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Committee to advise on offshore studies BOEM collaborates with National Academies in assembling panel to review environmental research & inform decision making Alan Bailey Petroleum News
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Academies have agreed to form a standing committee that will provide advice and expertise on environmental studies conducted in conjunction with offshore energy and mineral resources. BOEM conducts a program of environmental research, to inform policy decisions regarding the development of energy and mineral resources on the outer continental shelf. The agency says that the new committee will “provide independent information on issues relevant to BOEM’s environmental studies and assessment activities and support discussions on relevant issues.”
The National Academies consist of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council.
“BOEM is thrilled to enter this partnership with the National Academies,” said BOEM Director Abigail Ross Hopper when announcing the new arrangement on June 24. “The academies’ scientific credentials and the quality of experts affiliated with the organization make it a perfect choice to provide guidance to the bureau on scientific matters.”
Call for nominations The National Research Council, which has contract oversight of the new committee, issued a call for nominations to the committee on June 23, with nominations required by July 15. The NRC anticipates announcing the membership of the committee later in the summer, with plans for a first meeting to be announced in the fall. The organization will select about 15 committee members out of a broad pool of qualified experts from academia, the private sector and other organizations - members are not required to be members of the National Academies, BOEM says. Expertise in the committee needs to span both natural and social sciences, including relevant disciplines such as ecology, population biology, chemical oceanography and marine archaeology, the agency says.
Committee members will not be compensated for their committee involvement - the committee will meet several times a year and may conduct workshops, studies or document reviews relevant to BOEM’s environmental programs. The work will be purely advisory, and will not include recommendations on agency policies or management decisions, BOEM says.
Potential topics BOEM says that the committee may explore topics and activities such as strategic approaches to environmental monitoring; stakeholder discussions on controversial issues; reviews of proposed BOEM studies; reviews and expert advice on research gaps and priorities; technical input to BOEM environmental programs; and enhancing the understanding of science and technology innovation.
“BOEM and the NRC have a rich and successful history in developing collaborative work dating back to the late 1970s,” said BOEM Chief Environmental Officer Dr. William Brown. “The expanded partnership with the NRC and its role in reviewing BOEM’s research priorities is a quantum leap forward in the bureau’s ability to advance as an organization whose decisions are rooted in the best that science can offer.”
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