"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"

The Arctic Council endorsed the latest version of the Arctic Offshore Oil and Gas Guidelines (AOOGG) in April 2009. The AOOGG were prepared by the Protection of the Marine Environment Working Group (PAME) and are intended to define a set of recommended practices and outline strategic actions for consideration by those responsible for regulation of offshore oil and gas activities in the Arctic. As active participants in the Arctic Council, the United States and Canada have the potential to demonstrate model practices for offshore oil and gas development in their neighboring offshore areas of the Western Arctic Ocean, especially as each country reviews its procedures in light of the fatal April 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout and explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. This paper outlines national laws and regulations existing at the time of the accident to suggest how both countries, as they revisit their procedures, can use the Arctic Council guidelines to more effectively regulate Operating Practices in offshore oil and gas development in the Western Arctic.

Global energy problems will remain a challenge in the coming decades. The impact of climate change and the melting of polar sea ice opening up access to offshore hydrocarbon resources in the Arctic Ocean, raises questions for both civil society and the scientific community over drilling opportunities in Arctic marine areas. Disparities in approach to the governance of oil and gas extraction in the Arctic arise from fundamental differences in histories, cultures, domestic constraints and substantive values and attitudes in the Arctic coastal states and sub-states. Differing political systems, legal traditions and societal beliefs with regard to energy security and economic development, environmental protection, legitimacy of decision making, and the ownership and respect of the rights of indigenous people, all affect how governance systems of oil and gas extraction are designed. Using a multidisciplinary approach and case studies from the USA, Norway, Russia, Canada, Greenland/Denmark and the EU, this book both examines the current governance of extraction and its effects and considers ways to enhance the efficiency of environmental management and public participation in this system.