**Court Orders Federal Agency to Enhance Protection for Rice’s Whales in Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Drilling**
In a significant judicial decision impacting the oil and gas industry, the US District Court for the District of Maryland has mandated the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to create a revised biological opinion that better safeguards the endangered Rice’s whale in the Gulf of Mexico. This ruling challenges the current biological opinion’s effectiveness in protecting the species, citing underestimation of risk and harm from oil spills and an inadequate jeopardy analysis.
The decision, issued on August 19, sided with environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, and Turtle Island Restoration Network, who had filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the NMFS’ biological opinion. The court’s ruling emphasizes that the existing opinion underestimated the risks associated with oil spills and did not adequately address the diminished populations of the Rice’s whale and the Gulf sturgeon following the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Key Points of the Ruling:
1. **Flawed Analysis**: The biological opinion was deemed flawed because it failed to consider the significant population decline of the Rice’s whale and the Gulf sturgeon post-the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The court argued that the agency’s assumption about maintaining pre-spill populations was unrealistic and contrary to scientific evidence.
2. **Incomplete Mitigation**: The court found that the NMFS had only addressed two of the five identified stressors likely to jeopardize the endangered Rice’s whale, without providing a clear explanation of how the proposed mitigation measures would effectively protect the species.
3. **Impact on Oil and Gas Activity**: The ruling could have immediate and long-term implications for federal offshore oil and gas leasing activities in the Gulf of Mexico. The next lease sale, scheduled for 2025, is expected to comply with the conditions of the revised biological opinion. Any delays in completing this revised opinion could