[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 63 (Friday, April 2, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16828-16829]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-7580]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Notice of Intent To Prepare and Scope an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas
Leasing Program for 2012-2017
AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the
Minerals Management Service (MMS) is providing notice of its intent to
prepare an EIS with respect to the OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program for
2012-2017 and requests comments for the purposes of determining the
scope of the EIS we plan to prepare.
DATES: Please submit comments and information to the MMS on scoping no
later than June 30, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may submit their written scoping comments
until June 30, 2010, to Mr. J. F. Bennett, Chief, Branch of
Environmental Assessment, Minerals Management Service, 381 Elden
Street, MS 4042, Herndon, Virginia 20170, or online at:
ocs5yeareis.anl.gov.
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment, including your personal identifying
information, may be made publicly available at any time.
[[Page 16829]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. J. F. Bennett, Chief, Branch of
Environmental Assessment, Minerals Management Service, 703-787-1660.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of NEPA, the
MMS intends to prepare an EIS for the new 5-year OCS oil and gas
leasing program for 2012-2017. This notice starts the formal scoping
process for the EIS under 40 CFR 1501.7, and solicits information
regarding issues and alternatives that should be evaluated in the EIS.
The EIS will analyze the potential impacts of the adoption of the
proposed 5-year program.
Background
In January 2009, the previous Administration published a Draft
Proposed Program (DPP) and a Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS that
set out a schedule for scoping meetings in the areas of the DPP. In
February 2009, the Secretary of the Interior extended the comment
period on the DPP and postponed the scoping meetings to allow time to
consider further public comment before determining which areas in the
DPP should be scoped for the EIS and thus be analyzed for consideration
in the subsequent program proposals under section 18 of the OCS Lands
Act, 43 U.S.C 1344. The fact that an area is analyzed in a 5-year EIS
does not mean that it will be included in a final leasing program.
However, an area must be analyzed pursuant to NEPA to be included in a
5-year program.
Areas To Be Scoped for the EIS
The draft EIS for the OCS Oil and Gas Program for 2012-2017 will
evaluate offering all or portions of eight OCS planning areas for oil
and gas leasing: Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, and Cook Inlet, which are
offshore Alaska; Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico, the
latter focusing on the southwestern third of the planning area rather
than the entire area contemplated in the DPP; and South and Mid-
Atlantic. These areas also will be the focus of the proposed program
analyses.
Scoping Meetings
Public meetings will be held in coastal locations near these areas
in June and early July 2010, to help determine the appropriate scope of
the EIS in terms of geographical areas and issues. The meetings are
being planned for, but not necessarily limited to:
Kaktovik, Alaska
Nuiqsut, Alaska
Barrow, Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
New Orleans, Louisiana;
Mobile, Alabama;
Tallahassee, Florida;
Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida;
Savannah, Georgia and/or Wilmington, North Carolina
Norfolk, Virginia;
Trenton, New Jersey and/or Wilmington, Delaware; and
Washington, DC.
Specific times and venues will be posted on the MMS website and
published in the Federal Register per 40 CFR 1506.6.
The comments that MMS has received in response to the January 21,
2009 Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS (74 FR 3631) and the August
2008 Request for Comments on the preparation of a new 5-year program
(73 FR 45065), and the comments received during scoping for the 2007-
2012 Five Year EIS, have identified environmental issues and concerns
that MMS will consider in the EIS. In summary, these include climate
change as an impact factor in cumulative analyses, the effects of the
OCS program on climate change, potential impacts from accidental oil
spills, potential impacts to tourism and recreation activities, and
ecological impacts from potential degradation of marine and coastal
habitats. Additionally, alternatives will be developed and analyzed
during the EIS process based on scoping comments and governmental
communications. Alternatives may include increasing or decreasing the
number or frequency of sales, coastal buffers, limiting areas available
for leasing, and excluding parts of or entire planning areas.
Written Scoping Comments for the EIS
The MMS will consider comments for the purposes of determining the
scope of the EIS we plan to prepare. Comments on the relationship
between the Oil and Gas Program and the Alternative Energy Program are
also welcome. Interested parties may submit their written scoping
comments until June 30, 2010, to Mr. J. F. Bennett, Chief, Branch of
Environmental Assessment, Minerals Management Service, 381 Elden
Street, MS 4042, Herndon, Virginia 20170, or online at:
ocs5yeareis.anl.gov. Before including your address, phone number, e-
mail address, or other personal identifying information in your
comment, you should be aware that your entire comment, including your
personal identifying information, may be made publicly available at any
time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to do so.
Cooperating Agency
The Department of the Interior invites other Federal agencies,
state, tribal, and local governments to consider becoming cooperating
agencies in the preparation of the EIS. We invite qualified government
entities to inquire about cooperating agency status for the EIS for the
proposed 5-year program. Using the guidelines from the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ), qualified agencies and governments are
those with ``jurisdiction by law or special expertise.'' Potential
cooperating agencies should consider their authority and capacity to
assume the responsibilities of a cooperating agency and to remember
that an agency's role in the environmental analysis neither enlarges
nor diminishes the final decision making authority of any agency
involved in the NEPA process. Agencies should also consider the
``Factors for Determining Cooperating Agency Status'' in Attachment 1
to CEQ's January 30, 2002, Memorandum for the Heads of Federal
Agencies: Cooperating Agencies in Implementing the Procedural
Requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. The appropriate
pages can be found at: http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/cooperatingagenciesmemorandum.html and http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/cooperatingagencymemofactors.html.
The MMS, as the lead agency, will not provide financial assistance
to cooperating agencies. Even if an organization is not a cooperating
agency, opportunities will exist to provide information and comments to
MMS during the normal public input phases of the NEPA/EIS process. The
MMS will also consult with tribal governments on a government-to-
government basis. If further information about cooperating agencies is
needed, please contact Mr. James F. Bennett, at (703) 787-1660.
Dated: March 30, 2010.
S. Elizabeth Birnbaum,
Director, Minerals Management Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-7580 Filed 4-1-10; 8:45 am]
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