1. COSA Committee Meeting
June 22, 2017
Jill Lewandowski, PhD
Chief, Division of Environmental Assessment
Headquarters

2. 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)

3. 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.

4. National Studies
Studies of national interest as identified through either the development of the 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

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

6. OEP Foci for FY 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 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).

7. OEP Foci for FY 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 SDP (text in green)

8. OEP Foci for FY 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 SDP (text in green)
Photo by Simon Pierce

9. 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

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

11. 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)

12. Questions?
Photo by Simon Pierce