[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 63 (Friday, April 2, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16830-16833]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-7581]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Geological and Geophysical Exploration (G&G) on the Mid- and
South Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)
AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.
ACTION: Reopening of Comment Period and Notice of Public Scoping
Meetings for the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for
Future Industry G&G Activity on the Mid- and South Atlantic OCS.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the regulations implementing the procedural
provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (1988)) (NEPA), MMS will reopen the comment
period for a period of 45 days from the date of this Federal Register
notice. Public scoping meetings will be held during this 45-day period
to solicit information that will be used to prepare a PEIS to evaluate
potential environmental effects of multiple G&G activities on the
Atlantic OCS. These activities are associated with Atlantic OCS siting
for renewable energy projects, oil and gas exploration, and marine
minerals extraction; these activities could take place over a period of
several years. The purpose of the scoping meetings will be to receive
comments on the scope of the PEIS, identify significant resources and
issues to be analyzed in the PEIS, and identify possible alternatives
to the proposed action.
DATES: Comments should be submitted no later than May 17, 2010. The MMS
estimates completion of the PEIS by mid-2012.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted in one of the following two ways:
In written form enclosed in an envelope labeled ``Comments
on the PEIS Scope'' and mailed (or hand carried) to the Regional
Supervisor, Leasing and Environment (MS 5410), Minerals Management
Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New
Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394; or
Electronically to the MMS e-mail address: [email protected].
For further information regarding the Atlantic OCS G&G PEIS, please
visit our Web site at http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/offshore/atlocs/gandg.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the public scoping
meetings, the submission of comments, or MMS's policies associated with
this notice, please contact Mr. Gary Goeke, Section Chief,
Environmental Assessment Section, Leasing and Environment (MS 5410),
Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood
Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394, telephone (504) 736-
3233.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: An initial comment period was commenced by
the Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare the PEIS, which was published in
the Federal Register on January 21, 2009, (74 FR 3636). The comment
period on the earlier NOI closed on March 23, 2009. MMS did not move
forward on the PEIS at that time. Comments made during this 2009
scoping period will still be considered and need not be resubmitted.
The Atlantic OCS area that will be analyzed within the Mid- and
South Atlantic G&G PEIS is illustrated in Figure 1 as the Mid-Atlantic
Planning Area and the South Atlantic Planning Area.
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Statements, both oral and written, will be received at the venues
listed below. All persons wishing to speak will have an opportunity to
do so. Time limits may be set on speakers to allow time for all
speakers to participate.
The following public scoping meetings are planned for the PEIS:
April 20, 2010--Marriott Houston Intercontinental Hotel,
George Bush Intercontinental Airport, 18700 John F. Kennedy Boulevard,
Houston, Texas 77032; one meeting beginning at 1 p.m. CST;
April 21, 2010--Jacksonville Marriott, 4760 Salisbury
Road, Jacksonville, Florida 32256; two meetings, the first beginning at
1 p.m. EST and the second beginning at 7 p.m. EST;
April 23, 2010--Coastal Georgia Center, 305 Fahm Street,
Savannah, Georgia 31401; two meetings, the first beginning at 1 p.m.
EST and the second beginning at 7 p.m. EST;
April 27, 2010--Sheraton Newark Airport Hotel, 128
Frontage Road, Newark, New Jersey 07114; two meetings, the first
beginning at 1 p.m. EST and the second beginning at 7 p.m. EST;
April 27, 2010--Embassy Suites North Charleston, 5055
International Boulevard, North Charleston, South Carolina 29418; two
meetings, the first beginning at 1 p.m. EST and the second beginning at
7 p.m. EST;
April 29, 2010--Hilton Wilmington Riverside, 301 North
Water Street, Wilmington, North Carolina 28401; two meetings, the first
beginning at 1 p.m. EST and the second beginning at 7 p.m. EST; and
April 29, 2010--Hilton Norfolk Airport, 1500 N. Military
Highway, Norfolk, Virginia 23502; two meetings, the first beginning at
1 p.m. EST and the second beginning at 7 p.m. EST.
Through the scoping process, Federal, State, and local government
agencies and other interested parties have the opportunity to help MMS
determine the significant resources, issues, and alternatives for
analysis in the PEIS. Comments received in response to this notice and
at the public scoping meetings will assist MMS in developing the
content and scope of the PEIS. This early planning and consultation
step is important to ensure that all interests and concerns are
communicated to MMS as it develops this PEIS and ultimately for future
decisions regarding G&G operations under MMS regulatory authority. It
is envisioned that this PEIS would cover G&G activity for renewable
energy projects, minerals extraction, and oil and gas activities for
any Atlantic OCS applications within the area analyzed within the PEIS
that are received within the foreseeable future. Possible alternatives
for analysis may represent a range of levels of activities from
unrestricted to no seismic and could address the following, although
this list is not exhaustive:
Levels of Activity
Number, scale/size, location, and duration of seismic activities;
Number, scale/size, location, and duration of associated support
activities (vessel, aircraft, shore); and
The degree to which those activities can overlap in space and time.
Mitigation
Exclusion zones based on received levels of sounds;
Exclusion zones based on presence of specific biological factors in
combination with received levels of sound; and
Limitations on certain combinations of activities in specific
temporal/spatial circumstances. The MMS invites other Federal agencies
and State, Tribal, and local governments to consider becoming
cooperating agencies in the preparation of the PEIS. Following 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 note that an agency's role in the environmental
analysis neither enlarges nor diminishes the final decisionmaking
authority of any other agency involved in the NEPA process. Upon
request, MMS will provide potential cooperating agencies with a written
summary of ground rules for cooperating agencies, including time
schedules and critical action dates, milestones, responsibilities,
scope and detail of cooperating agencies' contributions, and the
availability of pre-decisional information. The MMS anticipates this
summary will form the basis for a Memorandum of Agreement between MMS
and each cooperating agency. 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. A copy of this
document is available 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 an official
cooperating agency, opportunities exist to provide information and
comments to MMS during the normal public input phases of the NEPA/PEIS
process. If further information about cooperating agencies is needed,
please contact Mr. Gary Goeke at (504) 736-3233.
Authority: The MMS has the authority under the Outer Continental
Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA, as amended; 43 U.S.C. 1331-1356, (2007)) and
its implementing regulations at 30 CFR 251 to issue prelease permits
for the collection of G&G data. These regulations discuss the types
of G&G activities that require a permit, the instructions for filing
a permit, and the obligations and rights under a permit. This notice
is published pursuant to the regulations (40 CFR 1501.7)
implementing the provisions of NEPA.
Background: Scoping is the initial step in the NEPA process. The
MMS plans to fully comply with all pertinent laws, rules, and
regulations and will allow the public an adequate opportunity to
participate in the NEPA process, including scoping meetings and public
comment periods.
The PEIS will evaluate environmental impacts of G&G activities in
the area analyzed by the PEIS on the Mid- and South Atlantic OCS
subject to MMS regulatory authority that may be proposed over several
years. MMS has decided at this time not to move forward with scoping
and a PEIS for the Northern Atlantic and Straits of Florida planning
areas. In addition, the PEIS would serve as a reference document to
implement the ``tiering'' objective detailed in NEPA's implementing
regulations (40 CFR 1502.20), allowing that future site-specific
environmental assessments (SEA's) may reference appropriate sections of
this PEIS to reduce reiteration of issues and effects, allowing
analyses to focus on specific issues and effects related to a
particular G&G activity. The proposed G&G activities include, but are
not limited to, seismic surveys, sidescan-sonar surveys,
electromagnetic surveys, geological and geochemical sampling, and
remote sensing. These activities could support siting needs for
renewable energy projects, oil and gas operations, and research for
sand deposits. The MMS, to date, has received approximately 11 proposed
applications for various types of G&G activity on the Atlantic OCS.
Information on the details of these proposals and their scope can be
found at http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/offshore/atlocs/gandg.html. The
PEIS
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will be completed prior to authorizing any new, large-scale G&G
activities on the Atlantic OCS. In the interim, MMS may still consider
small-scale, limited permit requests, but only if a NEPA environmental
assessment is conducted and finds there is no potential for significant
impacts from that specific proposed activity or that the cumulative
nature of a collection of smaller, limited surveys would not result in
significant impacts under NEPA.
More information on G&G activities can be found on pages 13-15 of
MMS's Leasing Oil and Natural Gas Resources: Outer Continental Shelf
(see http://www.mms.gov/ld/PDFs/GreenBook-LeasingDocument.pdf) and
MMS's Geological and Geophysical Exploration for Mineral Resources on
the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf: Final Programmatic
Environmental Assessment (see http://www.gomr.mms.gov/PDFs/2004/2004-054.pdf).
Comments: In lieu of participation in the scoping meetings listed
above, all interested parties, including Federal, State, and local
government agencies and the general public, may submit written comments
on the scope of the PEIS, significant issues that should be addressed,
alternatives that should be considered, and the types of G&G activities
and geographical areas of interest on the Mid- and South Atlantic OCS.
Comments made during the initial 2009 scoping period will still be
considered and need not be resubmitted.
Dated: March 30, 2010.
S. Elizabeth Birnbaum,
Director, Minerals Management Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-7581 Filed 4-1-10; 8:45 am]
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