[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 136 (Tuesday, July 16, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42544-42546]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-17048]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Gulf of Mexico (GOM), Oil and Gas
Lease Sale, Western Planning Area (WPA) Lease Sales 238, 246, and 248
MMAA104000
AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare a Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS)
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SUMMARY: Consistent with the regulations implementing the National
Environmental Policy Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) (NEPA),
BOEM is announcing its intent to prepare a Supplemental EIS for
proposed WPA lease sales beginning with Lease Sale 238 (WPA Lease Sales
238, 246, and 248 Supplemental EIS). Lease Sale 238 is the next
proposed lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico's WPA off the States of Texas
and Louisiana. The WPA Lease Sales 238, 246, and 248 Supplemental EIS
will update the environmental and socioeconomic analyses in the Gulf of
Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2012-2017; Western Planning Area
Lease Sales 229, 233, 238, 246, and 248; Central Planning Area (CPA)
Lease Sales 227, 231, 235, 241, and 247, Final Environmental Impact
Statement (OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2012-019) (WPA/CPA Multisale EIS) and the
Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2013-2014; Western Planning
Area Lease Sale 233; Central Planning Area Lease Sale 231-Final
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2013-0118)
(WPA 233/CPA 231 Supplemental EIS). The WPA/CPA Multisale EIS was
completed in July 2012. The WPA 233/CPA 231 Supplemental EIS was
completed in April 2013.
A Supplemental EIS is deemed appropriate to supplement the NEPA
documents cited above for these lease sales in order to consider
possible new circumstances and information arising from, among other
things, the Deepwater Horizon explosion, oil spill, and response. The
WPA Lease Sales 238, 246, and 248 Supplemental EIS analysis will focus
on updating the baseline conditions and potential environmental effects
of oil and natural gas leasing, exploration, development, and
production in the WPA.
The WPA Lease Sales 238, 246, and 248 Supplemental EIS analysis
will focus on the potential environmental effects of oil and natural
gas leasing, exploration, development, and production in the WPA
identified through the Area Identification procedure as the proposed
lease sale area. In addition to the no action alternative (i.e.,
canceling the proposed sale), other alternatives may be considered for
the proposed lease sales, including WPA Lease Sale 238, such as
deferring certain areas from the proposed lease sales.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 28, 2012, the Department of the
Interior released the Proposed Final OCS Oil & Gas Leasing Program:
2012-2017 (Five-Year Program), which included five proposed WPA Lease
Sales. WPA Lease Sales 238, 246, and 248 are proposed for 2014, 2015,
and 2016 respectively. The general area proposed for these WPA lease
sales, including Lease Sale 238, encompasses virtually all unleased
blocks in approximately 28.58 million acres in the western portion of
the GOM (excluding whole and partial blocks
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within the boundary of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine
Sanctuary).
This Federal Register notice is not an announcement to hold a
proposed lease sale, but it is a continuation of information gathering
and is published early in the environmental review process, in
furtherance of the goals of NEPA. The comments received during the
scoping comment period will help inform the content of the WPA Lease
Sales 238, 246, and 248 Supplemental EIS and will be summarized in
presale documentation prepared prior to holding proposed WPA Lease Sale
238. If, after completion of the WPA Lease Sales 238, 246, and 248
Supplemental EIS, the Secretary of the Interior's decision is to hold a
lease sale, then the lease sale areas identified in the Notice(s) of
Sale may exclude or defer certain lease blocks from the areas offered.
However, for purposes of the WPA Lease Sales 238, 246, and 248
Supplemental EIS and to adequately assess the potential impacts of an
areawide lease sale, BOEM is assuming that all unleased blocks may be
offered in proposed WPA Lease Sale 238 and the remaining WPA lease
sales.
In order to ensure a greater level of clarity during the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) stages and tiered NEPA processes of
the Five-Year Program, BOEM established an alternative and mitigation
tracking table, which is designed to track the receipt and treatment of
alternative and mitigation suggestions. Section 4.3.2 of the Outer
Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program: 2012-2017; Final
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (the Five-Year Program EIS)
(http://www.boem.gov/5-year/2012-2017/PEIS.aspx) contains a list of
deferral and alternative requests that were received during the
development of the Five-Year Program EIS, but that were determined to
be more appropriately considered at subsequent OCSLA and NEPA stages.
The WPA/CPA Multisale EIS addressed these deferral and alternative
requests, but they were ultimately deemed inappropriate for further
analysis as a separate alternative or deferral from those already
included and considered in the WPA/CPA Multisale EIS. In this and
future NEPA analyses, BOEM will continue to evaluate whether these or
other deferral or alternative requests warrant additional consideration
as appropriate. (Please refer to Chapters 2.2.1.1 and 2.2.1.2 of the
WPA/CPA Multisale EIS for a complete discussion; http://www.boem.gov/Environmental-Stewardship/Environmental-Assessment/NEPA/nepaprocess.aspx). A key principle at each stage in the NEPA process is
to identify how the recommendations for deferral and mitigation
requests are being addressed and whether new information or
circumstances favor new or different analytical approaches in response
to these requests.
Additionally, BOEM has created a tailored map of the potentially
affected area through the Multipurpose Marine Cadastre (MMC) Web site (
http://boem.gov/Oil-and-Gas-Energy-Program/Leasing/Five-Year-Program/Lease-Sale-Schedule/Interactive-Maps.aspx). This map is an integrated
marine information system that provides a more comprehensive look at
geospatial data and ongoing activities and studies occurring in the
area being considered. This Web site provides the ability to view
multiple data layers of existing geospatial data. Commenters can
suggest data layers for consideration by following the commenting
instructions below.
Scoping Process: This NOI also serves to announce the scoping
process for identifying issues for the WPA Lease Sales 238, 246, and
248 Supplemental EIS. Throughout the scoping process, Federal, State,
Tribal, and local government agencies, and the general public have the
opportunity to help BOEM determine significant resources and issues,
impacting factors, reasonable alternatives, and potential mitigation
measures to be analyzed in the WPA Lease Sales 238, 246, and 248
Supplemental EIS, and to provide additional information. BOEM will also
use the NEPA commenting process to satisfy the public involvement
process for Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (16
U.S.C. 470f), as provided for in 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3).
Pursuant to the regulations implementing the procedural provisions
of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), BOEM will hold public scoping
meetings in Texas and Louisiana on the WPA Lease Sales 238, 246, and
248 Supplemental EIS. The purpose of these meetings will be to solicit
comments on the scope of the WPA 238 Supplemental EIS. BOEM's scoping
meetings will be held at the following places and times:
Galveston, Texas: Tuesday, August 6, 2013, Courtyard
Galveston Island Gulf Front Marriott, 9550 Seawall Boulevard, Galveston
Texas 77554, one meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. CDT; and
New Orleans, Louisiana: Thursday, August 8, 2013, Bureau
of Ocean Energy Management, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans,
Louisiana 70123, one meeting beginning at 1:00 p.m. CDT.
Cooperating Agency: BOEM invites other Federal agencies and State,
Tribal, and local governments to consider becoming cooperating agencies
in the preparation of the WPA Lease Sales 238, 246, and 248
Supplemental EIS. We invite qualified government entities to inquire
about cooperating agency status for the WPA Lease Sales 238, 246, and
248 Supplemental EIS. Following the guidelines from the Council of
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 remember that
an agency's role in the environmental analysis neither enlarges nor
diminishes the final decision-making authority of any other agency
involved in the NEPA process. Upon request, BOEM will provide potential
cooperating agencies with a written summary of expectations for
cooperating agencies, including time schedules and critical action
dates, milestones, responsibilities, scope and detail of cooperating
agencies' contributions, and availability of predecisional information.
BOEM anticipates this summary will form the basis for a Memorandum of
Agreement between BOEM and any cooperating agency. 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. These documents
are available at the following locations on the Internet: http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/cooperatingagenciesmemorandum.html; and http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/cooperatingagencymemofactors.html.
BOEM, 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
BOEM during the normal public input stages of the NEPA/EIS process. For
further information about cooperating agencies, please contact Mr. Gary
D. Goeke at (504) 736-3233.
Comments: All interested parties, including Federal, State, Tribal,
and local governments, and others, may submit written comments on the
scope of the WPA Lease Sales 238, 246, and 248 Supplemental EIS,
significant issues that should be addressed, alternatives
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that should be considered, potential mitigation measures, and the types
of oil and gas activities of interest in the proposed WPA lease sale
area.
Written scoping comments may be submitted in one of the following
ways:
1. In an envelope labeled ``Scoping Comments for the WPA Lease
Sales 238, 246, and 248 Supplemental EIS'' and mailed (or hand
delivered) to Mr. Gary D. Goeke, Chief, Environmental Assessment
Section, Office of Environment (GM 623E), Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New
Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394;
2. Through the regulations.gov web portal: Navigate to http://www.regulations.gov and search for ``Oil and Gas Lease Sales: Gulf of
Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf; Western Planning Area Lease Sales 238,
246, and 248.'' (Note: It is important to include the quotation marks
in your search terms.) Click on the ``Comment Now!'' button to the
right of the document link. Enter your information and comment, then
click ``Submit''; or
3. BOEM's email address: [email protected].
Petitions, although accepted, do not generally provide useful
information to assist in development of alternatives, resources and
issues to be analyzed, or impacting factors. BOEM does not consider
anonymous comments; please include your name and address as part of
your submittal. BOEM makes all comments, including the names and
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular
business hours. Individual respondents may request that BOEM withhold
their names and/or addresses from the public record; however, BOEM
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. If you wish your name
and/or address to be withheld, you must state your preference
prominently at the beginning of your comment. All submissions from
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or
businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their
entirety.
DATES: Comments should be submitted by August 15, 2013 to the
address specified above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the WPA Lease Sales
238, 246, and 248 Supplemental EIS, the submission of comments, or
BOEM's policies associated with this notice, please contact Mr. Gary D.
Goeke, Chief, Environmental Assessment Section, Office of Environment
(GM 623E), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS
Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, LA 70123-2394,
telephone (504) 736-3233.
Authority: This Notice of Intent to Prepare a Supplemental EIS
(NOI) is published pursuant to the regulations (40 CFR 1501.7)
implementing the provisions of the NEPA.
Dated: July 11, 2013.
Tommy P. Beaudreau,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[FR Doc. 2013-17048 Filed 7-15-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P