators reported that 0.5 percent of the natural gas produced was vented and flared, while data from an Interior offshore air quality study showed that volume to be about 1.4 percent, and estimates from EPA showed it to be about 2.3 percent.

GAO found that the volumes operators reported to Interior do not fully account for some ongoing losses such as the emissions from gas dehydration equipment or from thousands of valves—key sources in the EPA, WRAP, and Interior offshore air quality studies.

Outer Continental Shelf Safety Oversight Board: Report to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar

This report of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Outer Continental Shelf Safety Oversight Board Report to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, dated September 1, 2010, presents a complex of issues and recommendations ranging from improved consistency and communication of Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement's (BOEMRE) operational policies to technology improvements and day-to-day management in the field.

Inspections and enforcement—from personnel training to the deterrent effect of fines and civil penalties—also need attention. In addition, BOEMRE must be diligent to achieve the stewardship balance between development and environmental responsibilities envisioned in its statutes.

BOEMRE responsibilities have expanded in scope and complexity to such an extent that BOEMRE must increase and develop its staff to meet new challenges. Above all, BOEMRE must pursue, and industry must engage in, a new culture of safety in which protecting human life and preventing environmental disasters are the highest priority, with the goal of making leasing and production safer and more sustainable.

Forging a new safety culture cannot be achieved by government alone. The Board recognizes that the federal agency for offshore management must carry the flag for safety culture, through its own actions, through its rules and enforcement, and through its establishment of priorities.

However, the Board believes that industry, as the lead player in offshore oil and gas development, has a pivotal role to play as well. Indeed, industry must make a widespread, forceful and long-term commitment to cultivating a serious approach to safety that sets the highest safety standards and consistently meets them.

Wildland Urban Interface: Community Assistance

This report by the Department of the Interior, Office of the Inspector General (Report No.: ER-EV-MOA-0012-2009), dated July 2010 describes the result of 20 projects in wildland urban interface (WUI) areas to determine the success of DOI cooperative efforts with communities abutting federal property in reducing their wildland fire risks. The report found that while the National Fire Plan’s WUI community assistance grants are a successful component of DOI’s wildland fire management effort, the effort succeeds chiefly through the commitment of individual efforts. As part of the fire management budget, WUI grant funds flow to bureaus from OWFC but without accompanying guidance and direction.

Oil and Gas Management: Past Work Offers Insights to Consider in Restructuring Interior’s Oversight

This Government Accountability Office Testimony (GAO-10-888T) dated July 22, 2010 states that the GAO’s recent evaluations of federal oil and gas management have identified areas where Interior could provide more effective oversight, including:

• In October 2008, GAO reported that Interior policies and practices for leasing offshore and onshore oil and gas differed in key ways. Considering the ways that areas are selected for leasing, GAO found that MMS sets out a 5-year strategic plan identifying both a leasing schedule and the offshore areas it will lease. In contrast, BLM relies on industry and others to nominate onshore areas for leasing, then selects lands to lease from these nominations and from areas it has identified.
• Oil and gas activity has generally increased in recent years, and Interior has at times been unable to meet its legal and agency mandated oversight obligations in key areas. For example, in a June 2005 report, GAO found that Interior was unable to complete its environmental inspections because of increased onshore drilling activity. GAO also found in a September 2008 review that Interior was not consistently completing inspections to verify oil and gas volumes produced from federal leases. GAO found in a March 2010 report that MMS faces challenges conducting required environmental reviews in Alaska. In particular, MMS has no handbook providing guidance on how to conduct these reviews, although Interior policy directs it to prepare one.
• Interior may be missing opportunities to fundamentally shift the terms of federal oil and gas leases and increase revenues. In a September 2008 report, GAO reported that, compared to other countries, the United States receives one of the lowest shares of revenue for oil and gas. In addition, Interior’s royalty rate, which does not change to reflect changing prices and market conditions, has at times led to pressure on Interior and Congress to periodically change royalty rates in response to market conditions. Interior also has done less than some states and private landowners to encourage lease development and may be missing opportunities to increase production revenues. Interior began studying ways to improve revenue collection and leasing practices earlier this year.
• Interior’s oil and gas IT systems lack key functionalities. A September 2008 GAO review found that MMS’s ability to maintain the accuracy of oil and gas production and royalty data was hampered by two key limitations in its IT system: (1) it did not limit companies’ ability to adjust self-reported data after MMS had audited them and (2) it did not identify missing royalty reports. More recently, a March 2010 report found that Interior’s long-standing efforts to implement two key technologies for verifying oil and gas production are behind schedule and years from widespread adoption.

Wildland Fire Management: Federal Agencies Have Taken Important Steps Forward, but Additiona, Strategic Action Is needed to Capitalize on Those Steps

This Government Accountability Office Report (GAO-09-877) dated September 2009 finds that the Forest Service and the Interior agencies have improved their understanding of wildland fire’s ecological role on the landscape and have taken important steps toward enhancing their ability to cost-effectively protect communities and resources.

However, much work remains. GAO has recommended several key actions—including development of an overarching fire management strategy—that, if completed, would substantially improve the agencies’ management of wildland fire. Nonetheless, the agencies have yet to:
• Develop a cohesive strategy laying out various potential approaches for addressing the growing wildland fire threat, estimated costs associated with each approach, and the trade-offs involved. Such information would help the agencies and Congress make fundamental decisions about an effective and affordable approach to responding to fires.
• Establish a cost-containment strategy that clarifies the importance of containing costs relative to other, often-competing objectives. Without such clarification, GAO believes managers in the field lack a clear understanding of the relative importance that the agencies’ leadership places on containing costs and are therefore likely to continue to select firefighting strategies without duly considering the costs of suppression.
• Clarify financial responsibilities for fires that cross federal, state, and local
jurisdictions. Unless the financial responsibilities for multijurisdictional fires are clarified, concerns that the existing framework insulates nonfederal entities from the cost of protecting the wildland-urban interface—and that the federal government would therefore continue to bear more than its share of the cost—are unlikely to be addressed.
• Take action to mitigate the effects of rising fire costs on other agency programs. The sharply rising costs of managing wildland fires have led the agencies to transfer funds from other programs to help pay for fire suppression, disrupting or delaying activities in these other programs.
• Better methods of predicting needed suppression funding could reduce
the need to transfer funds from other programs.

Wildland Fire Management: Federal Agencies Have Taken Important Steps Forward, but Additional Action Is Needed to Address Remaining Challenges

This Government Accountability Office Testimony (GAO-09-906T) dated July 21, 2009 states that:

The Forest Service and Interior agencies have taken important steps toward enhancing their ability to protect communities and resources by seeking to (1) make communities and resources less susceptible to being damaged by wildland fire and (2) respond to fire so as to protect communities and important resources at risk while also considering both the cost and long-term effects of that response.

Despite the agencies’ efforts, much work remains. GAO has previously recommended several key actions that, if completed, would substantially improve the agencies’ management of wildland fire. Specifically, the agencies should:

•Develop a cohesive strategy laying out various potential approaches for addressing the growing wildland fire threat.

•Establish a cost-containment strategy that clarifies the importance of containing costs relative to other, often-competing objectives.

•Clarify financial responsibilities for fires that cross federal, state, and local jurisdictions.

•Take action to mitigate the effects of rising fire costs on other agency programs.

Alliance; Wester Resource Advocates, Western Watersheds Project, County of San Miguel, Colorado v. Dept of Interior

This compaint seeks to block the placement of electrical transmission lines over federal lands.

Department of the Interior, Mineral Management Service: "Renewable Energy and Alternate Uses of Existing Facilities on the Outer Continental Shelf"

GAO reviewed the Department of the Interior, Mineral Management Services's (MMS) new rule on renewable energy and alternate uses of existing facilities on the Outer Continental Shelf. GAO found that (1) the final rule establishes a program to grant leases, easements and rights-of-way (ROW) for renewable energy project activities on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), as well as certain previously unauthorized activities that involve the alternative use of existing facilities located on the OCS. The final rule establishes the methods for sharing revenues generated by this program with nearby coastal States. Finally, this rule is intended to ensure the orderly, safe, and environmentally responsible development of renewable energy sources on the OCS; and (2) the MMS complied with the applicable requirements in promulgating the rule.

FRAMEWORK FOR GEOLOGICAL CARBON SEQUESTRATION ON PUBLIC LAND

This Report to Congress submitted to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate by U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) in Consultation with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Compliance with Section 714 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-140, H.R.6) finds:

First, a proposed regulatory framework must recognize carbon dioxide (CO2) as a commodity, resource, contaminant, waste, or pollutant.

Second, carbon sequestration may potentially conflict with other land uses including existing and future mines, oil and gas fields, coal resources, geothermal fields, and drinking water sources.

Third, a proposed statutory and regulatory framework must recognize the long-term liability of any permitting decision to sequester CO2 and the required commitment for stewardship of facilities over an extended period of time. The scope of liability and term of stewardship will be among the longest ever attempted, lasting up to thousands of years or more.

And lastly, geological carbon sequestration on split estate lands or lands where the surface is managed by other Federal agencies presents other complications due to ownership issues of pore space and limitations that may need to be placed on surface and subsurface uses to ensure integrity of storage.

Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Dept. of the Interior and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

This memorandum clarifies the agencies’ respective jurisdictional responsibilities for leasing and licensing renewable energy projects on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf and should accelerate the implementation of offshore alternative energy sources.