[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 172 (Tuesday, September 7, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48666-48670]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-23124]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Outer Continental Shelf, Alaska OCS Region, Beaufort Sea, Oil and 
Gas Lease Sale 176

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.

ACTION: Call for Information and Nominations.

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    In accordance with the Final Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and 
Gas Leasing Program 1997 to 2002, the Minerals Management Service 
(MMS), Alaska OCS Region, is proceeding with the Call for Information 
and Nominations (Call) for Beaufort Sea Sale 176.

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Purpose of Call

    The purpose of the Call is to gather information for proposed OCS 
Oil and Gas Lease Sale 176. This proposed sale, located in the Beaufort 
Sea Planning Area, is tentatively scheduled for early 2002. The Call 
marks the beginning of the decision process for this sale. Sale 176, if 
held, will be the eighth oil and gas lease sale in the Beaufort Sea 
Planning Area. The terms of the stipulations and Information to Lessees 
clauses used for the most recent sale, Sale 170 (August 5, 1998), will 
be used as a starting point in the planning process for Sale 176.
    Comments, information and nominations are sought from all 
interested parties. This early planning and consultation step is 
important for ensuring that all interests and concerns are communicated 
to the Department of the Interior for future decisions in the 
formulation of this proposal and the leasing process in general. We are 
seeking information from you on how we should design the area to offer. 
The MMS is directing its focus on resolving issues early in the 
planning process by working with stakeholders individually and 
collectively, beginning with publication of the Call.
    As a part of that effort, MMS intends to carry forward the 
cooperative relationship established for Sale 170 through the Alaska 
Offshore Advisory Committee. Committee membership for Sale 170 
consisted of representatives of the State of Alaska, North Slope 
Borough, Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, North Slope Villages, the 
oil and gas industry, and the environmental community. It is expected 
that each of these stakeholders will again be represented on the 
Committee for Sale 176.

Description of Area

    The area of this Call, located offshore the State of Alaska in the 
Beaufort Sea Planning Area as identified on the attached map, extends 
offshore from about 3 to approximately 60 nautical miles, in water 
depths from approximately 25 feet to 200 feet. A small portion of the 
outer limits of the sale area north of Harrison Bay drops to 
approximately 3,000 feet. The area available for nominations and 
comments consists of approximately 1,898 whole and partial blocks 
(about 9.9 million acres). A large scale map of the Beaufort Sea 
Planning Area (hereinafter referred to as the Call map) showing 
boundaries of the area on a block-by-block basis is available by 
written request to the Attention of the Records Manager at the address 
given below, or by telephone request at (907) 271-6621. Copies of 
Official Protraction Diagrams (OPDs) are also available for $2 each.

Alaska OSC Region, Minerals Management Service, 949 East 36th Avenue, 
Room 308, Anchorage, Alaska, 99508-4302, http://www.mms.gov/alaska

Environmental Information

    The MMS has acquired a substantial amount of information, including 
that gained through the use of traditional knowledge, on the issues and 
concerns related to oil and gas leasing in the Beaufort Sea.
    An extensive environmental, social, and economic studies program 
has been underway in this area since 1975. The emphasis has been on 
geologic mapping, environmental characterization of biologically 
sensitive habitats, endangered whales and marine mammals, physical 
oceanography, ocean-circulation modeling, and ecological and 
sociocultural effects of oil and gas activities.
    Information on the studies program, completed studies, and a 
program status report for continuing studies in this area may be 
obtained from the Chief, Environmental Studies Section, Alaska OCS 
Region, by telephone request at (907) 271-6577, or by written request 
at the address stated under Description of Area. A request may also be 
made via the Alaska Region website at www.mms.gov/alaska/ref/pubindex/
pubsindex.htm.

Instructions on Call

    If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments by any one of 
several methods. You may mail comments to Alaska OCS Region, Minerals 
Management Service, 949 East 36th Avenue, Room 308, Anchorage, Alaska 
99508-4302. You may also comment via the Internet to http://
www.mms.gov/alaska. Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII file 
avoiding the use of special characters and any form of encryption. 
Please also include ``Attn: [RIN number (if applicable)] and your name 
and return address in you Internet message. If you do not receive a 
confirmation from the system that we have received your Internet 
message, contact us directly at (907) 271-6621. Finally, you may hand-
deliver comments to Alaska OCS Region, Minerals Management Service, 949 
East 36th Avenue, Room 308, Anchorage, Alaska 99508-4302. Our practice 
is to make comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, 
available for public review during regular business, hours. Individual 
respondents may request that we withholding their home address from the 
rulemaking record, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. 
There also may be circumstances in which we would withhold from the 
rulemaking record a respondent's identity, as allowable by law. If you 
wish us to withhold your name and/or address, you must state this 
prominently at the beginning of your comment. However, we will not 
consider anonymous comments. We will make all submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.
    The MMS is requesting comments from all interested parties on all 
aspects of the Sale 176 proposal including comments on:

Geology
Environment
Biological resources
Archaeological resources
Social and economic conditions
Potential conflicts

or other information that might bear upon potential leasing and 
development in the Call area.

1. Oil and Gas Interest Areas

    Specific nominations are being sought regarding the oil and gas 
industry area(s) of interest. The MMS is soliciting nominations of 
blocks that are of significant industry interest for exploration and 
development. Nominations should focus only on those blocks of 
significant interest, thereby eliminating early in the process those 
blocks of low interest where there may be high environmental, 
subsistence or other resource values.
    Nominations must be depicted on the Call map by outlining the 
area(s) of interest along block lines. Nominators are asked to submit a 
list of whole and partial blocks nominated (by OPD and block number) to 
facilitate correct interpretation of their nominations on the Call map. 
Although the identities of those submitting nominations become a matter 
of public record, the individual nominations are proprietary 
information.
    Nominators also are requested to rank blocks nominated according to 
priority of interest (e.g., priority 1 (high), or 2 (medium). Blocks 
nominated that do not indicate priorities will be considered priority 3 
(low). Nominators must be specific in indicating blocks by priority and 
be prepared to discuss their range of interest and activity regarding 
the nominated area(s). The telephone

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number and name of a person to contact in the nominator's organization 
for additional information should be included in the response. This 
person will be contacted to set up a mutually agreeable time and place 
for a meeting with the Alaska OCS Regional Office to present their 
views regarding the company's nominations.
    The MMS is particularly interested in industry views on tailoring 
the area being offered to include only those blocks close to existing 
of foreseeable infrastructure. A discussion of the merits or demerits 
of this approach will assist MMS in developing a proposal that would 
promote the development of smaller fields in the area of existing 
infrastructure while preserving opportunities for industry to explore 
for reasonably developable prospects. Areas not near existing 
infrastructure, but within the Call area, should be included in 
nominations if there is compelling evidence that a field of sufficient 
size to warrant a stand-along operation may exist.

2. Timing of the Sale Process

    The following is a tentative schedule, allowing for a sale date of 
early 2002. Approximate dates for actions, decisions and consultation 
points are:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Milestones                              Dates
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments Due on the Call..................  Oct. 1999.
Area Identification and Notice of Intent    Dec. 1999.
 to Prepare an EIS.
Scoping Meetings..........................  Jan. 2000.
Draft EIS filed with EPA..................  Oct. 2000.
Hearings on Draft EIS Held................  Nov. 2000.
Comments Due on Draft EIS.................  Jan. 2001.
Consistency Determination.................  July 2001.
Final EIS Filed with EPA and Proposed       July 2001.
 Notice of Sale available.
Governor's Comments Due on Proposed Notice  Sept. 2001.
 of Sale.
Final Notice of Sale Published............  Nov. 2001.
Sale......................................  Jan. 2002.
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3. Relation to Coastal Management Plans

    Comments also are sought on potential conflicts with approved local 
coastal management plans (CMP) that may result from the proposed sale 
and future OCS oil and gas activities. These comments should identify 
specific CMP policies of concern, the nature of the conflicts foreseen, 
and steps that MMS could take to avoid or mitigate the potential 
conflicts. Comments may be in terms of broad areas or restricted to 
particular blocks of concern. Commenters are requested to list block 
numbers or outline the subject area on the large-scale Call map.

4. The General Process

    Suggestions on ways that may improve the planning and decision 
process for oil and gas lease sales in general are encouraged. These 
comments need not be restricted to the individual sale process. 
Comments on the entire process, including formulation of the 5-year 
program, the environmental analysis, and the conduct of the sales, will 
be useful to MMS in our ongoing effort to improve the process.

Response Date

    Nominations and comments must be received no later than 45 days 
following publication of this document in the Federal Register in 
envelopes labeled ``Nominations for Proposed Beaufort Sea Lease Sale 
176,'' or ``Comments on the Call for Information and Nominations for 
Proposed Beaufort Sea Lease Sale 176,'' as appropriate. The original 
Call map with indications of interest and/or comments must be submitted 
to the Regional Supervisor, Leasing and Environment, Alaska OCS Region, 
Minerals Management Service, 949 East 36th Avenue, Room 308, Anchorage, 
Alaska, 99508-4302.

Use of Information From Call

    Information submitted in response to this Call will be used for 
several purposes. Responses will be used to:

Help identify areas of potential oil and gas development
Identify environmental effects and potential gas conflicts
Assist in the scoping process for the EIS
Develop possible alternatives to the proposed action
Develop lease terms and conditions/mitigating measures
Identity potential conflicts between oil and gas activities and the 
Alaska CMP

    This Call does indicate a decision to lease. If a decision is made 
to go forward with an oil and gas lease sale, the final delineation of 
the area for possible leasing and the terms and conditions of the sale 
will be made at a later date. Decisions will be made in compliance with 
all applicable laws including requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), as amended, and with 
established departmental procedures.

    Dated; August 30, 1999.
W.C. Rosenbusch,
Director, Minerals Management Service.

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[FR Doc. 99-23124 Filed 9-3-99; 8:45 am]
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