[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 15 (Monday, January 25, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3707-3709]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-1601]



[[Page 3707]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Outer Continental Shelf, Eastern Gulf of Mexico, Oil and Gas 
Lease Sale 181

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Call for Interest and Information (Call) and Notice of Intent 
(NOI) to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

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Call for Interest and Information

    The MMS is issuing this Call pursuant to the Outer Continental 
Shelf (OCS) Lands Act as amended (43 U.S.C. 1331-1356, (1994)), and the 
regulations issued thereunder (30 CFR Part 256).

Purpose of Call

    The purpose of this Call is to ask for an indication of interest by 
potential bidders and to gather information from all potentially 
affected parties about possible oil and gas leasing, exploration, 
development, and production in the area available for leasing 
consideration for Sale 181 in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico (EGOM). This 
Call is not a preliminary decision to lease in the Sale 181 area. It is 
the initial information-gathering step in a 3-year prelease 
decisionmaking process. The area available for leasing consideration in 
Sale 181 and the tentative schedule for the steps in the process 
leading to a final decision on the sale are described below.

Tentative Sale 181 Schedule

    The following is a list of planned presale process steps and 
related tentative dates applicable to proposed Sale 181:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Process step                  Tentative completion date
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Call/NOI.....................................  January 1999.
Comments due on Call/NOI.....................  March 1999.
Area Identification..........................  June 1999
Draft EIS....................................  August 2000.
Public Hearings..............................  September 2000.
Final EIS....................................  June 2001
Proposed Notice of Sale & CZM Consistency      July 2001.
 Determination.
Final Notice of Sale.........................  October 2001.
Bid Opening/Reading..........................  December 2001.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Please note that the MMS is considering changing the proposed Sale 
181 bid opening/reading from December 2001 to March 2002, and holding 
it in conjunction with proposed Central GOM Sale 182. These proposed 
sales would be planned and held as two separate sales, but holding the 
sales sequentially on the same day in the same location might be 
beneficial to MMS and prospective bidders due to the commonality of 
potential oil and gas plays and related exploration and development 
issues. All interested parties are requested to consider this proposed 
Sale 181 schedule change and include any comments on this matter along 
with the following specific requested information.

Description of Call Area

    The area of this Call covers a small portion of the EGOM Planning 
Area offshore Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. It includes 1,033 
blocks covering 5.949 million acres (see attached map). This is the 
area identified as available for leasing consideration for Sale 181 in 
the 1997-2002 OCS OIL AND Gas Leasing Program. During development of 
the 5-Year Program, the MMS consulted with the States of Alabama and 
Florida and was responsive to their concerns in identifying the Sale 
181 area. The MMS considers all of this area to have potential for the 
discovery of accumulations of hydrocarbons. None of the EGOM outside 
the Sale 181 area is available for leasing in this 5-year program. In 
addition, in a June 1998 announcement, the President withdrew from 
leasing until 2012 numerous areas of the OCS, including all of the EGOM 
outside the area identified as available for leasing consideration for 
Sale 181. A ``Call for Information Map'' depicting the Sale 181 area on 
a block-by-block basis is available without charge from the MMS Gulf of 
Mexico Public Information Unit (see last paragraph of this Call).
    Currently 39 blocks covering 224,640 acres are under lease (this 
figure may change before the sale if any of the leases become expired, 
relinquished, or terminated). Eight wells have been drilled in the Sale 
181 area. At this time there are plans to develop two areas: Destin 
Dome Blocks 1 and 2 (four wells from two surface locations; and DeSoto 
Canyon Blocks 133 and 177 (two wells in each block). Both of these 
areas are along the western boundary of the sale area and may be 
associated with well-developed areas of the Central Gulf of Mexico 
Planning Area.
    The Department of Defense makes use of much of the EGOM, including 
the proposed sale area. The Navy conducts various training missions for 
both ships and aircraft, and the Air Force conducts aircraft training 
missions as well as the testing of various weapons from nearby Eglin 
Air Force Base and associated facilities in Florida. Coordination 
between the Department of Defense and the MMS is ongoing to minimize 
conflicts.

Instructions to Potential Bidders in Responding to Call

    Potential bidders are requested to indicate interest in any or all 
of the acreage within the boundaries of the Call area that they wish to 
have included in EGOM OCS Lease Sale 181. Respondents should rank areas 
in which they express interest according to priority of their interest 
(e.g., priority 1 [high], 2 [medium], or 3 [low]). Respondents should 
be specific in indicating blocks by priority; blanket nominations (such 
as nominating the entire Call area as high priority) are not useful and 
may be ignored in the MMS analysis of industry interest. Also, areas 
where interest has been indicated but on which respondents have not 
indicated priorities will be considered priority 3 [low]. Responses may 
be provided in textual block listings (by Official Protraction Diagram 
designations) or graphically along block boundaries on the ``Call for 
Information Map'' or on Official Protraction Diagrams (which may be 
purchased from the MMS Gulf of Mexico Public Information Unit). 
Although individual indications of interest are considered to be 
privileged and proprietary information, the names of persons or 
entities indicating interest or submitting comments will be of public 
record.

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Instructions to all Interested Parties in Responding to Call

    Comments are sought from all interested parties about particular 
environmental, geologic, and socioeconomic conditions or conflicts, or 
other information that might bear upon the potential oil and gas 
leasing, exploration, development, and production activities from 
proposed EGOM Sale 181. Comments are also sought on possible conflicts 
between potential future OCS oil and gas activities that may result 
from the proposed sale and State Coastal Management Programs (CMPs). If 
possible, these comments should identify specific CMP policies of 
concern, the nature of the conflict foreseen, and steps that the MMS 
could take to avoid or mitigate the potential conflict. Comments may 
either be in terms of broad areas or restricted to particular blocks of 
concern. Those submitting comments are requested to list blocks or 
outline the subject area on the ``Call for Information Map'' mentioned 
above. Please submit responses to this Call in envelopes labeled 
``Response to the Call for Interest and Information for Proposed 
Eastern Gulf of Mexico OCS Lease Sale 181,'' addressed to the Regional 
Supervisor, Leasing and Environment (MS 5400), Gulf of Mexico OCS 
Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70123-
2394. Responses to this Call must be received no later than 60 days 
following publication of this document in the Federal Register.

Use of Information from Call

    Information submitted in response to this Call will be used for 
several purposes. First, responses will be used to assess industry 
interest and to identify areas of potential for oil and gas 
development. Second, comments on possible environmental effects and 
potential use of conflicts will be considered in the analysis of 
environmental conditions in and near the Call area and to develop 
alternatives and mitigating measures to lessen potential environmental 
impacts and ensure safe operations. And, third, comments may be used to 
assess potential conflicts between offshore oil and gas activities and 
a State CMP.

Existing EGOM Information

    The MMS routinely assesses the status of information acquisition 
efforts and the quality of the information base for potential decisions 
on tentatively scheduled lease sales. An extensive environmental 
studies program has been underway in the Gulf of Mexico since 1973. The 
emphasis, including continuing studies, has been on environmental 
characterization of biologically sensitive habitats, physical 
oceanography, ocean-circulation modeling, and ecological effects of oil 
and gas activities. Two documents are available from the MMS Gulf of 
Mexico Region Public Information Unit:
     Listing of available EGOM Study Reports (with information 
for ordering copies).
     Technical Summaries from Selected Environmental Studies of 
the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico, MMS 96-0025, 1996.

Obtaining EGOM Information

    The documents and the large-sized ``Call for Information Map'' 
mentioned above are available from:

Gulf of Mexico Public Information Unit, Minerals Management Service, 
1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394, 
Telephone: (504) 736-2519 or (800) 200-GULF.

    In addition, a wealth of information concerning the EGOM, the MMS 
studies program, and the MMS is available on the Internet at: http://
www.mms.gov. Also, many documents may be obtained through the MMS 24-
hour Fax-on-Demand service: (202) 219-1703.

Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement--Purpose 
of Notice of Intent

    The MMS intends to prepare an EIS on OCS Lease Sale 181. This sale 
is tentatively scheduled for 2001 and will cover Federal waters 
offshore the States of Alabama and Florida. The NOI also announces the 
scoping process we will use for this EIS. Throughout the scoping 
process, you have the opportunity to help us determine the scope of the 
Draft EIS, the significant issues to be addressed, and alternatives to 
be considered.
    Our EIS will evaluate the potential environmental effects of 
leasing, exploration, and development of the blocks identified through 
the Area Identification procedure. Alternatives to the proposal that we 
may consider are to delay, cancel, or modify the sale.

What is Scoping?

    Scoping is an open and early process for determining the scope of 
the EIS and for identifying significant issues related to a proposed 
action. Scoping also provides you an opportunity to identify additional 
alternatives to the proposed action. As MMS prepares for public scoping 
meetings on the EIS for OCS Lease Sale 181, we will distribute 
additional information and will advertise details of the actual dates, 
times, and facilities for the meetings in local media.
    The National Environmental Policy Act process ends with MMS 
preparing a Final EIS and making a decision on the proposed action and 
alternatives. There are many opportunities for you to influence the 
EIS. You may provide comments.
     During the 60-day period after this NOI is published;
     During public scoping meetings;
     While we accept written scoping comments (We will consider 
comments received during the scoping process in preparing of the Draft 
EIS.); and
     During a 60-day comment period after publication of the 
Draft EIS; and
     During public hearings on the Draft EIS (We will address 
comments received during the public hearing process in the Final EIS.).
    We anticipate completing the EIS in about two and one-half years. 
At the end of this process, the decisionmaker will have a document that 
assesses the impacts of the lease sale proposal and the alternatives to 
use in making an informed decision.

How To Submit Comments

    Please send your written comments on the scope of the EIS, 
significant issues to be addressed, and alternatives that should be 
considered to the Regional Supervisor, Leasing and Environment (MS 
5400), Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New 
Orleans, Louisiana, 70123-2394. The deadline for your submission is 60 
days after this NOI is published. Clearly label your comments, 
``Comments on the NOI to Prepare an EIS on the proposed 2001 Lease Sale 
in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.''

    Dated: January 13, 1999.
Cynthia Quarterman,
Director, Minerals Management Service.

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[FR Doc. 99-1601 Filed 1-22-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-C