Arctic Offshore Oil Gas Guidelines PDF Download

"The Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School is pleased to present this Interim Print Version of our White Paper Series on "Implementing the Arctic Offshore Oil and Gas Guidelines in the United States and Canada." Interim in this context means that we plan to publish a final version in 2011 that takes into account reader comments and reflects selected developments after the fatal Deepwater Horizon-BP blowout and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that are not covered in the papers to date. In July and August 2010 we published the Overview and Four White Papers reproduced in this booklet [see ASTIS records: 71161, 71153, 71156, 71158, 71160]. Our objective was, and remains, to compare relevant U.S. and Canadian laws and regulations for ways in which they comport with the Arctic Offshore Oil and Gas Guidelines endorsed by the Arctic Council in 2009. More information on the white paper project is contained in the letter dated July 27, 2010, also reproduced in this booklet. The white papers as published this summer did not address in any detail the regulatory developments following the April 20 Gulf of Mexico blowout and spill. On the U.S. side it is worth noting that the Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS) Regulations referenced on page 2 of the July 27, 2010, Overview have since been published in the Federal Register. In Canada, the National Energy Board "Arctic Offshore Drilling Review" process is ongoing. The final published version of these papers will incorporate selected developments on both of these fronts"