[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 33 (Friday, February 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7068-7070]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-03280]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management


Docket No. BOEM-2017-0078]

Gulf of Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Oil and Gas Lease 
Sale 250; MMAA104000

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of a Record of Decision.

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[[Page 7069]]

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is announcing the 
availability of a Record of Decision for proposed Gulf of Mexico (GOM) 
region-wide oil and gas Lease Sale 250. This Record of Decision 
identifies BOEM's selected alternative for proposed Lease Sale 250, 
which is analyzed in the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Lease 
Sale: Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 2018 (2018 GOM 
Supplemental EIS).

ADDRESSES: The Record of Decision is available on BOEM's website at 
http://www.boem.gov/nepaprocess/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For more information on the Record of 
Decision, you may contact Mr. Greg Kozlowski, Deputy Regional 
Supervisor, Office of Environment, by telephone at 504-736-2512 or by 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 2018 GOM Supplemental EIS, BOEM 
evaluated five alternatives in regards to proposed Lease Sale 250. 
These alternatives are summarized below:
    Alternative A--Region-wide OCS Lease Sale: This is BOEM's preferred 
alternative. This alternative would allow for a proposed GOM region-
wide lease sale encompassing all three planning areas: The Western 
Planning Area (WPA); the Central Planning Area (CPA); and a small 
portion of the Eastern Planning Area (EPA) not under Congressional 
moratorium. Under this alternative, BOEM would offer for lease all 
available unleased blocks within the proposed region-wide lease sale 
area for oil and gas operations with the following exceptions: Whole 
and portions of blocks deferred by the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security 
Act of 2006; 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; whole and partial blocks within the current boundary 
of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary; and blocks whose 
lease status is currently under appeal. The unavailable blocks are 
listed in Section I of the Final Notice of Sale for proposed Lease Sale 
250. The proposed region-wide lease sale area encompasses about 91.93 
million acres (ac). As of February 2018, approximately 77.3 million ac 
of the proposed region-wide lease sale area are currently available for 
lease. As described in the 2018 Final GOM Supplemental EIS, the 
estimated amounts of resources projected to be leased, discovered, 
developed, and produced as a result of the proposed region-wide lease 
sale are between 0.211and 1.118 billion barrels of oil (BBO) and 0.547 
and 4.424 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas.
    Alternative B--Region-wide OCS Lease Sale Excluding Available 
Unleased Blocks in the WPA Portion of the Proposed Lease Sale Area: 
This alternative would offer for lease all available unleased blocks 
within the CPA and EPA portions of the proposed lease sale area for oil 
and gas operations, with the following exceptions: Whole and portions 
of 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. The proposed CPA/EPA lease sale area encompasses about 63.35 
million ac. As of February 2018, approximately 51.2 million ac of the 
proposed CPA/EPA lease sale area are currently available for lease. The 
estimated amounts of resources projected to be leased, discovered, 
developed, and produced as a result of the proposed lease sale under 
Alternative B are 0.185-0.970 BBO and 0.441-3.672 Tcf of gas.
    Alternative C--Region-wide OCS Lease Sale Excluding Available 
Unleased Blocks in the CPA and EPA Portions of the Proposed Lease Sale 
Area: This alternative would offer for lease all available unleased 
blocks within the WPA portion of the proposed lease sale area for oil 
and gas operations, with the following exception: Whole and partial 
blocks within the current boundary of the Flower Garden Banks National 
Marine Sanctuary. The proposed WPA lease sale area encompasses about 
28.58 million ac. As of February 2018, approximately 26.2 million ac of 
the proposed WPA lease sale area are currently available for lease. The 
estimated amounts of resources projected to be leased, discovered, 
developed, and produced as a result of the proposed lease sale under 
Alternative C are 0.026-0.148 BBO and 0.106-0.752 Tcf of gas.
    Alternative D--Alternative A, B, or C, with the Option to Exclude 
Available Unleased Blocks Subject to the Topographic Features, Live 
Bottom (Pinnacle Trend), and/or Blocks South of Baldwin County, 
Alabama, Stipulations: This alternative could be combined with any of 
the Action alternatives above (i.e., Alternatives A, B, or C) and would 
allow the flexibility to offer leases under any alternative with 
additional exclusions. Under Alternative D, the decision-maker could 
exclude from leasing any available unleased blocks subject to any one 
and/or a combination of the following stipulations: Topographic 
Features Stipulation; Live Bottom Stipulation; and Blocks South of 
Baldwin County, Alabama, Stipulation (not applicable to Alternative C). 
This alternative considered blocks subject to these stipulations 
because these areas have been emphasized in scoping, can be 
geographically defined, and adequate information exists regarding their 
ecological importance and sensitivity to OCS oil- and gas-related 
activities.
    A total of 207 blocks within the CPA and 160 blocks in the WPA are 
affected by the Topographic Features Stipulation. There are currently 
no identified topographic features protected under this stipulation in 
the EPA. The Live Bottom Stipulation covers the pinnacle trend area of 
the CPA, affecting a total of 74 blocks. Under Alternative D, the 
number of blocks that would become unavailable for lease represents 
only a small percentage of the total number of blocks to be offered 
under Alternative A, B, or C (<4%, even if blocks subject to all three 
stipulations were excluded). Therefore, Alternative D could reduce 
offshore infrastructure and activities, but Alternative D also shifts 
the location of offshore infrastructure and activities farther from 
these sensitive zones and would not lead to a reduction in overall 
offshore infrastructure and activities.
    Alternative E--No Action: This alternative is not holding proposed 
region-wide Lease Sale 250 and is identified as the environmentally 
preferred alternative.
    Lease Stipulations--The 2018 GOM Supplemental EIS describes all 
lease stipulations, which are included in the Final Notice of Sale 
Package. In the Record of Decision for the 2017-2022 Five-Year Program, 
the Secretary of the Interior required the protection of biologically 
sensitive underwater features in all Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease 
sales as programmatic mitigation; therefore, the application of the 
Topographic Features Stipulation and Live Bottom Stipulation are being 
adopted and applied for applicable designated lease blocks in Lease 
Sale 250.
    The additional eight lease stipulations for proposed region-wide 
Lease Sale 250 are the Military Areas Stipulation; the Evacuation 
Stipulation; the Coordination Stipulation; the Blocks South of Baldwin 
County, Alabama, Stipulation; the Protected Species Stipulation; the 
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Royalty Payment 
Stipulation; the Below Seabed Restrictions due to Rights-of-Use and 
Easement for Floating Production Facilities Stipulation; and the 
Stipulation on the Agreement between the United States of America and 
the

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United Mexican States Concerning Transboundary Hydrocarbon Reservoirs 
in the Gulf of Mexico. These eight stipulations will be added as lease 
terms where applicable and will be enforceable as part of the lease. 
Appendix B of the Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2017-
2022; Gulf of Mexico Lease Sales 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 256, 
257, 259, and 261; Final Multisale Environmental Impact Statement 
(2017-2022 GOM Multisale EIS) provides a list and description of 
standard post-lease conditions of approval that may be required by BOEM 
or the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement as a result of 
plan and permit review processes for the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region.
    After careful consideration, BOEM has selected the preferred 
alternative (Alternative A) in the 2018 GOM Supplemental EIS for 
proposed Lease Sale 250. BOEM's selection of the preferred alternative 
meets the purpose and need for the proposed action, as identified in 
the 2018 GOM Supplemental EIS, and provides for orderly resource 
development with protection of the human, marine, and coastal 
environments while also ensuring that the public receives an equitable 
return for these resources and that free-market competition is 
maintained.

    Authority: This Notice of Availability of a Record of Decision 
is published pursuant to the regulations (40 CFR part 1505) 
implementing the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

    Dated: February 13, 2018.
Walter D. Cruickshank,
Acting Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[FR Doc. 2018-03280 Filed 2-15-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P