[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 223 (Wednesday, November 19, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65309-65310]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-28932]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Outer Continental Shelf, Western Planning Area, Oil and Gas Lease 
Sale 192 (2004)

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service.

ACTION: Preparation of an environmental assessment.

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SUMMARY: The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is beginning preparation 
of an environmental assessment (EA) for proposed Lease Sale 192 
(scheduled for August 2004) in the Western Planning Area (WPA) of the 
Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The preparation of this EA is the

[[Page 65310]]

first step in the decision process for Lease Sale 192. The proposal and 
alternatives for Lease Sale 192 were identified by the Director of MMS 
in January 2002 following the Call for Information and Nominations/
Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and 
were analyzed in the Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2003-
2007, Central Planning Area Sales 185, 190, 194, 198, and 201, and 
Western Planning Area Sales 187, 192, 196, and 200, Final Environmental 
Impact Statement, Volumes I and II (Final EIS, OCS EIS/EA MMS 2002-
052). The WPA proposed action analyzed in the Final EIS was the 
offering of all available unleased acreage in the WPA. The analysis in 
the EA will reexamine the potential environmental effects of the 
proposed action and its alternatives based on any new information 
regarding potential impacts and issues that were not available at the 
time the Final EIS was prepared.

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: In November 2002, MMS prepared a Final EIS, 
which addressed nine proposed Federal actions that offer for lease 
areas on the GOM Outer Continental Shelf (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). Since each proposed lease sale and its projected 
activities are very similar each year for each planning area, a single 
EIS was prepared for the nine Central Planning Area (CPA) and WPA lease 
sales scheduled in the Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing 
Program: 2002-2007 (the 5-Year Program). Under the 5-Year Program, five 
annual areawide lease sales are scheduled for the CPA (Lease Sales 185, 
190, 194, 198, and 201) and five annual areawide lease sales are 
scheduled for the WPA (Lease Sales 184, 187, 192, 196, and 200). Lease 
Sale 184 was not addressed in the Final EIS; a separate EA was prepared 
for that proposal. The Final EIS addressed CPA Lease Sales 185, 190, 
194, 198, and 201 scheduled for 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007, 
respectively, and WPA Lease Sales 187, 192, 196, and 200 scheduled for 
2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, respectively. Although the Final EIS 
addresses nine proposed lease sales, at the completion of the EIS 
process, decisions were made only for proposed CPA Lease Sale 185 and 
proposed WPA Lease Sale 187. In the year prior to each subsequent 
proposed lease sale, an additional National Environmental Policy Act 
review will be conducted to address any new information relevant to 
that proposed action. After completion of the EA, for proposed Lease 
Sale 192, MMS will determine whether to prepare a Finding of No New 
Significant Impact (FONNSI) or a Supplemental EIS. The MMS will then 
prepare and send Consistency Determinations (CD's) to the affected 
States to determine whether the sale is consistent with their 
Federally-approved State coastal zone management programs. Finally, MMS 
will solicit comments via the Proposed Notice of Sale (PNOS) from the 
governors of affected States on the size, timing, and location of Lease 
Sale 192. The tentative schedule for the prelease decision process for 
the sale is as follows: EA FONNSI or Supplemental EIS decision, March 
2004; CD's sent to affected States, March 2004; PNOS sent to governors 
of affected States, March 2004; Final Notice of Sale published in the 
Federal Register, July 2004; and Lease Sale 192, August 2004.
    Public Comments: Federal, State, and local government agencies, and 
other interested parties are requested to send within 30 days of this 
Notice's publication comments regarding any new information or issues 
that should be addressed in the EA to the Regional Supervisor, Leasing 
and Environment (MS 5410), Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, Minerals 
Management Service, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 
70123-2394. Comments should be enclosed in an envelope labeled 
``Comments on WPA Lease Sale 192 EA.'' You may also send comments to 
the MMS email address: [email protected]. Comments, including the 
names and home addresses of respondents, will be made available for 
public review during regular business hours. You may request that your 
name, home address, or both be withheld from the public record by 
stating so at the beginning of your submission. The MMS will honor such 
a request to the extent allowable by law. All comments submitted by 
organizations and businesses or by individuals identifying themselves 
as representatives of organizations and businesses will be made 
available for inspection in their entirety. Anonymous comments will not 
be considered. To obtain single copies of the Final EIS, you may 
contact 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 (1-800-200-
GULF). You may also view the Final EIS or check the list of libraries 
that have copies of the Final EIS and their locations on the MMS Web 
site at http://www.gomr.mms.gov.

    Dated: October 22, 2003.
Chris C. Oynes,
Regional Director, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region.
[FR Doc. 03-28932 Filed 11-18-03; 8:45 am]
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