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Protecting the environment while
ensuring the safe development of the Nation’s offshore energy and marine
mineral resources is a critical part of MMS’s mission. The MMS, as
with all Federal agencies, must consider the potential environmental
impacts for every decision made. For oil and gas development, these
efforts begin with the preparation of a
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement in
support of the
5-year OCS Leasing Program. After the Secretary has
decided on the size, timing, and location of lease sales for the 5-year
period, lease sale specific EISs are prepared. Additional environmental
reviews are conducted for specific activities such as drilling a well or
installing a platform. Similarly, MMS is responsible for leasing areas
of the
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for
renewable energy projects including wind, wave, and
ocean current technologies. Other mineral resources, such as
sand and gravel borrow sites, are leased and must
undergo an environmental review. The environmental analyses are based
on the most recently available scientific information. To accomplish
this, the MMS collects information about the environment through funding
of
ocean research. Cumulatively, these activities help
MMS to pursue an adaptive and ecosystem-based approach to its
stewardship responsibilities.
In 2005, MMS began overseeing the
Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP), which
provides funds to OCS oil and gas producing States to mitigate the
impacts of OCS oil and gas activities.
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