Environmental Policy News

CSA Publishes Exclusive Guide, Navigating the BiOp, in Response to the 2020 NMFS BiOp

CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. (CSA) today announced details of a new, commercial product: Navigating the BiOp: A Guide for Offshore Oil and Gas Operators in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico to Comply with New Requirements Established by the NMFS Biological Opinion Issued March 2020.

On March 13, 2020, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published their Biological Opinion on the Federally Regulated Oil and Gas Program Activities in the Gulf of Mexico (BiOp), which became effective upon publication. The BiOp contains new permitting and operational conditions for oil and gas activities in the U.S. GOM that supersede existing established permitting and operational conditions.

The NMFS BiOp is a sizable document (720 pages) that affects a wide range of oil and gas activities in the GOM; from permitting and surveying to day-to-day vessel operations. Thus, CSA recognized the need for a simple-to-use guide that cuts through the text to provide definitive actions for relevant offshore activities.

CSA’s Guide to the BiOp provides anyone working in association with the offshore oil and gas industry in the GOM clear and unambiguous steps that need to be taken to ensure compliance. The Guide is organized by permitting and/or operational conditions for the following affected oil and gas-related activity types: (1) Vessel Operations, (2) Survey and Data Collection, (3) Drilling Activities, (4) Structures/Construction, (5) Production Operations, (6) Pipelines, (7) Decommissioning, (8) New and Unusual Technologies, (9) Oil Spills, and (10) NMFS Step-Down Review. For each activity, the Guide identifies affected topics associated with the specific activity, summarizes the new condition requirements for that topic, and directs you to where you find additional condition- and compliance-related details in the BiOp.

CSA will also shortly be offering posting signage for facilities as visually arresting reminders of key actions that must be taken under the various activities described in this Guide. This signage can be quickly adapted to individual client needs and scenarios, including the addition of logos.

The Guide is available for purchase and download at tscstrategic.com/navigating-the-biop

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