[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 67 (Monday, April 8, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16757-16758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-8364]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Outer Continental Shelf, Gulf of Mexico Region, Proposed Central 
and Western Gulf Multisale Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) and Locations and Dates of Public Hearings on Proposed 
Central Planning Area Sales 185, 190, 194, 198, and 201, and Proposed 
Western Planning Area Sales 187, 192, 196, and 200.

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SUMMARY: The Minerals Management Service (MMS) has prepared a draft 
environmental impact statement (EIS) for nine proposed areawide oil and 
gas lease sales in the Central Planning Area (CPA) and Western Planning 
Area (WPA) outer continental shelf (OCS) of the Gulf of Mexico.

DATES: Comments on Draft EIS due May 31, 2002.
    Public Hearings--New Orleans, May 1, 2002; Houston, Texas, April 
30, 2002; Mobile, Alabama, May 2, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Minerals Management Service, Gulf of 
Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 
70123-2394, Mr. Joseph Christopher, telephone (504) 736-2774.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This EIS addresses nine proposed federal 
actions that offer for lease areas on the Gulf of Mexico OCS that may 
contain economically recoverable oil and gas resources. Federal 
regulations allow for several related or similar proposals to be 
analyzed in one EIS (40 CFR 1502.4).

[[Page 16758]]

Since each lease sale proposal and projected activities are very 
similar each year for each planning area, a single EIS is being 
prepared for all nine Central and Western Gulf sales scheduled in the 
proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program: 2002-2007 
(the proposed 5-Year Program). Under the proposed 5-Year Program, five 
annual areawide lease sales are scheduled for the CPA and five annual 
areawide lease sales are scheduled for the WPA. The first proposed 
lease sale--Western Gulf Sale 184--is not addressed in this multisale 
EIS; a separate environmental analysis is being done for that proposal. 
The Central Gulf sales addressed in this EIS are Sale 185 in 2003, Sale 
190 in 2004, Sale 194 in 2005, Sale 198 in 2006, and Sale 201 in 2007. 
The Western Gulf sales are Sale 187 in 2003, Sale 192 in 2004, Sale 196 
in 2005, and Sale 200 in 2006. Although this EIS addresses nine 
proposed lease sales, at the completion of this EIS process, decisions 
will be made only for proposed Sale 185 in the CPA and proposed Sale 
187 in the WPA. A National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review will 
be conducted for each subsequent lease sale in the proposed 5-Year 
Program.

Public Hearings

    Public hearings on the draft EIS will be held at the following 
locations on the dates and times listed: New Orleans, Louisiana, 
Wednesday, May 1, 2002, 2-4 p.m., Minerals Management Service, 1201 
Elmwood Park Boulevard; Houston, Texas, Tuesday, April 30, 2002, 1-3 
p.m., Houston Airport Marriott, 18700 Kennedy Boulevard; Mobile, 
Alabama, Thursday, May 2, 2002, 2-4 p.m. and 6:30-8:30 p.m, Adams Mark 
Hotel, 64 South Water Street. The contact person for these hearings is 
Ms. Janet Diaz at telephone number (504) 736-2540. Interested 
individuals, representatives of organizations, and public officials who 
wish to testify at the public hearings are requested to notify Ms. Diaz 
at least five days prior to the hearing. If time is available during 
the hearing period, after the presentation of oral statements by those 
who have pre-registered, other individuals will be given an opportunity 
to be heard. Time limitations may make it necessary to limit the length 
of each oral presentation to ten minutes or less. An oral statement may 
be supplemented by a written statement, which should be submitted to 
the hearing officer at the time of the oral presentation. Hearings will 
recess when all speakers have had an opportunity to testify. If there 
are no additional speakers, the hearing will adjourn immediately after 
the recess.
    If you cannot attend the hearings, or if you prefer, you may submit 
your comments in writing to the address below.

Written Comments

    MMS requests interested parties to submit comments on the draft EIS 
to Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, Office of 
Leasing and Environment, Attention: Regional Supervisor (MS 5410), 1201 
Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394 by May 31, 
2002. Our practice is to make comments, including the name and home 
address of respondents, available for public review. An individual 
commenter may ask that we withhold name, home address, or both from the 
public record, and we will honor such a request to the extent allowable 
by law. If you submit comments and wish us to withhold such 
information, you must state so prominently at the beginning of your 
submission. We will not consider anonymous comments, and we will make 
available for inspection in their entirety all comments submitted by 
organizations and businesses or by individuals identifying themselves 
as representatives of organizations and businesses. The comment period 
ends on May 31, 2002.

EIS Availability

    You may find out which local libraries along the Gulf Coast have 
copies of the draft EIS for review, or you may obtain single copies of 
the draft EIS from the Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS 
Region, Attention: Public Information Office (MS 5034), 1201 Elmwood 
Park Boulevard, Room 114, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394 or by 
calling 1-800-200-GULF. For a list of libraries containing the EIS you 
may also call Mrs. Diaz at the number listed in the Public Hearings 
portion of this notice. The list of libraries and their locations are 
also available on the Gulf of Mexico regional home page on the Internet 
at http://www.temporarygomr.com.
    After the public hearing testimony and written comments on the 
draft EIS have been reviewed and analyzed, a final EIS will be 
prepared.

    Dated: March 29, 2002.
Thomas A. Readinger,
Associate Director for Offshore Minerals Management.
    Approved: March 29, 2002.
Willie R. Taylor,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance.
[FR Doc. 02-8364 Filed 4-5-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P