[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 7, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 842-843]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-31593]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLOWO31000-14-L13100000-EI0000]


Updated Policy Regarding the Handling of Expressions of Interest

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice is to inform the public about a policy document 
that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued on October 28, 2013, 
that states that BLM will publish information on Expression of Interest 
(EOI) submissions that BLM receives after January 1, 2014. The policy 
document directs its state offices to advise EOI submitters that BLM 
does not require their name and address to be included in their 
submission and EOI submitters may exclude any information they consider 
privileged or confidential. Under the updated policy, inclusion of 
names and addresses will effectively operate as

[[Page 843]]

consent to release and the BLM will no longer hold that information 
confidential until two days after an Oil and Gas Competitive Lease 
Sale. Rather, the BLM will publish the EOI submitter names, if 
provided, on the BLM state office Web sites before the lease sale.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Atanda Clark, Senior Mineral Leasing 
Specialist, BLM, Washington Office, 20 M St. SE., Washington DC 20003. 
Ms. Clark may also be reached at 202-912-7156. Persons who use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to leave a message 
or question for the above individual. The FIRS is available 24 hours a 
day, seven days a week. Replies are provided during normal business 
hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 28, 2013, the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) issued Instruction Memorandum No. 2014-004 to update 
the policy regarding its handling of EOIs. EOIs are informal 
nominations by the public that identify lands the BLM should consider 
for inclusion in future Oil and Gas Competitive Lease Sales. Under the 
updated policy, for any EOIs submitted on or after January 1, 2014, the 
BLM will no longer hold submitter names and addresses as confidential 
until two days after an Oil and Gas Competitive Lease Sale as it has 
done previously, but rather the BLM will publish the EOI submitter 
names and addresses, if provided, on the BLM state office Web sites 
before the lease sale. This approach will give an EOI submitter the 
option to submit an EOI anonymously without the submitter's name 
included or to submit an EOI with the submitter's name included to 
allow the BLM to publish that information on the appropriate BLM state 
office Web site. The BLM will publish all EOIs received after January 
1, 2014, including the submitter's name.
    For more information regarding this updated policy, see BLM, WO IM 
No. 2014-004 located at http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/regulations/Instruction_Memos_and_Bulletins/national_instruction/2014/im_2014_004_oil_and.html.
    For any EOIs submitted before January 1, 2014, the BLM will 
determine whether to release the submitter's name in response to any 
Freedom of Information Act request on a case-by-case basis.

Michael D. Nedd,
Assistant Director, Energy, Minerals and Realty Management Directorate.
[FR Doc. 2013-31593 Filed 12-31-13; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4310-84-P[FEDREG][VOL]*[/VOL][NO]*[/NO][DATE]*[/
DATE][NOTICES]