Document YDK4ypnQnXeX29Qp722rDZoLN

United States Department of the Interior BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT WASHINGTON, DC 20240-0001 Memorandum APR 13 W To: Deputy Secretary Through: Katharine S. MacGregor. __ f Acting Assistant Secretary'- Land and Minerals Management From: Walter D. Cruickshank Acting Director Subject: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Response to Secretary Order 3349 Mitigation Policy Review The following actions were taken in response to: (1) the Presidential Memorandum dated November 3, 2015, "Mitigating Impacts on Natural Resources from Development and Encouraging Related Private Investment;" and (2) Secretary's Order (SO) 3330 on "Improving Mitigation Policies and Practices of the Department of the Interior," dated October 31, 2013: Climate Change Policy Review The following actions were identified relating to specific Executive Orders, Presidential memoranda, and Executive Office of the President reports related to climate change listed in Sec. 5.b.(i) of SO 3349, including the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) "Final Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Effects of Climate Change in National Environmental Policy Act Reviews," 81 Fed. Reg. 51866 (August 5, 2016): 2 1. BOEM prepared a technical report on greenhouse gases and the social cost of carbon in conjunction with the Environmental Impact Statement for the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program. This report has since been referenced in additional lease sale documents. This report evaluated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from oil and gas produced on the OCS of the United States under the proposed action and under a "no action" alternative. The report concluded that OCS leasing under the program would actually slightly decrease GHG emissions because substitution of forgone OCS energy would primarily come from less efficient foreign sources. Although the report is consistent with the rescinded CEQ guidance listed in section 5(b)(i) of SO 3349, BOEM's decision to prepare the purely informational report was made before the final CEQ guidance was issued and independently considered. The report citation is "Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, OCS Oil and Natural Gas: Potential Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Social Cost of Carbon, November 2016, OCS Report BOEM 2016-065." 2. BOEM developed activities and performance metrics in support of the larger DOI Climate Change Resilience Priority Goal. These metrics were collected and reported on both a quarterly and annual schedule and discussed at a monthly DOI Performance Management Council Meeting. The activities and metrics associated with the DOI climate change initiative were also summarized and reported in the Annual Performance Plan and Report and the Agency Financial Report. These activities and metrics were developed based on previous Departmental decisions made before the rescinded documents referenced in SO 3349 were issued.