Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Western and Central Gulf of Mexico, Oil and Gas Lease Sales for Years 2007-2012, 11444-11445 [E6-3145]
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11444
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 44 / Tuesday, March 7, 2006 / Notices
lease WYW127411 effective September
1, 2005, under the original terms and
conditions of the lease and the
increased rental and royalty rates cited
above. BLM has not issued a valid lease
affecting the lands.
Pamela J. Lewis,
Chief, Branch of Fluid Minerals Adjudication.
[FR Doc. E6–3142 Filed 3–6–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–22–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[CA–930–06–5870–HN]
Call for Public Nominations of
Inholding Properties for Potential
Purchase by the Federal Government
in the State of California
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Federal Land Transaction Facilitation
Act of 2000 (43 U.S.C. 2303) (FLTFA),
this notice provides the public the
opportunity to nominate inholding
properties within the State of California
for possible acquisition by the Federal
agencies identified below.
DATES: Nominations may be submitted
at any time following the publication of
this notice.
ADDRESSES: Nominations should be
mailed to the attention of the FLTFA
Program Manager for the agency listed
below having jurisdiction over the
adjacent Federally designated area.
Bureau of Land Management, 2800
Cottage Way, Room W–1834,
Sacramento, CA 95825.
National Park Service, PWR–LP, 1111
Jackson Street, Suite 700, Oakland,
CA 94607–4807.
U.S. Forest Service, 1323 Club Drive,
Vallejo, CA 94592.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
California/Nevada Operations Office,
2800 Cottage Way, W–2606,
Sacramento, CA 95825.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joy
Wehking, FLTFA Program Manager,
BLM California State Office, phone 916–
978–4647; e-mail
cafltfaprog@ca.blm.gov, or visit BLM’s
Web site at https://www.ca.blm.gov/pa/
lands/fltfa.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
accordance with the FLTFA, the four
Federal agencies noted above are
offering to the public at large the
opportunity to nominate lands in the
State of California for possible Federal
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:39 Mar 06, 2006
Jkt 208001
acquisition. Under the provisions of
FLTFA, only the following lands are
eligible for nomination: (1) Inholdings
within a Federally designated area; or
(2) lands that are adjacent to Federally
designated areas that contain
exceptional resources.
An inholding is any right, title, or
interest held by a non-Federal entity, in
or to a tract of land that lies within the
boundary of a Federally designated area.
A Federally designated area is an area,
in existence on July 25, 2000, set aside
for special management, including units
of the national park, national wildlife
refuge, and national forest systems;
national monuments, national
conservation areas, national riparian
conservation areas, national recreation
areas, national scenic areas, research
natural areas, national outstanding
natural areas, national natural
landmarks, and areas of critical
environmental concern managed by the
Bureau of Land Management;
wilderness or wilderness study areas;
and units of the Wild and Scenic Rivers
System or National Trails System. If you
are not sure of whether a particular area
meets the statutory definition in FLTFA,
of a Federally designated area, you
should consult the statute or contact the
BLM as provided above.
Exceptional resource refers to a
resource of scientific, natural, historic,
cultural or recreational value that has
been documented by a Federal, state, or
local government authority, and for
which there is a compelling need for
conservation and protection under the
jurisdiction of a Federal agency in order
to maintain the resource for the benefit
of the public.
Nominations meeting the above
criteria may be submitted by any
individual, group or governmental body.
If submitted by a party other than the
landowner, the landowner must also
sign the nomination to confirm their
willingness to sell. Nominations will
only be considered eligible by the
agencies if: (1) The nomination package
is complete; (2) acquisition of the
nominated land or interest in land
would be consistent with an agency
approved land use plan; (3) the land
does not contain a hazardous substance
or is not otherwise contaminated and
would not be difficult or uneconomic to
manage as Federal lands; and (4)
acceptable title can be conveyed in
accordance with Federal title standards.
Priority will be placed on nominations
for inholdings in areas where there is no
local or tribal government objection to
Federal acquisition.
The agencies will assess the
nominations for public benefits and
rank the nominations in accordance
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Frm 00073
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
with a jointly prepared state level
Interagency Implementation Agreement
for FLTFA and a national level
Interagency Memorandum of
Understanding among the agencies. The
nomination and identification of an
inholding does not obligate the
landowner to convey the property nor
does it obligate the United States to
acquire the property.
All Federal land acquisitions must be
made at fair market value established by
applicable provisions of the Uniform
Appraisal Standards for Federal Land
Acquisitions.
Further information, including the
required contents for a nomination
package, and details of the Statewide
Interagency Implementation Agreement,
may be obtained by contacting Joy
Wehking with the Bureau of Land
Management at the address noted above,
or by visiting the California FLTFA Web
site at https://www.ca.blm.gov/pa/lands/
fltfa.
Mike Pool,
State Director, California.
[FR Doc. E6–3141 Filed 3–6–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–40–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS),
Western and Central Gulf of Mexico,
Oil and Gas Lease Sales for Years
2007–2012
Minerals Management Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement and
Scoping Meetings.
AGENCY:
1. Authority
The Notice of Intent (NOI) and notice
of scoping meetings is published
pursuant to the regulations (40 CFR
1501.7) implementing the provisions of
the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) of 1969 as amended (42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq. (1988)).
2. Purpose of Notice of Intent
Pursuant to the regulations
implementing the procedural provisions
of the NEPA, MMS is announcing its
intent to prepare an EIS on the
tentatively scheduled 2007–2012 oil and
gas leasing proposals in the Western and
Central Gulf of Mexico (GOM), off the
States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi,
and Alabama. The NOI also serves to
announce the scoping process for this
EIS. Throughout the scoping process,
Federal, State, and local government
E:\FR\FM\07MRN1.SGM
07MRN1
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 44 / Tuesday, March 7, 2006 / Notices
agencies, and other interested parties
have the opportunity to aid MMS in
determining the significant issues and
alternatives to be analyzed in the EIS.
The EIS analysis will focus on the
potential environmental effects of oil
and natural gas leasing, exploration,
development, and production in the
areas identified through the Area
Identification procedure as the proposed
lease sale areas. Alternatives that may
be considered for each sale are no action
(i.e., cancel the sale), or defer certain
areas from the sale.
sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
3. Supplemental Information
Federal regulations allow for several
proposals to be analyzed in one EIS (40
CFR 1502.4). Since each sale proposal
and projected activities are very similar
each year for each sale area, MMS is
proposing to prepare a single EIS
(multisale EIS) for the five Western and
six Central GOM annual lease sales
scheduled for 2007–2012 in the draft
proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil
and Gas Leasing Program: 2007–2012
(See 71 FR 7064, February 10, 2006).
The multisale approach is intended to
focus the NEPA/EIS process on
differences between the proposed sales
and on new issues and information. The
multisale EIS will eliminate the
repetitive issuance of complete draft
and final EIS’s for each sale area. The
resource estimates and scenario
information for the EIS analyses will be
presented as a range that would
encompass the resources and activities
estimated for any of the eleven proposed
lease sales. At the completion of this EIS
process, decisions will be made only for
the first proposed sale in each sale area,
scheduled to be held in 2007 (Western)
and 2007 (Central). Subsequent to these
first sales, a NEPA review will be
conducted for each of the other
proposed lease sales in the 2007–2012
Leasing Program. Formal consultation
with other Federal Agencies, the
affected States, and the public will be
carried out to assist in the determination
of whether or not the information and
analyses in the original multisale EIS
are still valid. These consultations and
NEPA reviews will be completed before
decisions are made on the subsequent
sales. For more information on the
proposed sales or the EIS, you may
contact Dennis Chew, Gulf of Mexico
OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park
Boulevard, MS 5410, New Orleans,
Louisiana 70123–2394 or e-mail
environment@mms.gov. You may also
contact Mr. Chew by telephone at (504)
736–2793.
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:39 Mar 06, 2006
Jkt 208001
4. Cooperating Agency
The MMS invites other Federal
agencies and state, tribal, and local
governments to consider becoming
cooperating agencies in the preparation
of the multisale EIS. We invite qualified
government entities to inquire about
cooperating agency status for the EIS.
Following the guidelines from the
Council of 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 to remember that an agency’s role
in the environmental analysis neither
enlarges nor diminishes the final
decision making authority of any other
agency involved in the NEPA process.
Upon request, MMS 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. MMS
anticipates this summary will form the
basis for a Memorandum of
Understanding between the MMS and
each 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. A
copy of this document is available at:
https://ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/regs/
cooperating/
cooperatingagenciesmemorandum.html
and https://ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/regs/
cooperating/
cooperatingagencymemofactors.html.
The MMS, 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
MMS during the normal public input
phases of the NEPA/EIS process. If
further information about cooperating
agencies is needed, please contact Mr.
Dennis Chew at (504) 736–2793.
5. Comments
Federal, State, local government
agencies, and other interested parties
are requested to send their written
comments on the scope of the EIS,
significant issues that should be
PO 00000
Frm 00074
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
11445
addressed, and alternatives that should
be considered one of the following three
ways:
1. Electronically using MMS’s new
Public Connect online commenting
system at https://ocsconnect.mms.gov.
This is the preferred method for
commenting. From the Public Connect
‘‘Welcome’’ screen, search for ‘‘WPA
and CPA Multisale EIS 2007–2012’’ or
select it from the ‘‘Projects Open for
Comment’’ menu.
2. In written form enclosed in an
envelope labeled ‘‘Comments on the
Multisale EIS’’ and mailed (or hand
carried) to the Regional Supervisor,
Leasing and Environment (MS 5410),
Minerals Management Service, Gulf of
Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood
Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana
70123–2394.
3. Electronically to the MMS e-mail
address: environment@mms.gov.
Comments should be submitted no
later than 45 days from the publication
of this NOI.
6. Scoping Meetings
The MMS will hold scoping meetings
to obtain additional comments and
information regarding the scope of the
EIS. The scoping meetings are
scheduled as follows:
• Tuesday, March 28, 2006,
Wyndham Greenspoint, 12400
Greenspoint Drive, Houston, Texas, 1
p.m.
• Wednesday, March 29, 2006,
Hampton Inn and Suites New OrleansElmwood, 5150 Mounes Street,
Harahan, Louisiana, 1 p.m.
• Thursday, March 30, 2006,
Riverview Plaza Hotel, 64 South Water
Street, Mobile, Alabama, 7 p.m.
The MMS is preparing a separate EIS
for the new 5-year OCS oil and gas
leasing program for proposed lease sales
to be held from 2007–2012. MMS will
also use the scoping meetings on the
multisale EIS as an opportunity to
solicit comments on the scope of the 5year program EIS. Information
concerning the 5-year program and EIS
can be accessed at https://www.mms.gov/
5-year/2007-2012main.htm.
Dated: February 24, 2006.
Thomas A. Readinger,
Associate Director, Offshore Minerals
Management.
[FR Doc. E6–3145 Filed 3–6–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P
E:\FR\FM\07MRN1.SGM
07MRN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 7, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11444-11445]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-3145]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Western and Central Gulf of
Mexico, Oil and Gas Lease Sales for Years 2007-2012
AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
and Scoping Meetings.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Authority
The Notice of Intent (NOI) and notice of scoping meetings is
published pursuant to the regulations (40 CFR 1501.7) implementing the
provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 as
amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (1988)).
2. Purpose of Notice of Intent
Pursuant to the regulations implementing the procedural provisions
of the NEPA, MMS is announcing its intent to prepare an EIS on the
tentatively scheduled 2007-2012 oil and gas leasing proposals in the
Western and Central Gulf of Mexico (GOM), off the States of Texas,
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The NOI also serves to announce
the scoping process for this EIS. Throughout the scoping process,
Federal, State, and local government
[[Page 11445]]
agencies, and other interested parties have the opportunity to aid MMS
in determining the significant issues and alternatives to be analyzed
in the EIS. The EIS analysis will focus on the potential environmental
effects of oil and natural gas leasing, exploration, development, and
production in the areas identified through the Area Identification
procedure as the proposed lease sale areas. Alternatives that may be
considered for each sale are no action (i.e., cancel the sale), or
defer certain areas from the sale.
3. Supplemental Information
Federal regulations allow for several proposals to be analyzed in
one EIS (40 CFR 1502.4). Since each sale proposal and projected
activities are very similar each year for each sale area, MMS is
proposing to prepare a single EIS (multisale EIS) for the five Western
and six Central GOM annual lease sales scheduled for 2007-2012 in the
draft proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program:
2007-2012 (See 71 FR 7064, February 10, 2006). The multisale approach
is intended to focus the NEPA/EIS process on differences between the
proposed sales and on new issues and information. The multisale EIS
will eliminate the repetitive issuance of complete draft and final
EIS's for each sale area. The resource estimates and scenario
information for the EIS analyses will be presented as a range that
would encompass the resources and activities estimated for any of the
eleven proposed lease sales. At the completion of this EIS process,
decisions will be made only for the first proposed sale in each sale
area, scheduled to be held in 2007 (Western) and 2007 (Central).
Subsequent to these first sales, a NEPA review will be conducted for
each of the other proposed lease sales in the 2007-2012 Leasing
Program. Formal consultation with other Federal Agencies, the affected
States, and the public will be carried out to assist in the
determination of whether or not the information and analyses in the
original multisale EIS are still valid. These consultations and NEPA
reviews will be completed before decisions are made on the subsequent
sales. For more information on the proposed sales or the EIS, you may
contact Dennis Chew, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park
Boulevard, MS 5410, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394 or e-mail
environment@mms.gov. You may also contact Mr. Chew by telephone at
(504) 736-2793.
4. Cooperating Agency
The MMS invites other Federal agencies and state, tribal, and local
governments to consider becoming cooperating agencies in the
preparation of the multisale EIS. We invite qualified government
entities to inquire about cooperating agency status for the EIS.
Following the guidelines from the Council of 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 to remember that an agency's role in the
environmental analysis neither enlarges nor diminishes the final
decision making authority of any other agency involved in the NEPA
process. Upon request, MMS 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. MMS
anticipates this summary will form the basis for a Memorandum of
Understanding between the MMS and each 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. A
copy of this document is available at: https://ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/regs/
cooperating/cooperatingagenciesmemorandum.html and https://
ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/cooperatingagencymemofactors.html.
The MMS, 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
MMS during the normal public input phases of the NEPA/EIS process. If
further information about cooperating agencies is needed, please
contact Mr. Dennis Chew at (504) 736-2793.
5. Comments
Federal, State, local government agencies, and other interested
parties are requested to send their written comments on the scope of
the EIS, significant issues that should be addressed, and alternatives
that should be considered one of the following three ways:
1. Electronically using MMS's new Public Connect online commenting
system at https://ocsconnect.mms.gov. This is the preferred method for
commenting. From the Public Connect ``Welcome'' screen, search for
``WPA and CPA Multisale EIS 2007-2012'' or select it from the
``Projects Open for Comment'' menu.
2. In written form enclosed in an envelope labeled ``Comments on
the Multisale EIS'' and mailed (or hand carried) to the Regional
Supervisor, Leasing and Environment (MS 5410), Minerals Management
Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New
Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394.
3. Electronically to the MMS e-mail address: environment@mms.gov.
Comments should be submitted no later than 45 days from the
publication of this NOI.
6. Scoping Meetings
The MMS will hold scoping meetings to obtain additional comments
and information regarding the scope of the EIS. The scoping meetings
are scheduled as follows:
Tuesday, March 28, 2006, Wyndham Greenspoint, 12400
Greenspoint Drive, Houston, Texas, 1 p.m.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006, Hampton Inn and Suites New
Orleans-Elmwood, 5150 Mounes Street, Harahan, Louisiana, 1 p.m.
Thursday, March 30, 2006, Riverview Plaza Hotel, 64 South
Water Street, Mobile, Alabama, 7 p.m.
The MMS is preparing a separate EIS for the new 5-year OCS oil and
gas leasing program for proposed lease sales to be held from 2007-2012.
MMS will also use the scoping meetings on the multisale EIS as an
opportunity to solicit comments on the scope of the 5-year program EIS.
Information concerning the 5-year program and EIS can be accessed at
https://www.mms.gov/5-year/2007-2012main.htm.
Dated: February 24, 2006.
Thomas A. Readinger,
Associate Director, Offshore Minerals Management.
[FR Doc. E6-3145 Filed 3-6-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P