[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 63 (Friday, April 2, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16828-16829]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-7580]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Notice of Intent To Prepare and Scope an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas 
Leasing Program for 2012-2017

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the 
Minerals Management Service (MMS) is providing notice of its intent to 
prepare an EIS with respect to the OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 
2012-2017 and requests comments for the purposes of determining the 
scope of the EIS we plan to prepare.

DATES: Please submit comments and information to the MMS on scoping no 
later than June 30, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may submit their written scoping comments 
until June 30, 2010, to Mr. J. F. Bennett, Chief, Branch of 
Environmental Assessment, Minerals Management Service, 381 Elden 
Street, MS 4042, Herndon, Virginia 20170, or online at: 
ocs5yeareis.anl.gov.
    Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment, including your personal identifying 
information, may be made publicly available at any time.

[[Page 16829]]


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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of NEPA, the 
MMS intends to prepare an EIS for the new 5-year OCS oil and gas 
leasing program for 2012-2017. This notice starts the formal scoping 
process for the EIS under 40 CFR 1501.7, and solicits information 
regarding issues and alternatives that should be evaluated in the EIS. 
The EIS will analyze the potential impacts of the adoption of the 
proposed 5-year program.

Background

    In January 2009, the previous Administration published a Draft 
Proposed Program (DPP) and a Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS that 
set out a schedule for scoping meetings in the areas of the DPP. In 
February 2009, the Secretary of the Interior extended the comment 
period on the DPP and postponed the scoping meetings to allow time to 
consider further public comment before determining which areas in the 
DPP should be scoped for the EIS and thus be analyzed for consideration 
in the subsequent program proposals under section 18 of the OCS Lands 
Act, 43 U.S.C 1344. The fact that an area is analyzed in a 5-year EIS 
does not mean that it will be included in a final leasing program. 
However, an area must be analyzed pursuant to NEPA to be included in a 
5-year program.

Areas To Be Scoped for the EIS

    The draft EIS for the OCS Oil and Gas Program for 2012-2017 will 
evaluate offering all or portions of eight OCS planning areas for oil 
and gas leasing: Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, and Cook Inlet, which are 
offshore Alaska; Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico, the 
latter focusing on the southwestern third of the planning area rather 
than the entire area contemplated in the DPP; and South and Mid-
Atlantic. These areas also will be the focus of the proposed program 
analyses.

Scoping Meetings

    Public meetings will be held in coastal locations near these areas 
in June and early July 2010, to help determine the appropriate scope of 
the EIS in terms of geographical areas and issues. The meetings are 
being planned for, but not necessarily limited to:
     Kaktovik, Alaska
     Nuiqsut, Alaska
     Barrow, Alaska
     Anchorage, Alaska
     New Orleans, Louisiana;
     Mobile, Alabama;
     Tallahassee, Florida;
     Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida;
     Savannah, Georgia and/or Wilmington, North Carolina
     Norfolk, Virginia;
     Trenton, New Jersey and/or Wilmington, Delaware; and
     Washington, DC.
    Specific times and venues will be posted on the MMS website and 
published in the Federal Register per 40 CFR 1506.6.
    The comments that MMS has received in response to the January 21, 
2009 Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS (74 FR 3631) and the August 
2008 Request for Comments on the preparation of a new 5-year program 
(73 FR 45065), and the comments received during scoping for the 2007-
2012 Five Year EIS, have identified environmental issues and concerns 
that MMS will consider in the EIS. In summary, these include climate 
change as an impact factor in cumulative analyses, the effects of the 
OCS program on climate change, potential impacts from accidental oil 
spills, potential impacts to tourism and recreation activities, and 
ecological impacts from potential degradation of marine and coastal 
habitats. Additionally, alternatives will be developed and analyzed 
during the EIS process based on scoping comments and governmental 
communications. Alternatives may include increasing or decreasing the 
number or frequency of sales, coastal buffers, limiting areas available 
for leasing, and excluding parts of or entire planning areas.

Written Scoping Comments for the EIS

    The MMS will consider comments for the purposes of determining the 
scope of the EIS we plan to prepare. Comments on the relationship 
between the Oil and Gas Program and the Alternative Energy Program are 
also welcome. Interested parties may submit their written scoping 
comments until June 30, 2010, to Mr. J. F. Bennett, Chief, Branch of 
Environmental Assessment, Minerals Management Service, 381 Elden 
Street, MS 4042, Herndon, Virginia 20170, or online at: 
ocs5yeareis.anl.gov. Before including your address, phone number, e-
mail address, or other personal identifying information in your 
comment, you should be aware 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 your personal 
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we 
will be able to do so.

Cooperating Agency

    The Department of the Interior invites other Federal agencies, 
state, tribal, and local governments to consider becoming cooperating 
agencies in the preparation of the EIS. We invite qualified government 
entities to inquire about cooperating agency status for the EIS for the 
proposed 5-year program. Using the guidelines from the Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ), qualified agencies and governments are 
those with ``jurisdiction by law or special expertise.'' Potential 
cooperating agencies should consider their authority and capacity to 
assume the responsibilities of a cooperating agency and to remember 
that an agency's role in the environmental analysis neither enlarges 
nor diminishes the final decision making authority of any agency 
involved in the NEPA process. Agencies should also consider the 
``Factors for Determining Cooperating Agency Status'' in Attachment 1 
to CEQ's January 30, 2002, Memorandum for the Heads of Federal 
Agencies: Cooperating Agencies in Implementing the Procedural 
Requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. The appropriate 
pages can be found at: http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/cooperatingagenciesmemorandum.html and http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/cooperatingagencymemofactors.html.
    The MMS, as the lead agency, will not provide financial assistance 
to cooperating agencies. Even if an organization is not a cooperating 
agency, opportunities will exist to provide information and comments to 
MMS during the normal public input phases of the NEPA/EIS process. The 
MMS will also consult with tribal governments on a government-to-
government basis. If further information about cooperating agencies is 
needed, please contact Mr. James F. Bennett, at (703) 787-1660.

    Dated: March 30, 2010.
S. Elizabeth Birnbaum,
Director, Minerals Management Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-7580 Filed 4-1-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P