Witness the Arctic - Winter 2011, Volume 15 Number 1

ARCTIC Chronicles of the NSF Division of Arctic Sciences Winter 2011, Volume 15 Number 1 Published by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States • 3535 College Road - Suite 101 • Fairbanks, AK 99709 • inf[email protected] Interagency Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) (pgs 2-4) •State of the Arctic Conference Resolution Released •Science Steering Committee Meeting Refines Future Directions for SEARCH •SEARCH at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting National Science Foundation News (pg 5) •New Faces in Arctic Sciences Division at NSF Capitol Updates (pgs 6-7) •Temporary Funding Levels Extended for FY2011 •America COMPETES Act Reauthorized Interagency News (pgs 8-10) •National Oil Spill Commission’s Findings, Recommendations, and Implications for the Arctic •Lessons for Potential Oil Spill Response in the Arctic International News (pgs 11-12) •International Study of Arctic Change (ISAC) Science Plan Published •International Ice Chart Working Group Warns of Continued Navigation Hazards in Polar Seas A Note From the ARCUS Executive Director (pg 13) •Jonathan Pundsack Joins ARCUS Staff In this Issue State of the Arctic Conference Resolution Released The final Conference Resolution from the State of the Arctic Conference has been released and is available online. The State of the Arctic Conference, held March 2010 with 448 participants from 16 countries, including representatives of Indigenous Peoples' organizations, featured over 400 keynote addresses, scientific talks, and poster presentations. The resolution summarizes the four recommendations that emerged from the conference: Develop responses to arctic change and advance solution-driven science.1. Fully implement a coordinated and multi-disciplinary arctic observing system.2. Optimize existing efforts for projecting future states of the arctic system.3. Promote open access to arctic areas and data.4. An initial draft of the Resolution was presented and discussed during the final plenary session, and the final resolution was developed with extensive input from conference participants. The full Conference Resolution can be found at: http://soa.arcus.org/products-and-resources. For more information on the State of the Arctic Conference, visit the conference website at: http://soa.arcus.org/ or contact Helen Wiggins, Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS), at: [email protected]. 2 Science Steering Committee Meeting Refines Future Directions for SEARCH A SEARCH Science Steering Committee (SSC) meeting was held 17-19 November 2010 in Washington, D.C. The major items on the agenda were development of updated SEARCH vision and mission statements and five-year goals, and improved interagency implementation of SEARCH. The draft vision and mission statement, developed at the meeting to guide future SEARCH directions and specific activities, will be released in spring of 2011. More information on the November SSC meeting can be found at: http://www.arcus.org/search/meetings /2010/ssc-november. 3 SEARCH at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting SEARCH held several activities at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting in San Francisco, California. A Town Hall entitled "The Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH): Current Activities and Community Input on Future Directions" was held to provide a forum for open exchange on SEARCH activities and future priorities. Specific topics included: the new SEARCH vision and mission and the Arctic Observing Network. Over 70 members of the arctic science community attended the Town Hall. In addition, a SEARCH poster was presented, and the SEARCH Science Steering Committee (SSC) and SEARCH Observing Change Panel (OCP) held meetings of opportunity. More information about the SEARCH activities at AGU, including the Town Hall presentation, is available at: http://www.arcus.org/search/meetings/2010/agu. For more information on SEARCH, contact Hajo Eicken, SEARCH Science Steering Committee Chair, at [email protected] or Helen Wiggins, Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S (ARCUS; SEARCH Project Office), at [email protected]. 4 New Faces in Arctic Sciences Division at NSF Dr. Brendan P. Kelly was appointed to the new position of Deputy Director in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Arctic Sciences (ARC). Dr. Kelly came to NSF from NOAA's National Marine Mammal Laboratory where he led investigations regarding the impact of sea-ice loss on arctic seal populations. As Division Deputy Director, Dr. Kelly will represent the Director of NSF as Chair of the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) and work closely with the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House (See Witness Fall 2010). Additionally, Dr. Kelly will develop the strategic vision for the Division of Arctic Sciences in support of the Office of Polar Programs and NSF. Dr. Robert (Buck) Sanford is the newly appointed ARC Program Director within the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA). Dr. Sanford will assume responsibilities for the Arctic Observing Network (AON) Program as well as the Decadal and Regional Climate Prediction using Earth System Models (EaSM). Dr. Sanford, whose home institution is the University of Denver, was recently an IPA appointee in the Division of Environmental Biology. He fills the vacancy left as Dr. Martin Jeffries finished his IPA appointment in the Arctic Sciences Division as AON Program Director. Also new to ARC are Dr. Kelly Falkner, the new Deputy Office Director in OPP, and Mr. Peter West, the new Program Director for Education and Outreach in OPP. All began their appointments in early January 2011. The Office of Polar Programs often has openings for IPA appointees to serve term positions, assist with the management of OPP programs, and learn about the government funding process from the inside. At present, there is an opening for a program officer to manage the OPP Cyber-Infrastructure program, which serves both the Division of Antarctic Sciences and the Division of Arctic Sciences. For more information about IPA and rotator positions at NSF, see the description of employment opportunities at OPP on the NSF website: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/opp10001/opp10001.jsp?org=ARC, or contact Simon Stephenson, Director, Arctic Sciences Division ([email protected]). 5 Temporary Funding Levels Extended for FY2011 On 21 December 2010, Congress approved House Resolution (H.R.) 3082, which extended fiscal year 2011 (FY2011) appropriations through 4 March 2011. This temporary spending bill, also referred to as a Continuing Resolution (CR), freezes discretionary appropriations for FY2011 at FY2010 spending levels. If Congress does not pass FY2011 regular appropriations acts before the 4 March expiration, they may extend FY2010 spending levels through another interim CR. The fiscal year runs from 1 October through 30 September. H.R. 3082 was the fourth CR passed since the start of the current fiscal year. At FY2010 funding levels, this CR provides NSF with $498 million less than the Obama Administration's FY2011 proposed budget released on 1 February 2010. Full funding of the President's proposed budget would have provided NSF's Office of Polar Programs a 17% increase over FY2010 funding levels, including a 4.8% increase in funding for the Division of Arctic Sciences, and $54 million for operations and maintenance of the U.S. Coast Guard polar icebreakers Polar Sea and Healy (See Witness Fall 2010). The Administration will release its proposed FY2012 budget on 14 February 2011. For more information on the status of appropriations for FY2011, see the Library of Congress website: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app11.html. For more information about the NSF FY2011 Budget requests, see the Division website: http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget. 6 America COMPETES Act Reauthorized On 4 January 2011 President Obama signed into law the America COMPETES Act, reauthorized by Congress on 21 December 2010. The Act focuses on three main areas: (1) Increasing science and research investments; (2) Strengthening science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education; and (3) Developing a national infrastructure for innovation. America COMPETES provides a three-year reauthorization for increased investment in the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Although continued full funding of the Act would double the budgets at these three agencies over a 10-year period, the actual funding may vary depending on the annual appropriations from Congress. For more information, see the Office of Science and Technology Policy website. 7 National Oil Spill Commission’s Findings, Recommendations, and Implications for the Arctic The Presidentially appointed Oil Spill Commission released "Deep Water: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling" on 11 January 2011. The report, issued after six months of investigations and public hearings, addresses the causes and consequences of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and proposes reforms to reduce the risk of future large-scale spills. The Commission found that the Deepwater Horizon spill was foreseeable and preventable, yet neither industry nor government was prepared to contain a deepwater well blowout. On the industry side, human errors, engineering mistakes, and corporate management failures in risk evaluation and safety procedures played key roles in the accident. The Commission concluded that the errors were not the function of a single company, but revealed the management failures and inadequate safety procedures of corporations with significant presence in offshore drilling throughout the world. The Commission also found that regulation by the Mineral Management Service (MMS) had not kept pace with the industry's technological advancements. Funding for the agency had remained static during two decades of dramatic growth in deepwater drilling, and agency responsibilities to ensure safety were compromised by the competing mission to facilitate offshore leasing and drilling. (Note: On 18 June 2010 the agency name was changed from MSS to Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement [BOEMRE]). The Commission concluded that with major changes in government and industry practices, deepwater drilling could be done safely. Recommended changes include: creating an independent safety agency within the Department of Interior, establishing a risk-based approach to regulation, accelerating scientific and technical research to inform regulatory decision making, and providing adequate and predictable funding for regulatory oversight by establishing regulatory fees on new and existing oil leases. The Commission also addressed implications for oil and gas exploration in the Arctic, a region with significant potential for domestic resource development and for offshore drilling by other arctic nations. The Commission recommended that a comprehensive research effort providing baseline ecosystem data be implemented on a time-frame that will inform decision making on resource exploration and development. The remote and harsh conditions of the Arctic increase the risk and complexity of offshore drilling and oil spill response. Federal emergency response capabilities in the region are very limited; the U.S. Coast Guard operations base nearest to the Chukchi lease area is nearly 1000 miles away on Kodiak Island, and two of its three icebreakers are currently non-operational. Recommendations from the Commission for the Arctic are as follows: The Department of Interior should ensure that industry's containment and response plans are adequate for each stage of development, and that the underlying financial and technical capabilities have been demonstrated in the Arctic. 1. The U.S. Coast Guard and oil companies should delineate their respective responsibilities in the event of a2. 8 spill, including search and rescue, and then must build and deploy the necessary capabilities. Congress should provide the resources to establish U.S. Coast Guard capabilities in the Arctic, based on the U.S. Coast Guard's analysis of current and projected gaps in capacity. 3. For more information about the Commission's findings and recommendations, see the full report: http://www.oilspillcommission.gov/final-report. 9