[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 20, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78938-78939]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-32484]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management


Carpinteria Offshore Field Redevelopment Project--Developmental 
Drilling Into the Carpinteria Offshore Field Oil and Gas Reserves, 
California State Waters, From Federal Platform Hogan

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the 
California State Lands Commission (CSLC) intend to jointly review a 
proposal to develop offshore oil and gas resources, located in 
California state waters, from an existing oil and gas platform located 
in Federal waters. This review will lead to a joint assessment of the 
potential environmental impacts and appropriate mitigation measures. 
This is the Notice of Preparation/Notice of Intent (NOP/NOI) to jointly 
prepare an Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIR/EIS) and hold public scoping meetings for the Carpinteria Offshore 
Field Redevelopment Project. This notice initiates the public scoping 
process.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted by February 21, 2012.
    Scoping meeting dates/times are Thursday, January 19, 2012 at:
1. 1-3 p.m. and
2. 5-7 p.m.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to--
    1. Mail or hand carried. Enclosed in an envelope labeled ``Scoping 
Comments for the Carpinteria EIR/EIS'' and delivered to Ms. Susan 
Zaleski, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Pacific OCS Region, 770 
Paseo Camarillo, Camarillo, CA 93010-6064.
    2. Email. [email protected].

See Comments and Scoping Meetings below for meeting addresses.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Susan Zaleski, Bureau of Ocean 
Energy Management, Pacific OCS Region, 770 Paseo Camarillo, Camarillo, 
California 93010-6064; phone (805) 389-7558, fax (805) 389-7874, or 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BOEM and CSLC are jointly reviewing the 
proposed Carpenteria Offshore Field Redevelopment Project (the Project) 
under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, 
and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), respectively. The 
BOEM will be the NEPA lead agency. The California State Lands 
Commission (CSLC) will be the CEQA lead agency. They will prepare a 
joint environmental impact report (EIR)/environmental impact statement 
(EIS) to identify and assess potential environmental impacts and 
mitigation measures associated with a proposal to develop offshore oil 
and gas resources, located in California state waters, from an existing 
oil and gas platform located in Federal waters.
    Publication of this notice initiates the public scoping process to 
solicit comments regarding the full spectrum of issues and concerns, 
including a suitable range of alternatives, the human and marine 
resources that could be affected, the nature and extent of the 
potential impacts to those resources, and the appropriate mitigation 
measures that should be addressed in the EIR/EIS.
    Carone Petroleum Corporation (Carone) is proposing to redevelop the 
state portion of the Carpinteria Offshore Field oil and gas reserves 
from Platform Hogan, which is located in Federal waters. Signal Hill 
Services, Inc. is the Federal lessee, and Pacific Operators Offshore, 
LLC (POOL) is the operator of Platform Hogan. The Carpinteria Offshore 
Field extends into both Federal and state waters and includes Federal 
and state leases. As many as 25 new production or injection wells would 
be drilled into existing state oil and gas leases from Platform Hogan. 
The exact number of wells to be drilled is unknown until sufficient 
wells are completed and evaluated to determine the amount and location 
of the oil and gas resources.
    The CSLC reviews the Plan of Development (POD) for state leases, 
which delineates the long-term plans of Carone and its designated 
Carpinteria Field operator, POOL. The POD is based on all state lease 
wells being physically drilled from Platform Hogan through subsurface 
operations.
    The BOEM reviews the Development and Production Plan (DPP) and 
revised DPP pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act, as 
amended, and the implementing regulations at 30 Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) 550.283 and 550.285, which address the procedures and 
requirements for submitting revised DPPs. The BOEM decides whether 
these revised plans should be approved, disapproved, or modified to be 
consistent with the provisions of the lease, the OCS Lands Act, and the 
implementing regulations. A Right-of-Use-and-Easement is also needed 
for this proposed project pursuant to 30 CFR 550.160-166. The revised 
DPP will also be submitted to the California Coastal Commission (CCC) 
to ensure its consistency with the California Coastal Management Plan.
    No final decision on the proposed project will be made until the 
end of the EIR/EIS process in order to allow for full consultation with 
Federal agencies, affected states, affected tribes and the public. Upon 
completion of this EIR/EIS process, BOEM and CSLC will make separate 
decisions concerning the proposed project. Consultation with other 
Federal, state and local agencies, affected tribes, and the public will 
be carried out to assist in the NEPA/CEQA process. These consultations 
will be completed before decisions are made on the proposed project.

Description of the Area

    Drilling will take place from an existing Federal Platform Hogan 
(Federal Lease OCS-P 0166), which lies in the Santa Barbara Channel, 
3.7 miles offshore of the City of Carpinteria, Santa Barbara County, 
California, in 154 feet of water (Latitude 34[deg]20'16'' N; Longitude 
119[deg]32'30'' W) to develop resources in California state waters 
(State Oil and Gas Leases PRC 4000, PRC 7911 and PRC 3133). Oil and gas 
production will be transferred by an existing pipeline to the existing 
La Conchita Processing Facility in Ventura County.

Cooperating Agencies

    BOEM and CSLC invite other Federal agencies and state, tribal and 
local governments to consider becoming cooperating agencies in the 
preparation of the EIR/EIS. Following the guidelines from the Council 
of 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 remember that 
an agency's role in the environmental analysis neither enlarges nor 
diminishes the final decision-making authority of any other agency 
involved in the NEPA process.
    Upon request, BOEM and CSLC will provide potential cooperating 
agencies with an information package that includes a draft Memorandum 
of Agreement. The draft Memorandum of Agreement includes a schedule 
with critical action dates and milestones,

[[Page 78939]]

mutual responsibilities, designated points of contact, and expectations 
for handling predecisional information. 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. These documents 
are available at http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/guidance.html. BOEM/
CSLC, as the lead agencies, 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 
BOEM/CSLC during the normal public input phases of the NEPA/EIS and 
CEQA/EIR processes. If further information about cooperating agency 
status is needed, please contact Ms. Susan Zaleski at (805) 389-7558 or 
[email protected].

Comments and Scoping Meetings

    Scoping is an open process used for identifying significant 
environmental issues related to the proposed project. Scoping also 
provides an opportunity to identify appropriate mitigation measures and 
alternatives to the proposed project. Applicable agencies will need to 
use the EIR/EIS when considering related permits or other approvals for 
the proposed project.
    Federal, state and local government agencies and other interested 
parties are requested to send their written comments on the scope of 
the EIR/EIS, significant issues that should be addressed and 
alternatives that should be considered to one of the addresses in the 
ADDRESSES section above.
    Before including your address, telephone number, email 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 (including in 
the EIR/EIS and posted on the Internet). Please note that requests to 
withhold personal identifying information should be made prominently at 
the beginning of your submission. While you may ask BOEM to withhold 
your personal identifying information from public review, BOEM cannot 
guarantee that it will be able to do so. The BOEM will not consider 
anonymous comments, and BOEM will make available for inspection, in 
their entirety, all comments submitted by organizations or businesses 
or by individuals identifying themselves as representatives of 
organizations or businesses.
    This notice and detailed proposed project information will also be 
available on the BOEM web page at http://www.boem.gov/Carpinteria.aspx 
and on the CSLC web page at www.slc.ca.gov.
    BOEM and CSLC will hold scoping meetings to obtain additional 
comments and information regarding the scope of the EIR/EIS. Two public 
scoping meetings will be conducted for the proposed project to receive 
oral and/or written testimony at the following times and place: 
Thursday, January 19, 2012, 1-3 p.m. and 5-7 p.m., Carpinteria City 
Council Chambers, 5775 Carpinteria Avenue, Carpinteria, California 
93013-2697, Phone: (805) 684-5405.
    A sign language interpreter will be provided upon advance 
notification of need. Such notification should be made as soon as 
possible prior to the date of the scoping meetings. If you need 
reasonable accommodation for a disability, as defined by the Federal 
Americans with Disabilities Act and the California Fair Employment and 
Housing Act, to conduct business with BOEM and CSLC staff conducting 
the scoping meetings, please contact Susan Zaleski at (805) 389-7558 at 
least 7 days in advance of the scoping meetings to arrange for such 
accommodation.

    Authority:  40 CFR 1501.7, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (1988), and 
Sec.  15802 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) 
Guidelines (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, Sec.  15000 et seq.).

     Dated: December 14, 2011.
Tommy P. Beaudreau,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management .
[FR Doc. 2011-32484 Filed 12-19-11; 8:45 am]
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