US Department of the Interior (DOI) to limit environmental waivers

In the wake of the BP oil spill, the DOI is tightening the environmental regulations governing offshore drilling licenses. The department has suspended the Environmental Waiver/Environmental Stewardship Plan (ESP) for offshore drilling projects while the waiver process undergoes review.

A full environmental impact analysis for drilling projects is normally required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA was created following public outcry after the 1969 Santa Barbara, oil spill to set up a procedure whereby state and industry actors must prepare Environmental Assessments (EAs) and Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) to measure projects' environmental impact. However, a law was created to bypass NEPA's requirement. The waiver program was created in 2008 by DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff under the George W. Bush administration, using his authority under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). It was used to waive 30 environmental regulations associated with the construction of a fence along US-Mexico border.

Chertoff used the waiver to resolve the conflict between the mandates of the NEPA and the IIRIRA preventing his department from building the fence. Chertoff explained in a statement that the waiver was necessary 'in order to secure our homeland borders' as quickly as possible. While the waiver initially meant to expedite a government project, it has been used for two years for drilling projects.

BP's drilling project was granted such a waiver, which left its potential environmental impact unassessed. The lack of an environmental review is to blame for the oil spill which spewed millions of gallons of crude oil into the gulf, causing the worst oil spill on record and what has come to be called the 'largest environmental catastrophe in US history'.

The review of environmental waivers was called for in a report by the White House's Council on Environmental Quality. The report criticized the DOI waiver review process for lack of transparency, stating that the waiver "has led to confusion and concern about whether environmental impacts were sufficiently evaluated and disclosed".

Kieran Suckling, of the Center for Biological Diversity, confirmed that the waiver is overused.

"Categorical exclusion is meant for very minor projects like building fences," he said. "It's completely inappropriate to use categorical exclusions for any kind of major drilling operation, whether deepwater or shallow water."

Despite public outcry over the waiver's misuse, oil industry lobbyists continue to urge expedition of the drilling project approval process. The American Petroleum Institute, the main US oil lobby, said that the waiver restrictions could add delays.

"We're concerned the change could add significantly to the department's workload, stretching the timeline for approval of important energy development projects with no clear return in environmental protection," API Upstream Director Erik Milito said in a statement.

In addition to strengthening the qualifications for state and industry projects applying for a waiver, the DOI will complete a review of the Gulf of Mexico region to use as a benchmark when making future development decisions.

 

Author: Cristina Brooks | Climate Action

Image: Futureatlas.com | Flickr