[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 38 (Monday, February 27, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12413-12414]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03972]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

[Docket No. BOEM-2023-0022]


Gulf of Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf, Oil and Gas Lease Sale 
259

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

ACTION: Notice of availability of a Record of Decision.

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SUMMARY: BOEM announces the availability of the Record of Decision 
(ROD) for Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and 
Gas Lease Sale 259 (GOM Lease Sale 259). This ROD identifies the 
selected alternative for GOM Lease Sale 259, which is analyzed in the 
Gulf of Mexico OCS Lease Sales 259 and 261: Final Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement (GOM Lease Sales 259 and 261 
Supplemental EIS).

ADDRESSES: The ROD and associated information are available on BOEM's 
website at https://www.boem.gov/GoM-Sales-259-and-261-SEIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Helen Rucker, Chief, Environmental 
Assessment Section, Office of Environment, by telephone at 504-736-
2421, or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BOEM is required to hold GOM Lease Sale 259 
on or before March 31, 2023, pursuant to the Inflation Reduction Act of 
2022 (IRA, Pub. L. 117-169), signed into law on August 16, 2022. While 
Section 50264(d) of the IRA requires BOEM to hold GOM Lease Sale 259, 
the IRA does not disturb the bulk of BOEM's normal leasing process, 
including the resolution of particular questions regarding the scope of 
the lease sale and the terms of the resulting leases. GOM Lease Sale 
259 will provide qualified bidders the opportunity to bid on unleased 
blocks in the Gulf of Mexico OCS in order to explore for, develop, and 
produce oil and natural gas. BOEM evaluated five alternatives in the 
GOM Lease Sales 259 and 261 Supplemental EIS. While BOEM has no 
discretion in whether to hold GOM Lease Sale 259, BOEM issued the GOM 
Lease Sales 259 and 261 Supplemental EIS in accordance with its normal 
leasing process to the fullest extent practicable, and to inform the 
decisionmaker on impacts from a representative lease sale, mitigations, 
and other action alternatives.
    After careful consideration, the Department of the Interior (DOI) 
has selected a subset of the blocks analyzed as Alternative D in the 
GOM Lease Sales 259 and 261 Supplemental EIS. That is, to hold oil and 
gas Lease Sale 259 as a GOM lease sale, with the exclusion of whole and 
partial blocks that were otherwise proposed to be subject to the 
Topographic Features Stipulation, the Live Bottom (Pinnacle Trend) 
Stipulation, and the Blocks South of Baldwin County, Alabama, 
Stipulation. Additional blocks have also been excluded to help reduce 
identified space-use conflicts or competing interests in the Gulf of 
Mexico while BOEM studies whether these areas are compatible for use by 
more than one infrastructure type.
    Therefore, as selected by DOI, Lease Sale 259 is a GOM regionwide 
lease sale encompassing all three planning areas, i.e., the Western 
Planning Area, Central Planning Area, and a small portion of

[[Page 12414]]

the Eastern Planning Area, with the following exclusions: (1) whole and 
portions of blocks withdrawn from leasing by Presidential withdrawal in 
the September 8, 2020, Memorandum on the Withdrawal of Certain Areas of 
the United States Outer Continental Shelf from Leasing Disposition; (2) 
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; (3) whole and partial blocks within the boundary of the Flower 
Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary as of the July 14, 2008, 
Memorandum on Modification of the Withdrawal of Areas of the United 
States Outer Continental Shelf from Leasing Disposition; (4) whole and 
partial blocks that would otherwise have been subject to the 
Topographic Features Stipulation; (5) whole and partial blocks that 
would otherwise have been subject to the Live Bottom (Pinnacle Trend) 
Stipulation; (6) whole and partial blocks that otherwise would have 
been subject to the Blocks South of Baldwin County, Alabama, 
Stipulation; (7) draft and final identified Wind Energy Areas; (8) 
designated Significant Sediment Resource Area blocks; and (9) Depth-
restricted, segregated block portions (Block 299, Main Pass Area, South 
and East Addition). The excluded blocks are identified by their block 
number in the Final Notice of Sale for Lease Sale 259. The lease sale 
area encompasses approximately 13,600 OCS blocks covering approximately 
73.3 million acres. The unleased OCS blocks that BOEM will offer for 
lease are listed in the document entitled ``Lease Sale Area,'' which is 
included in the Final Notice of Sale package for GOM Lease Sale 259.
    As part of the decision to hold GOM Lease Sale 259, all practicable 
means to avoid or minimize environmental harm at the lease sale stage 
are being adopted. In addition, post-lease activities (e.g., 
exploration and development plans), which may be expected as a result 
of GOM Lease Sale 259, will undergo additional environmental review and 
may include additional project-specific mitigation measures applied as 
conditions of individual plan approvals. The various mitigation 
measures adopted for the lease sale, and those that may be applied 
during post-lease reviews, are summarized below.
    Lease Stipulations--Because the OCS blocks that otherwise were 
proposed to be subject to the Topographic Features Stipulation; Live 
Bottom (Pinnacle Trend) Stipulation; and Blocks South of Baldwin 
County, Alabama, Stipulation have all been removed from leasing under 
the chosen alternative, these stipulations will not be applied to 
leases. Eight lease stipulations have been adopted as lease terms where 
applicable, and they will be enforceable as part of the leases issued. 
The GOM Lease Sale 259 and 261 Supplemental EIS describes these lease 
stipulations, which are included in the Final Notice of Sale Package. 
These lease stipulations include the following: Military Areas; 
Evacuation; Coordination; Protected Species; United Nations Convention 
on the Law of the Sea Royalty Payment; Agreement between the United 
States of America and the United Mexican States Concerning 
Transboundary Hydrocarbon Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico; 
Restrictions Due to Rights-of-Use and Easements for Floating Production 
Facilities; and Royalties on All Produced Gas.
    Post-Lease Measures--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 provides a list and description of standard post-lease 
conditions of approval that BOEM or the Bureau of Safety and 
Environmental Enforcement may require as a result of their plan and 
permit review processes for the Gulf of Mexico OCS region.
    The decision to hold GOM Lease Sale 259 meets the purpose of and 
need for the proposed action, as identified in the GOM Lease Sales 259 
and 261 Supplemental EIS and provides for orderly resource development 
with protection of human, marine, and coastal environments while also 
ensuring that the public receives a fair market value for these 
resources and that free-market competition is maintained.
    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (National Environmental Policy 
Act) and 40 CFR parts 1505 and 1506.

Elizabeth Klein,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[FR Doc. 2023-03972 Filed 2-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4340-98-P