COSA Committee Meeting June 22, 2017 Jill Lewandowski, PhD Chief, Division of Environmental Assessment Headquarters Jill.Lewandowski@boem.gov 703-787-1703

Office of Environmental Programs (OEP) OEP Vision Statement: Responsible stewardship of OCS resources through science-informed stakeholder engagement, decision making and adaptive management. Headquarters Office of Environmental Programs (OEP) Division of Environmental Assessment (DEA) Division of Environmental Studies (DES)

National Interests BOEM’s OEP conducts environmental reviews, including NEPA analyses, and produces compliance documents supporting decisions on the Five Year Oil and Gas Program, renewable energy development, and marine mineral leasing activities.

National Studies Studies of national interest as identified through either the development of the 2017-2022 Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement or other NEPA analyses and associated consultations A National Study is specifically defined as: Incorporates new or emerging technology Benefits multiple regions/program offices Specifically relevant to national compliance, consultation or policy development process

Resources and Other Environmental Considerations Considered at National Level within Program NEPA documents

OEP Foci for FY 18-20 SDP Environmental Justice: identifying baseline vulnerabilities at the community level for the national program Impacts Assessment: impacts and recovery from spilled oil on biological, social or economic resources DEA has five studies on the National List highlighting these areas of concern for the FY 18-20 SDP (text in green) I highlighted the main foci from the top six studies (there are nine total). This includes 5 from DEA and 1 from DES (the seabird catalog).

OEP Foci for FY 18-20 SDP Ecosystem Services: considering the impacts of BOEM’s activities on all environmental resources as a system Archaeological Resources: confirming the presence of identified cultural resources or clearing the areas, to allow for the highest resource potential for development DEA has five studies on the National List highlighting these areas of concern for the FY 18-20 SDP (text in green)

OEP Foci for FY 18-20 SDP Habitat/Landscape Alterations: Quantify the risk of the interactions of sharks with energy and mineral development/infrastructure to provide information needed for cumulative effects assessments Baseline data: Long-term colony based datasets to identify population baselines in seabirds for use as eco-logical indicators DEA has five studies on the National List highlighting these areas of concern for the FY 18-20 SDP (text in green) Photo by Simon Pierce

OEP Proposed Studies FY18 Page Number Discipline Ranking Study Title 87 SSE 1 Vulnerability of Communities in Close Proximity to Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Programs Support Infrastructure and Activity 91 FE 2 Compendium on Oil Spill Science 93 IMO 3 Developing a Roadmap to Maximize Natural Capital and Maintain Natural Infrastructure in Energy and Mineral Planning 94 BIO 4 Catalog of Seabird Colonies 98 AR 5 Archaeological Investigations in Support of Development of Energy and Mineral Resources on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) 101 6 Mortality Risk for Whale and Basking Sharks During Energy and Mineral Operations 104 7 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Graduate Student Award for Applied Scientific Research 106 8 Enhanced Marine Stewardship with Citizen Science SCUBA Diving 109 9 Understanding the Socio-cultural Context of Commercial Fishing Discipline Codes SSE = Social Science & Economics BIO=Biology FE = Fates & Effects IMO = Information Management & Other AR = Archeological Resource Protection

Alignment of Proposed FY 2018 OEP OCS Studies with BOEM Programs and Strategic Science Questions

Evaluating connections: BOEM’s environmental studies and assessments Feedback Schematic To illustrate the evaluation process just described, we designed this schematic which shows the feedback loop between assessment and studies as well as the external users. Intend to conduct study in phased approach - Q1: How well to studies inform our assessments? (Identify the effectiveness of the assessment process in identifying study needs) Q2: How well assessments inform studies? (Identify the effectiveness of the studies process to address incomplete and unavailable information) 🔃: Evaluate overall feedback loop (Measure the ability of environmental programs to anticipate major information needs) Q3: What is our impact on the external community? (Measure the effectiveness of the communication of environmental information needs and scientific)

Questions? Photo by Simon Pierce