[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 246 (Wednesday, December 26, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66302-66303]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-27877]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

[Docket ID: BOEM-2018-0060]


Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Gulf of Mexico (GOM), Oil and Gas 
Lease Sales for 2020

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact 
statement.

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SUMMARY: Consistent with the regulations implementing the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), BOEM is announcing its intent to 
prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which is 
expected to be used to inform the decisions for each of the two 
proposed lease sales scheduled in 2020 and the subsequent lease sales 
through 2022 (2020 GOM Supplemental EIS) that are comprised of the 
Western and Central Planning Areas, and a small portion of the Eastern 
Planning Area not subject to Congressional moratorium. These planning 
areas are located off the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, 
Alabama, and Florida.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the 2020 GOM 
Supplemental EIS or BOEM's policies associated with this notice, please

[[Page 66303]]

contact Ms. Helen Rucker, 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, telephone 504-736-2421, or email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Council on Environmental Quality's NEPA 
implementing regulations encourage agencies to analyze similar or 
related proposals in one EIS (40 CFR 1508.25). Since the proposed lease 
sale area and the reasonably foreseeable OCS oil and gas activities are 
similar among GOM lease sales, BOEM plans to use the 2020 GOM 
Supplemental EIS, and the EISs it tiers from, to support decisions on 
lease sales proposed to be held in the GOM from 2020 through 2022. The 
2020 GOM Supplemental EIS will tier from the 2017-2022 GOM Multisale 
EIS and the 2018 GOM Supplemental EIS, and will focus on any changes in 
the proposed action or the new information released since their 
publication. The resource estimates and scenario information for the 
2020 GOM Supplemental EIS will include a range that encompasses the 
estimated resources and reasonably foreseeable post-lease activities 
that may result from a single proposed lease sale. At the completion of 
this Supplemental EIS process, a decision will be made only for the 
first proposed 2020 GOM lease sale. A separate decision will be made 
for the subsequent proposed GOM lease sales through 2022.
    The proposed lease sales are within the same geographic scope, 
range of predicted activities, and dates as those analyzed in the 2017-
2022 GOM Multisale EIS and 2018 GOM Supplemental EIS. Therefore, BOEM 
will continue to tier from the 2017-2022 GOM Multisale EIS and 2018 GOM 
Supplemental EIS, and will begin preparation of the 2020 GOM 
Supplemental EIS before the 2019-2024 National Program is finalized. 
Should the GOM lease sales ultimately included in the 2019-2024 
National Program differ substantially from those scheduled previously, 
BOEM will refine the analyses in the 2020 GOM Supplemental EIS or 
prepare an additional supplemental EIS, as appropriate, to support an 
individual lease sale decision. Under 40 CFR 1502.9 scoping is not 
required for a Supplemental EIS. Given the recent publication of the 
2017-2022 GOM Multisale EIS and 2018 GOM Supplemental EIS, BOEM is not 
conducting formal scoping for the 2020 GOM Supplemental EIS. This 
Notice of Intent (NOI) serves to announce the preparation of the Gulf 
of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Lease Sales: 2020, Draft Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement (Draft 2020 GOM Supplemental EIS).
    The 2020 GOM Supplemental EIS analysis will focus on the potential 
environmental effects from an oil and gas lease sale offering all 
available unleased acreage in the GOM, including the Western and 
Central Planning Areas, and the portion of the Eastern Planning Area 
not subject to Congressional moratorium (i.e., the proposed action), 
including the effects of all reasonably foreseeable exploration, 
development, and production activities that may result from the lease 
sale. In addition to the no action alternative (i.e., cancel the lease 
sale), other alternatives will be considered for each proposed lease 
sale, such as offering individual or multiple planning areas for lease 
(rather than a regionwide sale) or potentially deferring certain areas 
from the proposed lease sales. Practicable means of mitigating 
potential impacts from the proposed action will also be analyzed in the 
2020 GOM Supplemental EIS.
    Cooperating Agencies: BOEM invites other Federal agencies, and 
State, Tribal, and local governments to consider becoming cooperating 
agencies in the preparation of the 2020 GOM Supplemental EIS. BOEM 
invites qualified government entities to inquire about cooperating 
agency status for this 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'' 
(40 CFR 1508.5). Potential cooperating agencies should consider their 
authority and capacity to assume the responsibilities of a cooperating 
agency and should 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 expectations 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. This document is available on the 
internet at http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/nepapub/nepa_documents/RedDont/G-CEQ-CoopAgenciesImplem.pdf.
    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 process.

    Authority: This NOI is published pursuant to the regulations (40 
CFR 1501.7) implementing the provisions of NEPA.

    Dated: December 19, 2018.
Michael A. Celata,
Regional Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico 
OCS Region.
[FR Doc. 2018-27877 Filed 12-21-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P