[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 209 (Tuesday, October 30, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61368-61369]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-21275]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Gulf of Mexico (GOM), Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Central 
Planning Area (CPA), Oil and Gas Lease Sale 206 (2008) Environmental 
Assessment (EA)

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment.

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SUMMARY: The MMS is issuing this notice to advise the public, pursuant 
to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, 42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq., that the MMS has prepared an EA for proposed OCS 
oil and gas Lease Sale 206 in the Central GOM Planning Area (Lease Sale 
206) scheduled for March 2008. The preparation of this EA is an 
important step in the decision process for Lease Sale 206. The proposal 
for Lease Sale 206 was identified by the Call for Information and 
Nominations published in the Federal Register on April 28, 2006, and 
was analyzed in the Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2007-
2012; Western Planning Area Sales 204, 207, 210, 215, and 218; Central 
Planning Area Sales 205, 206, 208, 213, 216, and 222--Final 
Environmental Impact Statement(EIS); Volumes I and II (Multisale EIS, 
OCS EIS/EA MMS 2007-018).
    The proposal does not include approximately 5.8 million acres 
located in the southeastern part of the Central Planning Area which the 
Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 opened to leasing after many 
years of

[[Page 61369]]

appropriations Acts containing leasing moratoria. Because of the 
limited geological and geophysical data available to industry and the 
limited environmental review for this area, the MMS has decided that it 
would be premature to offer this area in proposed Lease Sale 206. 
Before the area is offered for lease, the MMS will conduct a separate 
NEPA review to reevaluate the expanded CPA sale area.
    This EA for proposed Lease Sale 206 reexamined the potential 
environmental effects of the proposed lease sale and its alternatives 
excluding the unleased blocks near biologically sensitive topographic 
features; excluding the unleased blocks within 15 miles of the Baldwin 
County, Alabama Coast; and no action based on any new information 
regarding potential impacts and issues that were not available at the 
time the Multisale EIS was prepared. No new significant impacts were 
identified for proposed Lease Sale 206 that were not already assessed 
in the Multisale EIS. As a result, the MMS determined that a 
Supplemental EIS is not required and prepared a Finding of No New 
Significant Impact (FONNSI).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Dennis Chew, Minerals Management 
Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, Mail 
Stop 5410, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394. You may also contact Mr. 
Chew by telephone at (504) 736-2793.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In April 2007, the MMS published a Multisale 
EIS that addressed 11 proposed Federal actions that would offer for 
lease areas on the GOM 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 11 
Western Planning Area (WPA) and CPA lease sales scheduled in the 
proposed OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program: 2007-2012 (5-Year Program). 
The Multisale EIS addressed WPA Lease Sale 204 in 2007, Sale 207 in 
2008, Sale 210 in 2009, Sale 215 in 2010, and Sale 218 in 2011; and CPA 
Lease Sale 205 in 2007, Sale 206 in 2008, Sale 208 in 2009, Sale 213 in 
2010, Sale 216 in 2011, and Sale 222 in 2012. Although the Multisale 
EIS addresses 11 proposed lease sales, at the completion of the EIS 
process, Records of Decision were published in July and August 2007 for 
only proposed WPA Lease Sale 204 and proposed CPA Lease Sale 205, 
respectively. An additional NEPA review (an EA) was conducted for 
proposed Lease Sale 206 to address any new information relevant to the 
proposed lease sale. Additional NEPA reviews will also be conducted 
prior to decisions on each of the eight subsequent proposed lease 
sales. The purpose of these EA's is to determine whether to prepare a 
FONNSI or a Supplemental EIS. For each proposed lease sale, MMS 
prepares a Consistency Determination (CD) to determine whether the 
lease sale is consistent with each affected State's federally-approved 
coastal zone management program. Finally, MMS solicits comments via the 
Proposed Notice of Sale (PNOS) from the governors of the affected 
States on the size, timing, and location of the lease sale. The 
tentative schedule for the prelease decision process for Lease Sale 206 
is as follows: CD's sent to affected States, October 2007; PNOS sent to 
governors of the affected States, October 2007; Final Notice of Sale 
published in the Federal Register, February 2008; and Lease Sale 206, 
March 2008.
    Public Comments: Interested parties are requested to send comments 
on this EA/FONNSI by November 29, 2007. Comments may be submitted in 
one of the following two ways:
    1. In written form enclosed in an envelope labeled ``Comments on 
CPA Lease Sale 206 EA'' and mailed (or hand carried) to the Regional 
Supervisor, Leasing and Environment (MS5410), Minerals Management 
Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New 
Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394.
    2. Electronically to the MMS e-mail address: [email protected].
    All comments received will be considered in the decisionmaking 
process for proposed Lease Sale 206.
    EA Availablity: To obtain a copy of this EA, you may contact the 
MMS, GOM 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 this EA on the MMS Web site at 
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/regulate/environ/nepa/nepaprocess.html.

    Dated: October 1, 2007.
Chris C. Oynes,
Associate Director for Offshore Minerals Management.
[FR Doc. E7-21275 Filed 10-29-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P