[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 165 (Friday, August 25, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 50457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-14073]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for the Proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and 
Gas Leasing Program: 2007-2012.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DATES: Comments will be accepted until November 22, 2006.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments by any 
one of several methods. You may comment electronically using MMS's 
Public Connect online commenting system at http://ocsconnect.mms.gov. 
This is the preferred method for commenting. From the Public Connect 
``Welcome'' screen, search for ``5-Year Programmatic EIS 2007-2012'' or 
select it from the ``Projects Open for Comment'' menu. You may also 
mail comments to: 5-Yr DEIS, Attention: Mr. James F. Bennett, Chief, 
Branch of Environmental Assessment, 381 Elden Street, Mail Stop 4042, 
Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817. Finally, you may hand-deliver comments to 
the Department of the Interior, Main Interior Building, 1849 C Street, 
NW., Room 4227, Washington, DC 20240. Envelopes or packages must be 
marked ``2007-2012 Oil and Gas Program Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement''. Our practice is to make comments, including names and home 
addresses of respondents, available for public review. Individual 
respondents may request that we withhold their names and/or home 
addresses, but if you wish us to consider withholding this information 
you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comments. In 
addition, you must present a rationale for withholding this 
information. This rationale must demonstrate that disclosure ``would 
constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy.'' Unsupported assertions 
will not meet this burden. In the absence of exceptional, documentable 
circumstances, this information will be released. We will not consider 
anonymous comments. We will always make 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. James F. Bennett, Minerals 
Management Service, Chief, Branch of Environmental Assessment, at (703) 
787-1660.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Draft Environmental Impact Statement may 
be found on the Internet at http://www.mms.gov/5-year/. A limited 
number of individual copies of the Draft EIS may be obtained from the 
above contact. Please specify if you wish CD or paper copy. If neither 
is specified, a CD containing the Draft EIS will be forwarded.
    In accordance with 30 CFR 256.2(b), public hearings related to the 
draft EIS will be held in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic and Alaska 
Regions. The exact dates, times, and locations of the hearings will be 
announced by Federal Register notice in the near future.
    Library Availability: To learn which libraries in Alaska have 
copies of the draft EIS, contact the Alaska OCS Region, Minerals 
Management Service, 949 East 36th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska 99508-4363, 
telephone 1-800-764-2627 or (907) 271-6438. On the Pacific coast 
contact the Pacific OCS Region, Minerals Management Service, 770 Paseo 
Camarillo, Camarillo, California 93010-6064, telephone (805) 389-7520. 
For availability of the draft EIS along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic 
coasts contact the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, Minerals Management 
Service, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-
2394, telephone (504) 736-2595. Information on the availability of the 
Draft EIS can also be obtained from the Minerals Management Service. 
Contact Mr. James F. Bennett.
    The list of libraries and their locations is also available on the 
MMS Home page on the Internet at http://www.mms.gov/library/.
    After the public hearing testimony and written comments on the 
Draft EIS have been reviewed and analyzed, a Final EIS will be 
prepared.

    Dated: August 15, 2006.
Willie R. Taylor,
Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance.
[FR Doc. E6-14073 Filed 8-24-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P