[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 164 (Friday, August 23, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52562-52563]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-20649]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

[MMAA 104000]


Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Gulf of Mexico (GOM), Oil and Gas 
Lease Sales, Central Planning Area (CPA) Lease Sales 235, 241, and 247

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare a Supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS).

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SUMMARY: Consistent with the regulations implementing the National 
Environmental Policy Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) (NEPA), 
BOEM is announcing its intent to prepare a Supplemental EIS for 
proposed Central Planning Area (CPA) Lease Sales 235, 241 and 247 in 
the Gulf of Mexico (CPA Supplemental EIS). Proposed Lease Sale 235 is 
the next proposed lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico's CPA off the States 
of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The CPA Supplemental EIS will 
update the environmental and socioeconomic analyses in the Gulf of 
Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2012-2017; Western Planning Area 
Lease Sales 229, 233, 238, 246, and 248; Central Planning Area Lease 
Sales 227, 231, 235, 241, and 247, Final Environmental Impact Statement 
(OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2012-019) (WPA/CPA Multisale EIS) and in the Gulf of 
Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2013-2014; Western Planning Area 
Lease Sale 233; Central Planning Area Lease Sale 231, Final 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2013-0118) 
(WPA 233/CPA 231 Supplemental EIS). The WPA/CPA Multisale EIS was 
completed in July 2012. The WPA 233/CPA 231 Supplemental EIS was 
completed in April 2013.
    A Supplemental EIS is deemed appropriate to supplement the NEPA 
documents cited above for these lease sales in order to consider new 
circumstances and information arising from, among other things, the 
Deepwater Horizon explosion, oil spill, and response. The CPA 
Supplemental EIS analysis will focus on updating the baseline 
conditions.
    The CPA Supplemental EIS analysis will focus on the potential 
environmental effects of oil and natural gas leasing, exploration, 
development, and production in the CPA identified through the Area 
Identification procedure as the proposed lease sale area. In addition 
to the no action alternative (i.e., canceling a proposed lease sale), 
other alternatives may be considered for the proposed CPA lease sales, 
such as deferring certain areas from the proposed lease sale area.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 27, 2012, the Secretary of the 
Interior approved as final the Proposed Final OCS Oil & Gas Leasing 
Program: 2012-2017 (Five-Year Program). The Five-Year Program includes 
the three remaining CPA lease sales that will be considered in the CPA 
Supplemental EIS. Proposed CPA Lease Sales 235, 241, and 247 are 
tentatively scheduled to be held in 2015, 2016, and 2017, respectively. 
The proposed CPA lease sale area encompasses about 63 million acres of 
the total CPA area of 66.45 million acres (excluding whole and partial 
blocks deferred by the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 and 
blocks that are adjacent to or beyond the United States Exclusive 
Economic Zone in the area known as the northern portion of the Eastern 
Gap).
    This Federal Register notice is not an announcement to hold a 
proposed lease sale, but it is a continuation of information gathering 
and is published early in the environmental review process, in 
furtherance of the goals of NEPA. The comments received during the 
scoping comment period will help form the content of the CPA 235, 241, 
and 247 Supplemental EIS and will be summarized in presale 
documentation prepared during the decision making process for CPA Lease 
Sale 235. If, after completion of the CPA Supplemental EIS, the 
Department of the Interior's Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals 
Management decides to hold a lease sale, then the lease sale area 
identified in the final Notice of Sale may exclude or defer certain 
lease blocks from the area offered. However, for purposes of the CPA 
Supplemental EIS and to adequately assess the potential impacts of an 
areawide lease sale, BOEM is assuming that all unleased blocks may be 
offered in proposed CPA Lease Sale 235 and in each of the remaining 
proposed CPA lease sales.
    In order to ensure a greater level of transparency during the Outer 
Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) stages and tiered NEPA processes of 
the Five-Year Program, BOEM established an alternative and mitigation 
tracking table, which is designed to track the receipt and treatment of 
alternative and mitigation suggestions. Section 4.3.2 of the Outer 
Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program: 2012-2017; Final 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (the Five-Year Program EIS) 
(http://www.boem.gov/5-Year/2012-2017/PEIS.aspx) presented a list of 
deferral and alternative requests that were received during the 
development of the Five-Year Program EIS, but were determined to be 
more appropriately considered at subsequent OCSLA and NEPA stages. The 
WPA/CPA Multisale EIS addressed these deferral and alternative 
requests, but they were ultimately deemed inappropriate for further 
analysis as separate alternatives or deferrals from those already 
included and considered in the WPA/CPA Multisale EIS. In this and 
future NEPA analyses, BOEM will continue to evaluate whether these or 
other deferral or alternative requests warrant additional consideration 
as appropriate. (Please refer to Chapter 2.2.1.2 of the WPA/CPA 
Multisale EIS for a complete discussion; http://www.boem.gov/Environmental-Stewardship/Environmental-Assessment/NEPA/BOEM-2012-019_v1.aspx). A key principle at each stage in the NEPA process is to 
identify how the recommendations for deferral and mitigation requests 
are being addressed and whether new information or circumstances favor 
new or different analytical approaches in response to these requests.
    Additionally, BOEM has created a tailored map of the potentially 
affected area through the Multipurpose Marine Cadastre (MMC) Web site 
(http://boem.gov/Oil-and-Gas-Energy-Program/Leasing/Five-Year-Program/Lease-Sale-Schedule/Interactive-Maps.aspx). The MMC is an integrated 
marine information system that provides a comprehensive look at 
geospatial data and ongoing activities and studies occurring in the 
area being considered. This Web site provides the ability to view 
multiple data layers of existing geospatial data.
    Scoping Process: This NOI also serves to announce the scoping 
process for identifying issues for the CPA Supplemental EIS. Throughout 
the scoping process, Federal, State, Tribal, and local governments and 
the general public have the opportunity to help BOEM determine 
significant resources and issues, impacting factors, reasonable 
alternatives, and potential mitigation measures to be analyzed in the 
CPA Supplemental EIS, and to provide additional information. BOEM will 
also use the NEPA commenting process to initiate the section 106

[[Page 52563]]

consultation process of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 
U.S.C. 470f), as provided for in 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3).
    Pursuant to the regulations implementing the procedural provisions 
of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), BOEM will hold public scoping 
meetings in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama on the CPA Supplemental 
EIS. The purpose of these meetings is to solicit comments on the scope 
of the CPA Supplemental EIS. BOEM's scoping meetings will be held at 
the following places and times:
     Gulfport, Mississippi: Monday, September 9, 2013, 
Courtyard by Marriott Beachfront MS Hotel, 1600 East Beach Boulevard, 
Gulfport, Mississippi 39501; one meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. CDT;
     Mobile, Alabama: Tuesday, September 10, 2013, Hilton 
Garden Inn Mobile West, 828 West I-65 Service Road South, Mobile, 
Alabama 36609; one meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. CDT; and
     New Orleans, Louisiana: Thursday, September 12, 2013, 
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 
Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123; one meeting 
beginning at 1:00 p.m. CDT.
    Cooperating Agency: BOEM invites other Federal, State, Tribal, and 
local governments to consider becoming cooperating agencies in the 
preparation of the CPA Supplemental EIS. We invite qualified government 
entities to inquire about cooperating agency status for the CPA 
Supplemental EIS. 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 remember 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, BOEM 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 availability of predecisional information. 
BOEM anticipates this summary will form the basis for a Memorandum of 
Agreement between BOEM and any 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. These documents 
are available at the following locations on the Internet: http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/cooperatingagenciesmemorandum.html; and http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/cooperatingagencymemofactors.html.
    BOEM, 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 
BOEM during the normal public input stages of the NEPA/EIS process. For 
further information about cooperating agencies, please contact Mr. Gary 
D. Goeke at (504) 736-3233.
    Comments: All interested parties, including Federal, State, Tribal, 
and local governments, and other interested parties, may submit written 
comments on the scope of the CPA Supplemental EIS, significant issues 
that should be addressed, alternatives that should be considered, 
potential mitigation measures, and the types of oil and gas activities 
of interest in the proposed CPA lease sale area.
    Written scoping comments may be submitted in one of the following 
ways:
    1. In an envelope labeled ``Scoping Comments for the CPA 
Supplemental EIS'' and mailed (or hand delivered) to Mr. Gary D. Goeke, 
Chief, Environmental Assessment Section, Office of Environment (GM 
623E), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 
1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394;
    2. Through the regulations.gov web portal: Navigate to http://www.regulations.gov and search for ``Oil and Gas Lease Sales: Gulf of 
Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf; Central Planning Area Lease Sales 235, 
241, and 247'' (Note: It is important to include the quotation marks in 
your search terms.) Click on the ``Comment Now!'' button to the right 
of the document link. Enter your information and comment, then click 
``Submit''; or
    3. BOEM's email address: [email protected].
    Petitions, although accepted, do not generally provide useful 
information to assist in the development of alternatives, resources and 
issues to be analyzed, or impacting factors. BOEM does not consider 
anonymous comments; please include your name and address as part of 
your submittal. BOEM makes all comments, including the names and 
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular 
business hours. Individual respondents may request that BOEM withhold 
their names and/or addresses from the public record; however, BOEM 
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. If you wish your name 
and/or address to be withheld, you must state your preference 
prominently at the beginning of your comment. All 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.

DATES: Comments should be submitted by September 23, 2013 to the 
address specified above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the CPA 
Supplemental EIS, the submission of comments, or BOEM's policies 
associated with this notice, please contact Mr. Gary D. Goeke, Chief, 
Environmental Assessment Section, Office of Environment (GM 623E), 
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 
Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, LA 70123-2394, telephone (504) 
736-3233.

    Authority:  This NOI is published pursuant to the regulations 
(40 CFR 1501.17) implementing the provisions of NEPA.

    Dated:August 16, 2013.
Tommy P. Beaudreau,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[FR Doc. 2013-20649 Filed 8-22-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P