Environmental Technology
Sound and the marine environment: Keeping up with the regulations
Updates of international workshops, research and governmental regulations affecting seismic acquisition and marine animal protection.
David Hedgeland, International Association of Geophysical Contractors, UK
The level of political, public and regulatory interest in protecting the marine environment, particularly in relation to sound, has increased significantly in recent years. Many within industry are aware that several regions have implemented regulations and guidelines related to exploration and production activities offshore to reduce the risk of acoustic disturbance from those activities to marine animals, particularly marine mammals, turtles and fisheries. Such regulations or guidelines vary between geographic regions and have been based on a combination of precaution and various levels of scientific research.
It is widely recognized that education, information and knowledge are critical components to improving our understanding of both the natural life history of, and the potential anthropogenic effects on, the marine environment. It is also recognized that there are still many unknowns in our understanding of the marine environment.
In recognition of the importance of this global discussion, industry organizations, such as the International Association of Geophysical Contractors (IAGC), the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP), the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA), and the American Petroleum Institute (API), have established working groups to assess the interaction between exploration and production activities and the marine environment, and to help governments develop effective mitigation methods. To do that effectively, there is a growing awareness within these groups that a critical part of these activities includes industry being an active stakeholder or partner in the global discussion, and industry being represented at the various workshops and meetings held around the world.
Various national and international organizations have hosted workshops and meetings throughout 2006 as a means to assess the current levels of knowledge related to sound and the marine environment. In some cases, information from such workshops is being used to prepare background papers to aid governments in the decision-making process for implementing regulations or guidelines for human interaction with the marine environment.
INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOPS
These workshops provide an opportunity for the regulatory, NGO, academic, science and E&P industry communities to improve their understanding of the biology, science and technology associated with the marine environment. Many of these workshop events have been hosted by international organizations, such as the International Whaling Commission (IWC), or by national agencies, such as the German Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt), and interdisciplinary groups, such as the Inter Agency Committee on Marine Science and Technology (IACMST) in the UK or the US Marine Mammal Commission (MMC). In many cases, conclusions from these discussions may form the basis for the development of regulations and future guidelines (see sidebar).
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International workshops agencies and organizations
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- The IWC Scientific Committee, Standing Working Group (SWG) on Environmental Concerns, hosted a two-day pre-meeting on seismic surveys’ potential impact on cetaceans. The meeting was held in St. Kitts and Nevis during May/ June 2006 at the International Whaling Commission’s 58th annual meeting (The SWG report is given as Annex K of the Science Committee’s main report).
The Scientific Committee’s recommendations related to: a) global management of seismic operations, b) quantifying the exposure and potential impact of noise from seismic surveys within critical habitats and their potential effect on important life functions, c) long-term vs. short-term monitoring, d) mitigation and monitoring.
- The German Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt) hosted an international workshop on “Impacts of Seismic Survey Activities on Whales and other Marine Biota” in Dessau, Germany, during September 2006.
The primary focus of the workshop was on academic seismic surveys with the purpose of developing information for preparing an environmental assessment for German activities in the Antarctic region. It was noted that the discussion would provide additional background information for Germany’s input to the EU Marine Strategy and development of a background paper on underwater sound. The paper is being prepared by Germany for the working group on the Environmental Impacts of Human Activities (EIHA) under the OSPAR Commission.
- The Inter-Agency Committee on Marine Science and Technology (IACMST) is a UK Government Committee reporting to the Office of Science and Technology. An IACMST working group recently produced a report on underwater sound and marine life. The working group was established in recognition that sound in the marine environment is a topic of growing interest scientifically and, more generally, to the public, news media and decision makers.
The IACMST report recommendations include establishing a UK interdisciplinary discussion forum for issues related to underwater sound and the marine environment, and the development of a research strategy to further examine the effects of underwater sound on marine life – both its inputs and impacts. IACMST recently announced plans to establish an Underwater Sound Discussion Forum during a one day “Underwater Sound and Marine Life” conference hosted by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMAREST) in London.
- Industry has also hosted similar workshop activities. A “Seismic Activity and Marine Environment” seminar was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in May, 2006. This event was the first of its kind in Brazil, bringing together an audience from the academic, regulatory and industry communities to share information on research activities and results, with a goal of further developing relationships between national and international companies, government, academia, scientists and specialists. The presentations provided updates on research efforts from Brazil and around the world related to marine mammals, fishing resources, turtles, mitigation measures, monitoring and underwater sound propagation.
- In late 2003, the US Marine Mammal Commission (MMC), under a US Congressional mandate to “fund an international conference or series of conferences to share findings, survey acoustic ‘threats’ to marine mammals, and develop means of reducing those threats while maintaining the oceans as a global highway of international commerce,” chose to create a Federal Advisory Committee. The Committee lasted about two years, with industry participation.
The Committee adopted early guidelines for itself that required Committee statements to achieve unanimous consensus. The intended final report was to be forwarded to the US Congress, to inform them on the issue. However, the Federal Advisory Committee was unable to achieve consensus on a collective report and has produced individual caucus statements to the MMC, as well as a process summary report. The energy producers’ caucus submitted its report to the MMC in early 2006.
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REGULATORY ACTIVITIES
It’s clearly important for a global industry such as ours to understand not only what regulations are in place, but also to understand the scientific basis from which future guidelines and regulations may be developed. In many areas, governments and regulatory authorities are eager to embrace the latest scientific data to form the basis for implementing up-to-date and practical mitigation and monitoring methods for human marine activities.
While we all recognize that there is a great need for knowledge in this area, we should also remind ourselves that conducting scientific research studies and analyzing results is a long-term commitment. Once a study has been completed, an important step for any research activity is to publish methodology, results and conclusions as a paper in a scientific journal. An equally important step for research of any kind is to undergo a robust peer review process before being published, where the work is scrutinized and validated by a number of independent researchers who are experts in a relevant field. If the study is considered to be of a suitable standard, the findings are then published and acknowledged by the wider scientific community. It should be noted that scientific opinion can of course change as new technologies provide the means to conduct investigations in greater detail.
An example of this approach is the development of marine mammal noise exposure criteria by the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), which is in review for publication. A longstanding area of debate has been the use of sound-level thresholds to determine what might be considered safe for marine animals. It is anticipated that this work will use the most up-to-date scientific information available.
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Global overview of regulatory activities
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- There are a number of regulatory activities ongoing within the US. Most notable, perhaps, has been in relation to offshore Alaska. MMS Alaska Region finalized and issued their Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) Arctic Ocean Outer Continental Shelf Seismic Surveys in June, 2006, which suggested, among other measures, the application of a 120-dB isopleth threshold to determine an exclusion area around an active seismic source.
NMFS recently released the Sperm Whale Recovery Plan and has commenced work on the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which will cover geophysical operations in the Gulf of Mexico. This EIS will meet the environmental review requirements of NEPA for the Marine Mammal Protection Act rulemaking, and will surely draw attention back to the Gulf of Mexico.
- In 2002, the European Union (EU) Marine Strategy debate was initiated by the European Commission. The European Parliament is now considering this draft Directive after a wide stakeholder consultation process.
- As mentioned earlier, the working group on the Environmental Impacts of Human Activities (EIHA) is developing a white paper on underwater sound related to oil and gas activities offshore, under the Oslo-Paris (OSPAR) Commission’s (for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic), Biological Diversity and Ecosystems Strategy.
- The provincial governments of Canada have been collectively developing a common Statement of Practice for the conduct of marine seismic programs with respect to seismic environmental impact mitigation measures. The objective of the Statement is to develop common baseline rules for planning seismic programs, as well as carrying them out in marine areas, consistent with scientific knowledge and good international practice.
- In Australia, guidelines are also presently under review (a process that started almost two years ago).
The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) led industry participation in discussions with DEH in early 2006, to proceed with guideline revisions that are scientifically based and practical to implement while still protecting the animals.
- In Brazil, the regulating authority, IBAMA has updated both the regulatory structure and guidelines related to exploration offshore Brazil. Offshore areas are now categorized into three types, requiring varying levels of risk-assessment activities relative to the level of environmental sensitivity.
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Industry has long recognized the importance of information/ knowledge as a key element of risk assessment for global operations. A major challenge has been how to focus resources within an industry which operates globally via a wide diversity of large and small individual companies. Historically, industry support for research related to the marine environment has been considered on either a local scale, via individual companies, or on a regional scale by collaborative agreements between a number of companies operating in the same area and government and/or academic institutions, such as the Industry Research Funders Coalition (IRFC), or the Western Australia Energy Research Alliance (WA:ERA), which supports research efforts in Australia.
The IRFC was formed by multinational oil companies and IAGC to support marine mammal related research in conjunction with the Sperm Whale Seismic Study (SWSS), which was being conducted in the US Gulf of Mexico, supported by the US Minerals Management Service (MMS).
In 2006, a global industry research funding program was established: the E&P Sound and Marine Life Joint Industry Program (JIP). This marked the culmination of several years work to initiate a research effort to fill the knowledge gaps surrounding the potential risks of E&P sound on the health and well being of marine life. This program is funded by 14 visionary multinational E&P-related organizations (including IAGC, representing the geophysical industry). It benefits from the full-time services of a Program Manager and is administered by OGP. Some might naturally consider this to be just another industry research program, but there are some subtle differences; the JIP has a global focus and has been specifically established to conduct research and development activities related to sound and marine life.
Phase I of the JIP was initiated in 2005 as a scoping study and planning exercise to consider the challenge of developing a global focused approach to addressing the various research needs related to sound in the marine environment.
Phase II of the E&P Sound and Marine Life JIP was formally initiated in May 2006. A number of research and development projects are now being considered by the Phase II participants under guidance of the JIP Program Manager. Further information about the OGP JIP is available at www.soundmarinelife.org
Together with the E&P industry, IAGC continues to be engaged in global discussions related to this issue, and we continue to invest in scientific research that is filling the gaps in knowledge surrounding this issue. This is helping to remove some of the uncertainty about possible effects of E&P sound on marine life. 
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THE AUTHOR
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David Hedgeland joined IAGC as Vice President, Marine Environment in February 2005. He provides a dedicated technical and managerial resource for geophysical industry activities related to the global marine mammal effort. Mr. Hedgeland earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree in electronic engineering from the University of Sussex in 1990. He began seismic life as an assistant observer with Seismograph Service Ltd. before moving to GecoPrakla in 1993, and then PGS Exploration in 1997. He earned his first Master’s degree in exploration geophysics at Imperial College, London in 1995, and his second Master’s degree in Environment, Earth Resource Management at the University of Kingston in 2001. He joined PGS Research in 1998 as part of the Geophysical Support group responsible for seismic survey design and planning. He was responsible for coordinating environment research/ support activities, which included seismic operations and the marine environment.
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