[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 64 (Monday, April 5, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17155-17156]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-7719]
[[Page 17155]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Preparation of an Environmental Assessment (EA) for Proposed
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Lease Sale 216 in the Central
Gulf of Mexico Planning Area (2011)
AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Preparation (NOP) of an Environmental Assessment
(EA).
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SUMMARY: The purpose of the NOP is to gather new information on
environmental impacts of oil and gas leasing, exploration, and
development that might result from an Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil
and gas lease sale tentatively scheduled for March 2011.
DATES: Comments must be received no later than May 5, 2010 at the
address specified below.
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.
ADDRESSES: Federal, State, and local government agencies, and other
interested parties are requested to send their written comments on the
EA, significant issues that should be addressed, and alternatives that
should be considered in one of the following ways:
1. In written form enclosed in an envelope labeled ``Comments on
the Lease Sale 216 EA'' and mailed (or hand carried) to the Regional
Supervisor, Leasing and Environment (Mail Stop 5410), Minerals
Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park
Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394.
2. Electronically to the MMS e-mail address:
[email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the NOP, you may
contact Mr. Quazi T. Islam, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood
Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394, telephone (504) 736-
2780. For information on the EA, you may contact Gary D. Goeke, Gulf of
Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, MS 5410, New Orleans,
Louisiana 70123-2394 or by e-mail at [email protected]. You may
also contact Mr. Goeke by telephone at (504) 736-3233.
Notice of Preparation of an Environmental Assessment
1. Authority
This NOP is published pursuant to the regulations (40 CFR 1501.7)
implementing the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (1988)).
2. Purpose of Notice of Preparation
Pursuant to the regulations implementing the procedural provisions
of NEPA, MMS is announcing its intent to prepare an EA on an oil and
gas lease sale tentatively scheduled for early 2011 in the Central
Planning Area (CPA) offshore of the States of Louisiana, Mississippi,
Alabama, and Florida. The MMS is issuing this notice to facilitate
public involvement. The preparation of this EA is an important step in
the decision process for Lease Sale 216. The proposal for Lease Sale
216 was analyzed in the Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales:
2009-2012: Central Planning Area Sales 208, 213, 216, and 222; Western
Planning Area Sales 210, 215, and 218--Final Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement (Supplemental EIS, OCS EIS/EA MMS 2008-041). This EA
for proposed Lease Sale 216 will reexamine the potential environmental
effects of the proposed lease sale and its alternatives (i.e.,
excluding the unleased blocks near biologically sensitive topographic
features; excluding the unleased blocks within 15 miles of the Baldwin
County, Alabama, coast; and no action) based on changes in the proposed
action and any new relevant information and circumstances regarding
potential environmental impacts and issues that were not available at
the time the Supplemental EIS was prepared, to determine if preparation
of a new supplemental EIS is warranted.
3. Supplemental Information
Final delineation of this area for possible leasing will be made at
a later date and in compliance with applicable laws, including all
requirements of NEPA, the Coastal Zone Management Act, Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act, and other applicable statutes. Established
Departmental procedures will also be followed.
The MMS routinely assesses the status of information acquisition
efforts and the quality of the information base for potential decisions
on a tentatively scheduled lease sale. An extensive environmental
studies program has been underway in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) since
1973. The emphasis, including continuing studies, has been on
``environmental analysis'' of biologically sensitive habitats, physical
oceanography, ocean-circulation modeling, ecological effects of oil and
gas activities, and hurricane impacts on coastal communities and the
environment.
Federal regulations allow for several related or similar proposals
to be analyzed in one EIS (40 CFR 1502.4). Each proposed lease sale and
its projected activities are very similar each year for each planning
area. The Multisale EIS (OCS EIS/EA MMS 2007-018) addressed Western
Planning Area (WPA) Lease Sale 204 in 2007, Sale 207 in 2008, Sale 210
in 2009, Sale 215 in 2010, and Sale 218 in 2011; and CPA Lease Sale 205
in 2007, Sale 206 in 2008, Sale 208 in 2009, Sale 213 in 2010, Sale 216
in 2011, and Sale 222 in 2012. However, the Gulf of Mexico Energy
Security Act of 2006 repealed the congressional moratorium on
approximately 5.8 million acres located in the southeastern part of the
CPA. Therefore, it was necessary to prepare additional NEPA
documentation to address the MMS proposal to expand the CPA by the 5.8
million-acre area. A single Supplemental EIS was prepared for the
remaining seven WPA and CPA lease sales scheduled in the OCS Oil and
Gas Leasing Program: 2007-2012 (5-Year Program). In September 2008, MMS
published a Supplemental EIS (OCS EIS/EA MMS 2008-041) that addressed
seven proposed Federal actions that would offer for lease areas on the
GOM OCS that may contain economically recoverable oil and gas
resources.
After completion of this EA, the MMS will determine whether to
prepare a Finding of No New Significant Impact (FONNSI) or a
Supplemental EIS for Lease Sale 216 and the subsequent sales. The MMS
prepares a Consistency Determination (CD) to determine whether the
lease sale is consistent with each affected state's federally approved
Coastal Zone Management program. Finally, the MMS will solicit comments
via the Proposed Notice of Sale (NOS) from the Governors of the
affected states on the size, timing, and location of the lease sale.
The tentative schedule for the prelease decision process for Lease Sale
216 is as follows: EA/FONSI or Supplemental EIS decision will be
completed in September-October 2010; CDs will be sent to the affected
states approximately 5 months before the lease sale; Proposed NOS sent
to the Governors of the affected states approximately 5 months before
the lease
[[Page 17156]]
sale; Final NOS, if applicable, will be published in the Federal
Register in February 2011.
Dated: March 31, 2010.
S. Elizabeth Birnbaum,
Director, Minerals Management Service.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN05AP10.001
[FR Doc. 2010-7719 Filed 4-2-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P