[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 241 (Friday, December 15, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 75579]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-21445]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Notice of Availability of Draft Programmatic Environmental 
Assessment (EA)

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of the draft Programmatic EA for the 
Coastal Impact Assistance Program.

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SUMMARY: The Minerals Management Service (MMS) announces the 
availability of the draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (EA) 
for the Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP). This EA will assist 
agency planning by facilitating the establishment of procedures for the 
disbursement of CIAP funds and providing an opportunity to involve the 
public, States, and coastal political subdivisions (CPSs). 
Specifically, this EA generally describes the potential environmental 
impacts of CIAP projects, provides comprehensive guidance to the States 
and CPSs for submitting the documentation needed to comply with 
relevant environmental laws at the time they request funding for 
proposed projects, and compiles information that may be appropriate to 
include in environmental compliance documents prepared for each 
proposed project.

DATES: Comments will be accepted for thirty (30) days after the 
publication date of this notice.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments by any 
one of several methods. You may comment via the Internet at: https://ocsconnect.mms.gov/pcs-public/. This is the preferred method for 
commenting. From the Public Connect ``Welcome'' screen, search for 
``Coastal Impact Assistance Program Draft EA'' or select it from the 
``Projects Open for Comment'' menu. You may mail comments to: Coastal 
Impact Assistance Program Draft EA, Attention
    Mr. James F. Bennett, Chief, Branch of Environmental Assessment, 
381 Elden Street, Mail Stop 4042, Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817. You may 
also 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 ``Coastal Impact Assistance 
Program Draft Environmental Assessment.'' Before including your 
address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying 
information in your comment, be advised that your entire comment--
including your personal identifying information--may be made publicly 
available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold 
from public review your personal identifying information, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will not consider anonymous 
comments. Submissions from organizations or businesses, and from 
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of 
organizations or businesses, will be made 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 programmatic Environmental 
Assessment may be found on the Internet at: http://www.mms.gov/offshore/CIAPmain.htm.
    After the comments on the draft EA have been reviewed and analyzed, 
a final EA will be prepared and made available to the public.
    The CIAP was created as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The 
purpose of the CIAP is to provide funds to conserve, protect, and 
restore coastal areas; mitigate damage to fish, wildlife, and natural 
resources; implement a federally-approved marine, coastal, or 
comprehensive conservation management plan; mitigate the impact of 
Outer Continental Shelf activities through funding of onshore 
infrastructure projects and public service needs; and assist planning 
and defray the administrative costs of complying with the CIAP. 
Responsibility for disbursing CIAP funds has been delegated to the MMS.
    The Energy Policy Act requires MMS to disburse $250 million for 
each fiscal year 2007 through 2010 to eligible producing States 
(Alabama, Alaska, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) and 
CPSs to be used for one or more of five authorized uses. For MMS to 
comply with the Energy Policy Act and effectively manage the CIAP, it 
must establish procedures for the submission and approval of State 
coastal impact assistance plans and the grant application process for 
individual CIAP projects. The MMS has determined that the preparation 
of this EA will assist agency planning by providing comprehensive 
guidance to the States and CPSs for submitting to MMS the documentation 
needed to comply with the relevant environmental laws at the time they 
request funding for proposed projects. Review of the draft EA provides 
an opportunity to involve the public, States, and CPSs in the 
establishment of this guidance. Because the development of CIAP 
procedures does not require MMS to resolve conflicts concerning 
alternative uses of available resources, MMS does not analyze 
alternatives to the development of CIAP procedures in this EA.
    This EA provides information that may be appropriate to include in 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance documents prepared 
for each proposed project. Although the individual CIAP projects have 
not yet been proposed, the broad categories of authorized CIAP projects 
set forth in the Energy Policy Act enables MMS to generally describe 
the potential environmental impacts of CIAP projects. MMS expects that 
future NEPA compliance documents for proposed CIAP projects will 
analyze a no action alternative on a collective or case-by-case basis, 
as well as reasonable alternatives that may include standard mitigation 
measures.

    Dated: November 13, 2006.
Robert P. LaBelle,
Acting Associate Director for Offshore Minerals Management.
 [FR Doc. E6-21445 Filed 12-14-06; 8:45 am]
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