; and (ii) include stakeholders that— (I) represent a broad range of interests, including environmental, recreational and commercial fishing, conventional and renewable energy, ports, and other regional interests; and (II) are not State or local agencies. (5) Clarification The Assistant Administrator and the Director may not use stakeholder meetings held under paragraph (3) to fulfill the requirements of paragraph (2). (c) Rice’s whale study The Assistant Administrator shall enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study to determine the occurrence and range of the Rice’s whale (Balaenoptera ricei) in the Central, Eastern, and Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Areas. (d) Leasing activities The Secretary of the Interior may not rely on the Stipulated Agreement or the Notice to Lessees in carrying out offshore oil and gas leasing activities under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ( 43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq. ). (e) Definitions In this section: (1) Assistant Administrator The term Assistant Administrator means the Assistant Administrator for Fisheries of the National Marine Fisheries Service. (2) Biological Opinion The term Biological Opinion means the document titled Biological Opinion on the Federally Regulated Oil and Gas Program Activities in the Gulf of Mexico (OPR–2017–00002; March 13, 2020). (3) Director The term Director means the Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. (4) Notice to Lessees The term Notice to Lessees means the document titled Notice to Lessees and Operators of Federal Oil and Gas, and Sulphur Leases in the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf; Expanded Rice’s Whale Protection Efforts During Reinitiated Consultation with NMFS (BOEM NTL No. 2023–G01