Science for Informed Decisions
BOEM must comply with numerous environmental statutes, regulations, and executive orders to carry out its mission. BOEM is dedicated to acquiring and using the highest quality scientific information in support of Bureau decisions. To that end, the Environmental Studies Program (ESP) employs a rigorous planning, review, and procurement process to meet the nation's environmental research needs for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) resource assessments.
ESP staff from Headquarters and Regional program offices prepare the annual Studies Development Plan (SDP) to cover a two-year planning period. The plan includes brief study descriptions or profiles that describe proposed studies for the upcoming fiscal year and for one successive year. Proposed studies are evaluated for program relevance, programmatic timeliness, and scientific merit.
BOEM has formulated its Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Studies Development Plan covering all BOEM energy and minerals activities. It includes studies proposed for Alaska, Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific OCS areas.
Additionally, BOEM consults with the Committee on Offshore Science and Assessment as a source of independent, scientifically credible, and objective information on topics of interest for the environmental studies and assessment activities and to support discussions on relevant issues. Collectively, these inputs contribute to the development of research plans.
BOEM maintains a complete description of ongoing BOEM studies by region. Each listing describes the research being conducted, the scientific discipline, the institution performing the work, the cost of the effort, timeframe, and any associated publications, presentations, or affiliated web sites.
Current and Previous SDPs
2023-2024 | 2022-2023 | 2021-2022 | 2020-2022 | 2019-2021 | 2018-2020 | 2017-2019 | 2016-2018 | 2015-2017 | 2014-2016 | 2013-2015 | 2012-2014 | 2011-2013
National Studies List
While the SDP serves a primarily internal planning function, it is a publicly available document and is used to communicate the proposed studies both internally within BOEM and externally with potential partners and other interested parties. The SDP and resulting studies undergo peer review at several stages to ensure the quality of the work proposed. When completed, the annual SDP forms the basis for the National Studies List (NSL), which represents the proposed studies for a given fiscal year, subject to the availability of funds.
To formulate the NSL, each region and program develops a priority order for their studies proposed. These lists are evaluated again by Headquarters, principally considering program relevance, timing, and budgetary constraints. Discussions are conducted with each of the regional/program offices, and when consensus is achieved, the NSL is recommended for approval. Once the annual appropriations for the Department have been approved, studies on the NSL are procured via competitive procurements, cooperative agreements with a State institution or university, or through inter/intra agency agreements with other Federal agencies. BOEM highly values studies procured through the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) with other governmental, industry, academic, tribal, non-governmental, and foundation partners. This allows all the parties to leverage financial, human, maritime, and other technological assets to meet mission objectives. BOEM's ESP seeks innovative approaches and technologies to help us advance the science program.
It is important to note that the NSL is subject to change throughout the course of the year as conditions warrant and due to budgetary constraints.
|
NSL # |
Study Title |
Discipline |
Procurement Type |
BOEM Contact |
| New Requests | ||||
| AK-23-02 | Cook Inlet Area-wide Recreation and Tourism Inventory | Socio-Economics | Contract | Brooks |
| AK-23-03 | Pipeline Gas Release Frequency, Scenarios, and Impacts | Fates & Effects | Contract | Smith |
| AK-19-02-19 | Alaska Coastal Marine Institute (CMI) | Information Management | Cooperative Agreement | Burril |
| Continuing Requirements | ||||
| AK-15-05 | Traditional Knowledge Implementation: Accessing Arctic Community Panels of Subject Matter Experts | Socio-Economics | Cooperative Agreement | Brooks |
| AK-19-01 | Impacts of Sedimentation and Drivers of Variability in the Boulder Patch Community, Beaufort Sea | Habitat & Ecology | Cooperative Agreement | Raymond |
| AK-19-03 | Landfast Ice in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas and Under Ice Circulation Processes on the Beaufort Sea Shelf | Physical Oceanography | Cooperative Agreement | Smith |
| AK-20-07 | Early Detection Plan for Marine Non-Native Species on the Arctic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) | Fates & Effects | Inter-agency Agreement | Burril |
| AK-21-01 | Winter Ringed Seal Density within Beaufort Sea Oil and Gas Project Areas | Marine Mammals and Protected Species | Cooperative Agreement | Raymond |
| AK-21-02 | Synthesis of Contaminants Data for Cook Inlet: Evaluation of Existing Data as “Baseline Conditions” and Recommendations for Further Monitoring | Fates & Effects | Cooperative Agreement | Smith |
| AK-21-03 | Resource Areas to Support Oil Spill Risk Analysis (OSRA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Needs in the Cook Inlet Region | Marine Mammals and Protected Species | Cooperative Agreement | Burril |
| AK-21-04 | Bowhead Whale Migration Patterns along the Alaskan Beaufort Shelf in During a Period of Rapid Environmental Change | Marine Mammals and Protected Species | Cooperative Agreement | Crowley |
| AK-22-01 | Lower Cook Inlet Fish and Invertebrate Community Composition, Distribution, and Density | Habitat & Ecology | Inter-agency Agreement | Burril |
| USGS Requirements | ||||
| AK-20-10 | Monitoring the Recovery of Seabirds and Forage Fish Following a Major Ecosystem Disruption in Lower Cook Inlet (LCI) | Habitat & Ecology | USGS | Burril |
| AK-20-11 | The Impact of Marine Fish Communities on Red-throated Loon Productivity in the Beaufort Sea | Habitat & Ecology | USGS | Burril |
| AK-21-06 | GPS Tagging of Seabirds to Obtain Areas of Foraging Aggregations and Forage Fish Schools in Lower Cook Inlet | Habitat & Ecology | USGS | Burril |
|
NSL # |
Study Title |
Discipline |
Procurement Type |
BOEM Contact |
| New Requests | ||||
| AT-22-04 | Tracking Movements of Common Terns Staging on Muskeget Island | Habitat & Ecology | Inter-agency Agreement | Bigger |
| AT-22-05 | Clam Industry Spatial Needs Analysis – NY Bight | Socio-Economics | Cooperative Agreement | Hooker |
| AT-22-10 | Estimating Bird and Bat Flight Heights from Wildlife Strike Data | Habitat & Ecology | Inter-agency Agreement | Bigger |
| AT-23-01 | Gulf of Maine Socioeconomic Impacts of OCS Wind Development on Fishing | Socio-Economics | Contract | Howson |
| AT-23-02 | Update of Port Modification Study | Socio-Economics | Contract | TBD |
| AT-23-03 | Risk Assessment to Model Encounter Rates Between Large Whales and Vessel Traffic from Offshore Wind Energy – PHASE II | Marine Mammals and Protected Species | Contract | Baker |
| AT-23-04 | Baseline Tourism and Recreation Along the Gulf of Maine | Socio-Economics | Cooperative Agreement | TBD |
| AT-23-05 | Gulf of Maine Fish and Invertebrate Benthic Habitat Baseline Data Collection | Habitat & Ecology | Inter-agency Agreement | Jensen |
| AT-23-06 | Offshore Wind Turbine Visibility Study | Socio-Economics | Inter-agency Agreement | Mccarty |
| AT-23-07 | Support for Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative Ocean Portal Products and Services | Information Management | Contract | Baker |
| AT-23-08 | Assessment of Chemicals Associated with Offshore Wind Facilities and Potential Environmental Impacts on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) | Fates & Effects | Contract | Draher |
| Continuing Requirements | ||||
| AT-19-07 | Atlantic Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species III | Marine Mammals and Protected Species | Inter-agency Agreement | White |
| AT-20-02a | Atlantic Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species (AMAPPS) III B and C—Photogrammetric Aerial Surveys to Improve Detection and Classification of Seabirds, Cetaceans, and Sea Turtles (Fish and Wildlife Service) | Marine Mammals and Protected Species | Inter-agency Agreement | White |
| AT-20-02b | Atlantic Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species (AMAPPS) III B and C—Photogrammetric Aerial Surveys to Improve Detection and Classification of Seabirds, Cetaceans, and Sea Turtles (Office of Aviation Services) | Marine Mammals and Protected Species | Inter-agency Agreement | White |
| AT-20-05 | Real-time Opportunity for Development Environmental Observations (RODEO) II | Fates & Effects | Contract | Boatman |
| AT-21-04 | Using High-Resolution Imagery to Describe Fishing Vessel Activity on the Atlantic OCS | Habitat & Ecology | Contract | Bigger |
| AT-22-06 | Mapping Abundance, Distribution, and Foraging Ecology of Gray Seals in the North Atlantic | Marine Mammals and Protected Species | Cooperative Agreement | Cody |
| AT-22-07 | Exploring the Connectivity Among Offshore Wind Turbines | Fates & Effects | Cooperative Agreement | Jensen |
| AT-22-08 | Sediment-borne Wave Disturbances and Propagation and Potential Effects on Benthic Fauna | Fates & Effects | Cooperative Agreement | Boatman |
| AT-22-13 | Investigating Persistent Super Aggregations of Right Whales and Their Prey Near Nantucket Shoals | Habitat & Ecology | Inter-agency Agreement | White |
|
NSL # |
Study Title |
Discipline |
Procurement Type |
BOEM Contact |
| New Requests | ||||
| GM-23-01 | Assessing Avian Collision-Risk for Offshore Wind Development in the Gulf of Mexico: A Remote Sensing Approach | Habitat & Ecology | Inter-agency Agreement | White |
| GM-23-02 | Geodatabase of Benthic Community Habitat in the Gulf of Mexico | Habitat & Ecology | Contract | Wisman |
| GM-23-03 | Onshore Infrastructure Utilization, Development, and Potential Scenarios Related to Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Unconventional Energy Projects | Socio-Economics | Cooperative Agreement | Chaky |
| GM-23-04 | Cultural Heritage and Traditional Knowledge of Vulnerable Coastal Communities | Socio-Economics | Cooperative Agreement | Sorset |
| GM-22-05 | Reevaluating BOEM’s Guidelines for Identifying Submerged Pre-Contact Archaeological Sites in the Gulf of Mexico | Socio-Economics | Cooperative Agreement | Damour |
| GM-22-06 | Benthic Community Characterization at BOEM “No Activities Zones” | Habitat & Ecology | Inter-agency Agreement | Caporaso |
| Continuing Requirements | ||||
| GM-17-11 | Digital Curation: Streamlining Access to Research Across Gulf of Mexico Communities | Habitat & Ecology | Cooperative Agreement | Chaky |
| GM-21-01 | Offshore Analysis of Seafloor Instability and Sediments (OASIS Partnership) With Applications to Offshore Safety and Marine Archaeology | Physical Oceanography | Cooperative Agreement | Jones |
| GM-22-01 | Impact of Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells on Air and Water Quality in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) | Fates & Effects | Contract | Ren |
| GM-22-02 | Live forecasts of migratory bird movements offshore to monitor potential avian interactions with wind development | Habitat & Ecology | Cooperative Agreement | White |
| GM-22-03 | Long-Term Coral Reef Monitoring at Flower Garden Banks (FGB), Gulf of Mexico: 2022-2025 | Habitat & Ecology | Inter-agency Agreement | Caporaso |
|
NSL # |
Study Title |
Discipline |
Procurement Type |
BOEM Contact |
| New Requests | ||||
| PC-23-01 | BOEM-MARINe (Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network) | Habitat & Ecology | Cooperative Agreement | TBD |
| PC-23-02 | Pacific Marine Assessment Partnership for Protected Species (PacMAPPS) II | Marine Mammals and Protected Species | TBD | Reeb |
| PC-23-03 | Facilitating Resilience and Adaptation in Commercial Fisheries in Response to Offshore Renewable Energy Development and Climate Change | Socio-Economics | Inter-agency Agreement | Schroeder |
| PC-22-01 | O`ahu’s Traditional Cultural Landscapes | Socio-Economics | Cooperative Agreement | Ball |
| PC-23-04 | Characterization of the Distribution, Movements, and Foraging Habitat of Endangered Leatherback Turtles in Designated Critical Habitat off the U.S. West Coast, Phase I | Marine Mammals and Protected Species | Inter-agency Agreement | TBD |
| PC-23-05 | Evaluating Hawaiian Fisheries and Potential Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy Development | Socio-Economics | TBD | Makua |
| PC-22-07 | Maritime Heritage of the U.S. Pacific Islands | Socio-Economics | Cooperative Agreement | Ball |
| Continuing Requirements | ||||
| PC-21-01 | West Coast Tribal Cultural Landscapes | Socio-Economics | Inter-agency Agreement | Ball |
| PC-21-03 | Partners in Offshore Wind Environmental Research – California (POWER–California) | Habitat & Ecology | Inter-agency Agreement | Gilbane |
| PC-22-03 | Birds, Bats, and Beyond: Networked Wildlife Tracking along the Pacific Coast of the U.S. | Habitat & Ecology | Inter-agency Agreement | Pereksta |
| PC-22-04 | Tag you’re it! Habitat Use of Whales of the U.S. West Coast and Hawai'i | Marine Mammals and Protected Species | Cooperative Agreement | Reeb |
| USGS Requirements | ||||
| PC-19-06b | California Deepwater Investigations and Groundtruthing (Cal DIG) II | Fates & Effects | USGS | Zaleski |
|
NSL # |
Study Title |
Discipline |
Procurement Type |
BOEM Contact |
| New Requests | ||||
| MM-22-01 | Efficacy of Thermal Detection Technology for Nighttime Protected Species Observer Surveys | Marine Mammals and Protected Species | Contract | Rice |
| MM-23-01 | Evaluating Sediment Mobility on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) | Physical Oceanography | Rice | |
| MM-21-04 | Seamount Benthic Mapping and Characterization, in support of Critical Minerals and Deep Corals of the Aleutian Islands | Habitat & Ecology | Inter-agency Agreement | Knorr |
| MM-23-02 | Minerals and Ecosystems of the Remote Pacific | Habitat & Ecology | Inter-agency Agreement | Le |
| MM-23-03 | Accounting for Scale Bias in Marine Minerals Studies | Habitat & Ecology | Cooperative Agreement | Hansen |
| Continuing Requirements | ||||
| MM-19-01 | Ecological Function and Recovery of Biological Communities within Sand Shoal Habitats within the Gulf of Mexico | Fates & Effects | Contract | Rogers |
| MM-20-01 | New York Bight (NYB) Fish, Fisheries, and Sand Features: In the Field | Habitat & Ecology | Cooperative Agreement | Hansen |
| MM-20-02 | Sandbridge Highly Migratory Species: Fish Distribution on a Dredged Shoal | Fates & Effects | Cooperative Agreement | Hansen |
| MM-20-03 | Behavioral and Spatial Ecology of the Endangered Giant Manta Ray (Manta birostris) | Fates & Effects | Cooperative Agreement | Levenson |
| MM-21-01 | Shallow Water Geophysical Mapping by Autonomous Underwater Vehicles: Feasibility Assessment, Field Testing, and Best Practice | Physical Oceanography | Contract | Cofield |
| MM-21-02 | Sea Turtle Avoidance Technology Solutions (STATS) | Marine Mammals and Protected Species | Contract | Levenson |
| MM-22-02 | Sturgeon Response to Dredge Activities and Recovery After Trawl Capture Near Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Sand Resources | Habitat & Ecology | Inter-agency Agreement | Hansen |
| MM-22-03 | Fish Fry: Frying Pan Shoals Ecosystem Dynamics | Habitat & Ecology | Cooperative Agreement | Hansen |
| USGS Requirements | ||||
| MM-22-02 | Sturgeon Response to Dredge Activities and Recovery After Trawl Capture Near Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Sand Resources | Habitat & Ecology | USGS | Hansen |
|
NSL # |
Study Title |
Discipline |
Procurement Type |
BOEM Contact |
| New Requests | ||||
| NT-23-01 | Addressing Key Information Gaps in Acoustic Ecology of North Atlantic Right Whales | Marine Mammals and Protected Species | Cooperative Agreement | Levenson |
| NT-23-02 | Carbon Mapper and Air Measurements in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) | Air Quality | Inter-agency Agreement | Wecht |
| NT-23-03 | Updating BOEM’s Environmental Sensitivity Methods and Models | Information Management | Cooperative Agreement | White |
| NT-23-04 | Next Generation of Animal Telemetry: Year II | Marine Mammals and Protected Species | Inter-agency Agreement | Levenson |
| NT-23-05 | Piloting an Approach to Community-Informed Characterization of Environmental Justice (EJ) Communities Potentially Impacted by BOEM-Authorized Activities | Socio-Economics | Contract | Mansfield |
| NT-23-06 | Qualitative Risk Assessment Approach Refining Acoustic Processes and to Explore the Inclusion of Cumulative Effect Analysis for Offshore Windfarm Construction and Operations | Habitat & Ecology | Contract | Labak |
| NT-23-07 | Investigating Shoreline Fumigation Algorithms in Offshore and Coastal Dispersion Model for AERMOD – Part 2 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Inter-agency Agreement to Improve AERMOD for Overwater Applications | Air Quality | Inter-agency Agreement | Merritt |
| NT-23-08 | Understanding Potential Health Impacts of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Energy Activities on Environmental Justice (EJ) Populations | Socio-Economics | Contract | Mansfield |
| NT-23-09 | Offshore Wind Farm Impacts on Pacific Upwelling, Nutrients, and Productivity | Habitat & Ecology | Cooperative Agreement | Kilpatrick |
| NT-23-10 | Feel the Vibrations: Behavioral Response by Fish and Invertebrates to Particle Motion/Substrate Vibration from Pile-Driving | Habitat & Ecology | Contract | Kates Varghese |
| NT-23-11 | Substrate-Borne Vibroacoustic Disturbances from Offshore Wind Construction: Measurements, Physical Characteristics, and Propagation | Fates & Effects | Cooperative Agreement | Guan |
| Continuing Requirements | ||||
| NT-09-x17 | Interagency Ocean Observation Committee | Information Management | Contract | Blythe |
| NT-19-07 | Archaeological Investigations in Support of Development of Energy and Mineral Resources on the US Outer Continental Shelf | Socio-Economics | Contract | Carrier |
| NT-19-x09 | University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) | Habitat & Ecology | Contract | Li |
| NT-20-02 | Sea Turtle Hearing Sensitivity and Impacts of Sound | Marine Mammals and Protected Species | Contract | Levenson |
| NT-20-06 | Continued Partnership with National Museum of Natural History, Department of Invertebrate Zoology (NMNH-IZ) for a Voucher-Based, Genomic Reference Facility for Ocean Biodiversity | Information Management | Inter-agency Agreement | Blythe |
| NT-21-01 | Facilitating Strategic Partnerships in Support of the Presidential Memo on Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and Characterization | Habitat & Ecology | Inter-agency Agreement | Mueller |
| NT-21-04 | Spatial and Acoustic Ecology of Understudied ESA Listed Marine Mammals | Marine Mammals and Protected Species | Inter-agency Agreement | Levenson |
| NT-21-06 | Mortality Risk for Whale and Basking Sharks During Energy and Mineral Operations | Habitat & Ecology | Contract | Levenson |
| NT-21-x11 | National Guide to Deepwater Sensitive Habitats and Associated Fauna | Habitat & Ecology | Inter-agency Agreement | Sharuga |
| NT-21-x13 | Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Network FY21-FY25 | Information Management | Inter-agency Agreement | Ewald |
| NT-21-x15 | Standardizing Integrated Ecosystem-Based Assessment Nationally | Information Management | Contract | Levenson |
| NT-22-01 | Capacity Building and Collaboration with the Aquinnah and Mashpee Wampanoag Tribes | Socio-Economics | Cooperative Agreement | Primo |
| NT-22-02 | Offshore Air Quality (AQ) from NASA’s Satellites and Related Experiments | Air Quality | Inter-agency Agreement | Wecht |
| NT-22-03 | Understanding Impacts of Habitat Modifications on Commercial Fisheries and Apex Predator Distribution | Habitat & Ecology | Contract | Levenson |
| NT-22-04 | Automated Detection and Classification of Wildlife Targets in Digital Aerial Imagery – Phase II | Habitat & Ecology | Inter-agency Agreement | White |
| NT-22-05 | Incorporating PAMGUARD into the Tethys Passive Acoustic Data Metadata System | Information Management | Cooperative Agreement | Price |
| USGS Requirements | ||||
| NT-22-04 | Automated Detection and Classification of Wildlife Targets in Digital Aerial Imagery – Phase II | Information Management | USGS | White |