Page 25 - IAGC The Voice 2017

REGULATORY COMMENTS

AROUND THE GLOBE

The IAGC is actively engaged in monitoring and responding to regulatory activity
around the world impacting the exploration industry. Activities and comments are
focused on preventing unnecessary regulations that pose a risk to your freedom to
operate. Over the past year, the IAGC has been heavily involved in comment efforts
in key areas where our members are active. The list of comments includes:

2nd Stakeholder Consultation on the
CMS Family Guidelines on Environmental

Impact Assessments for Marine Noise-
Generating Activities

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild
Animals' (CMS) Environmental Impact Assessments for Marine
Noise-generating Activities guidelines are intended to provide
regulators with advice to apply within domestic jurisdictions, to be
standardized across jurisdictions, and to be applicable to individual
parties and all CMS Instruments. The guidelines are accompanied
by a Technical Support Document to be used as a resource for
regulators and decision-makers when assessing potential impacts
on migratory animals by sound-generating activities of various types.

For the second stakeholder consultation, the IAGC's comments to
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and CMS
Secretariat urge the CMS Family guidelines not be adopted in its
current form. The current draft falls far short of the level of
balanced stakeholder input and relevant scientific information
expected of the CMS Family guidelines. The comments recommend
extensive revision to both the guidelines and technical support
documents as well as revision to the composition of the drafting
team. The Association believes the imbalance within the drafting
team is a key reason why the guidelines and technical document
are not balanced in approach.

The 'CMS Family' refers to both the CMS and the collection of
Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding contained under
such agreements including ASCOBANS (Agreement on the
Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas) and
ACCOBAMS (Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the
Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area). The
CMS brings together the countries through which migratory
animals pass by land or sea, the range countries, and lays the legal
foundation for internationally coordinated conservation measures
throughout a migratory range.

25