Chukchi Sea Planning Area Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193 and Seismic Surveying Activities in the Chukchi Sea, 32860-32862 [E7-11517]
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32860
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 114 / Thursday, June 14, 2007 / Notices
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
The lands described above contain 60
acres, more or less, identified as Clark
County Assessor Parcel 160–33–801–001.
Terms and Conditions of Sale
The parcel is subject to the following:
1. When the remaining interest in the
parcel of land is sold, the locatable
mineral interests will be sold
simultaneously as part of the land sale.
The land identified for sale has no
known mineral value for minerals
located under the 1872 Mining Law, as
amended. Acceptance of the offer to
purchase will constitute an application
for conveyance of these mineral
interests. In conjunction with the final
payment, the applicant will be required
to pay a $50 non-refundable filing fee
for processing the conveyance of this
mineral interest. Minerals that fall
within the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920,
and the Materials Act of 1947, as
amended, are reserved under applicable
law and any regulations that the
Secretary of the Interior may prescribe,
including all necessary access and exit
rights.
2. A right-of-way is reserved for
ditches and canals constructed by
authority of the United States under the
Act of August 30, 1890 (43 U.S.C. 945).
3. The parcel is subject to valid
existing rights. Parcels may also be
subject to applications received prior to
publication of this Notice if processing
the application would have no adverse
affect on the federally approved Fair
Market Value (FMV).
4. The parcel is subject to reservations
for road, public utilities and flood
control purposes, both existing and
proposed, in accordance with the local
governing entities’ Transportation Plans.
5. All purchasers/patentees, by
accepting a patent, agree to indemnify,
defend, and hold the United States
harmless from any cost, damages,
claims, causes of action, penalties, fines,
liabilities, and judgments of any kind or
nature arising from the past, present,
and future acts or omissions of the
patentee or their employees, agents,
contractors, or lessees, or any thirdparty, arising out of or in connection
with the patentee’s use, occupancy, or
operations on the patented real
property. This indemnification and hold
harmless agreement includes, but is not
limited to (1) Violations of Federal,
State, and local laws and regulations
that are now or may in the future
become, applicable to the real property;
(2) Judgments, claims or demands of any
kind assessed against the United States;
(3) Cost, expenses, or damages of any
kind incurred by the United States; (4)
Other releases or threatened releases of
solid or hazardous waste(s) and/or
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hazardous substance(s), as defined by
Federal or State environmental laws; off,
on, into or under land, property and
other interests of the United States; (5)
Other activities by which solids or
hazardous substances or wastes, as
defined by Federal and State
environmental laws are generated,
released, stored, used or otherwise
disposed of on the patented real
property, and any cleanup response,
remedial action or other actions related
in any manner to said solid or
hazardous substances or wastes; or (6)
Natural resource damages as defined by
Federal and State law. This covenant
shall be construed as running with
patented real property and may be
enforced by the United States in a court
of competent jurisdiction.
Pursuant to the requirements
established by Section 120(h) of the
Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and Liability
Act (CERCLA), (42 U.S.C. 9620(h)), as
amended by the Superfund
Amendments and Reauthorization Act
of 1988, (100 Stat. 1670), notice is
hereby given that the above-described
lands have been examined and no
evidence was found to indicate that any
hazardous substances had been stored
for one year or more, nor had any
hazardous substances been disposed of
or released on the subject property.
No warranty of any kind, express or
implied, is given by the United States as
to the title, physical condition or
potential uses of the parcel of land
proposed for sale; and the conveyance
of any such parcel will not be on a
contingency basis.
Maps delineating the subject interest
in lands proposed for sale are available
for public review at the BLM LVFO
along with the appraisal.
Upon acceptance of the offer to
purchase, BEC will submit 20% of the
FMV to BLM, Las Vegas Field Office,
4701 North Torrey Pines Drive, Las
Vegas, NV 89130. Within 180 days
following payment of the deposit, BEC
will remit the balance of the FMV to the
BLM in the form of a certified check,
money order, bank draft or cashier’s
check made payable to the Bureau of
Land Management.
If in the opinion of the authorized
officer, consummation of the sale is not
fully consistent with FLPMA or other
applicable laws or determined not to be
in the public interest, the BLM may
accept or reject any or all offers, or
withdraw any portion of or interest in
land from sale. If not sold, the parcel
described in this Notice identified for a
partial interest sale may be suspended
from any further proposed actions
without further legal notice. It is the
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buyer’s responsibility to be aware of all
applicable Federal, State and local
governmental policies, laws, regulations
and the historical use of the proposed
property and the affect these lands
would have pertaining to any future use
or development.
Public Comments: The BLM Field
Manager, Las Vegas Field Office, 4701
North Torrey Pines Drive, Las Vegas, NV
89130, will receive written comments
from the general public and interested
parties up to 45 days after publication
of this Notice in the Federal Register.
Only written comments submitted by
postal service or overnight mail to the
Field Manager BLM LVFO, will be
considered properly filed; e-mail,
facsimile or telephone comments will
not be considered as properly filed. Any
adverse comments will be reviewed by
the Nevada State Director, who may
sustain, vacate, or modify this realty
action in whole or in part. In the
absence of any adverse comments this
realty action will become the final
determination of the Department of the
Interior. Any comments received during
this process, as well as the commentor’s
name and address, will be available to
the public in the administrative record
and/or pursuant to a Freedom of
Information Act request. Before
including your address, telephone
number, e-mail address, or other
personal identifying information in your
comment, you should be aware that
your entire comment—including your
personal identifying information—may
be made publicly available at any time.
While you can ask us in your comment
to withhold from public review your
personal identifying information, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Dated: May 18, 2007.
Angie Lara,
Acting Field Manager.
[FR Doc. E7–11446 Filed 6–13–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–HC–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Chukchi Sea Planning Area Oil and
Gas Lease Sale 193 and Seismic
Surveying Activities in the Chukchi
Sea
Minerals Management Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability of a Final
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS).
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The proposed federal action
addressed in this FEIS (OCS EIS/EA
MMS 2007–026) is to offer for lease
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jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 114 / Thursday, June 14, 2007 / Notices
areas in the Chukchi Sea Outer
Continental Shelf (OCS) that might
contain recoverable oil and gas
resources. This lease sale would provide
qualified bidders the opportunity to bid
on certain blocks in the Chukchi Sea
OCS to gain conditional rights to
explore, develop, and produce oil and
natural gas. This FEIS is the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
analysis to enable the MMS to make
informed decisions on the configuration
of the lease sale and the applicable
mitigation measures. In the FEIS, the
potential direct, indirect, and
cumulative environmental impacts of
the sale, including estimated
exploration and development and
production activities related to the sale,
on the physical, biological, and human
environments in the Chukchi Sea area
are analyzed. The FEIS also provides
NEPA evaluation for exploration
activities in the Chukchi Sea, including
seismic survey geophysical permitting
(30 CFR part 251), ancillary activities
(30 CFR 250.207), and exploration plans
(30 CFR 250.214). In addition, the FEIS
provides information that the U.S.
Department of Commerce, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) may possibly
use for issuance of Incidental
Harassment Authorizations to the
seismic-survey industry to take marine
mammals by harassment, incidental to
conducting prelease and ancillary onlease oil and gas seismic surveys in the
Chukchi Sea. To address its NEPA
responsibilities, the NMFS is a
cooperating agency (as that term is
defined in 40 CFR 1501.6).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Minerals Management Service, Alaska
OCS Region, 3801 Centerpoint Drive,
#500, Anchorage, Alaska 99503–5823,
Ms. Deborah Cranswick, telephone (907)
334–5267.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In this
FEIS, the MMS has examined the
potential environmental effects of the
Proposed Action and its alternatives.
The Proposed Action (Alternative I) is to
conduct Chukchi Sea OCS Lease Sale
193 in 2008. The resource estimates and
scenario information included in this
FEIS analysis are presented as a range
of activities that could be associated
with the sale, including exploration
seismic surveying, on-lease ancillary
activities, exploration and delineation
drilling, development and production of
OCS oil and gas resources, and lease
abandonment. The Proposed Action
would offer for lease approximately
6,156 whole and partial blocks (about 34
million acres) identified as the program
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area in the 2002–2007 5-Year Program.
Although Sale 193 was scheduled under
the 2002–2007 5-Year Program, it is
being held under the 2007–2012 5-Year
Program to accommodate the time
required to complete the EIS analyses
and process. The proposed Sale 193 area
excludes up to a 50-mile-wide corridor
along the coast, the polynya or spring
lead system. Water depths in the sale
area vary from about 95 feet (ft) to
approximately 262 ft. A small portion of
the northeast corner of the area deepens
to approximately 9,800 ft.
Alternative II (No Lease Sale) is
equivalent to cancellation of the
Proposed Action as scheduled in the
approved 5-Year Program. The
opportunity for development of the
estimated oil and gas resources that
could have resulted from the Proposed
Action would be precluded or
postponed, and any potential
environmental impacts resulting from
the Proposed Action would not occur or
would be postponed.
Alternative III (Corridor I Deferral) is
the Proposed Action excluding an area
comprising approximately 1,765 whole
or partial blocks along the coastward
edge of the sale area. This alternative
would attempt to reduce potential
impacts to subsistence hunting as well
as various wildlife species and
associated habitats.
Alternative IV (Corridor II Deferral) is
the Proposed Action excluding an area
comprising approximately 795 whole or
partial blocks along the coastward edge
of the sale area. This alternative was
developed as a result of the 1987
Biological Opinion for the Chukchi Sea
as recommended by the NMFS.
The MMS also examines potential
environmental effects of prelease
seismic survey geophysical permitting.
The FEIS includes an analysis of two
alternatives for exploration seismic
surveys: Alternative A and Alternative
B. All permitted seismic surveys would
be subject to the standard stipulations
for geological and geophysical (G&G)
permit activities, additional measures to
mitigate seismic-surveying effects, and
the mitigation and monitoring
requirements of the selected alternative
(Alternative 6) from the Final
Programmatic Environmental
Assessment (PEA) Arctic Ocean Outer
Continental Shelf Seismic Surveys—
2006, dated June 2006 (USDOI, MMS,
2006a). Alternative A would allow preSale 193 seismic surveying in the entire
proposed Sale 193 area (the area under
Alternative I). Alternative B would
prohibit pre-Sale 193 exploration
seismic surveys in the 795 whole or
partial blocks in Corridor II Deferral area
(Alternative IV) along the coastward
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32861
edge of the proposed Sale 193 area. The
Corridor II Deferral area was developed
from the recommended conservation
measures in the 1987 Biological
Opinion from NMFS. The southern end
of the corridor was expanded to
encompass a portion of the Ledyard Bay
Critical Habitat Area that lies within the
proposed Sale 193 area.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
concluded in its March 28, 2007,
Biological Opinion for Chukchi Sea
Planning Area Oil and Gas Lease Sale
193 and Associated Seismic Surveys
and Exploratory Drilling that, based on
the information available at this time,
the action would not jeopardize the
continued existence of the spectacled or
Steller’s eider, or destroy or adversely
modify designated critical habitat. The
NMFS concluded in its Arctic Region
Biological Opinion, dated June 2006,
that leasing and exploration activities
are not likely to jeopardize the
continued existence of the threatened,
endangered, or candidate species under
its jurisdiction; however, the potential
additive effects of oil and gas activities
associated with exploration, production,
and transportation throughout the
Chukchi Sea and neighboring Beaufort
Sea is of concern. The NMFS concluded
further that activities associated with
seismic surveys in the Chukchi Sea may
adversely affect but not jeopardize the
continued existence of any species
listed under the ESA that are under the
jurisdiction of the NMFS.
FEIS Availability: To obtain a copy of
the final FEIS, you may contact the
Minerals Management Service, Alaska
OCS Region, Attention: Resource
Center, 3801 Centerpoint Drive, #500,
Anchorage, Alaska 99503–5823,
telephone 1–800–764–2627, or by e-mail
at akwebmaster@mms.gov. You may
also view the FEIS on the MMS Web site
at https://www.mms.gov/alaska.
Written Comments: Interested parties
may submit their written comments on
this FEIS until 30 days after the
publication of this notice, to the
Regional Director, Alaska OCS Region,
Attention: Sale 193 Coordinator,
Minerals Management Service, 3801
Centerpoint Drive, #500, Anchorage,
Alaska 99503–5823, or by e-mail to
akeis@mms.gov. Before including your
address, phone number, e-mail address,
or other personal identifying
information in your comment, be
advised that your entire commentincluding your personal identifying
information-may be made publicly
available at any time. While you can ask
us in your comment to withhold from
public review your personal identifying
information, we cannot guarantee that
we will be able to do so. We will not
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32862
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 114 / Thursday, June 14, 2007 / Notices
consider anonymous comments, and we
will make available for inspection in
their entirety all comments submitted
by organizations or businesses or by
individuals identifying themselves as
representatives of organizations or
businesses.
Dated: June 4, 2007.
Walter D. Cruickshank,
Acting Director, Minerals Management
Service.
[FR Doc. E7–11517 Filed 6–13–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
COMMISSION
[Investigation Nos. 701–TA–447 and 731–
TA–1116 (Preliminary)]
Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel
Pipe From China
United States International
Trade Commission.
ACTION: Institution of countervailing
duty and antidumping duty
investigations and scheduling of
preliminary phase investigations.
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The Commission hereby gives
notice of the institution of
investigations, commencement of
preliminary phase countervailing duty
investigation No. 701–TA–447
(Preliminary), and commencement of
preliminary phase antidumping duty
investigation No. 731–TA–1116
(Preliminary) under sections 703(a) and
733(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19
U.S.C. 1671b(a) and 19 U.S.C. 1673b(a))
(the Act) to determine whether there is
a reasonable indication that an industry
in the United States is materially
injured or threatened with material
injury, or the establishment of an
industry in the United States is
materially retarded, by reason of
imports from China of circular welded
carbon-quality steel pipe, provided for
in subheadings 7306.30.10 and
7306.30.50, as well as 7306.50.10 and
7306.50.50, of the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States, that are
alleged to be subsidized by the
Government of China and sold in the
United States at less than fair value.
Unless the Department of Commerce
extends the time for initiation pursuant
to sections 702(c)(1)(B) and 732(c)(1)(B)
of the Act (19 U.S.C. 1671a(c)(1)(B) and
1673a(c)(1)(B)), the Commission must
reach preliminary determinations in
countervailing duty and antidumping
duty investigations in 45 days, or in this
case by July 23, 2007. The Commission’s
views are due at Commerce within five
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17:22 Jun 13, 2007
Jkt 211001
business days thereafter, or by July 30,
2007.
For further information concerning
the conduct of these investigations and
rules of general application, consult the
Commission’s Rules of Practice and
Procedure, part 201, subparts A through
E (19 CFR part 201), and part 207,
subparts A and B (19 CFR part 207).
DATES: Effective Date: June 7, 2007.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Cynthia Trainor (202–205–3354), Office
of Investigations, U.S. International
Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20436. Hearingimpaired persons can obtain
information on this matter by contacting
the Commission’s TDD terminal on 202–
205–1810. Persons with mobility
impairments who will need special
assistance in gaining access to the
Commission should contact the Office
of the Secretary at 202–205–2000.
General information concerning the
Commission may also be obtained by
accessing its Internet server (https://
www.usitc.gov). The public record for
these investigations may be viewed on
the Commission’s electronic docket
(EDIS) at https://edis.usitc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background.—These investigations
are being instituted in response to a
petition filed on June 7, 2007, by Allied
Tube & Conduit, Harvey, IL; IPSCO
Tubulars, Inc., Camanche, IA;
Northwest Pipe Co., Portland OR;
Sharon Tube Co., Sharon, PA; Western
Tube & Conduit Corp., Long Beach, CA;
Wheatland Tube Co., Collingswood, NJ;
and the United Steelworkers, Pittsburgh,
PA.
Participation in the investigations and
public service list.—Persons (other than
petitioners) wishing to participate in the
investigations as parties must file an
entry of appearance with the Secretary
to the Commission, as provided in
sections 201.11 and 207.10 of the
Commission’s rules, not later than seven
days after publication of this notice in
the Federal Register. Industrial users
and (if the merchandise under
investigation is sold at the retail level)
representative consumer organizations
have the right to appear as parties in
Commission countervailing duty and
antidumping duty investigations. The
Secretary will prepare a public service
list containing the names and addresses
of all persons, or their representatives,
who are parties to these investigations
upon the expiration of the period for
filing entries of appearance.
Limited disclosure of business
proprietary information (BPI) under an
administrative protective order (APO)
and BPI service list.—Pursuant to
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Sfmt 4703
section 207.7(a) of the Commission’s
rules, the Secretary will make BPI
gathered in these investigations
available to authorized applicants
representing interested parties (as
defined in 19 U.S.C. 1677(9)) who are
parties to the investigations under the
APO issued in the investigations,
provided that the application is made
not later than seven days after the
publication of this notice in the Federal
Register. A separate service list will be
maintained by the Secretary for those
parties authorized to receive BPI under
the APO.
Conference.—The Commission’s
Director of Operations has scheduled a
conference in connection with these
investigations for 9:30 a.m. on June 28,
2007, at the U.S. International Trade
Commission Building, 500 E Street SW.,
Washington, DC. Parties wishing to
participate in the conference should
contact Cynthia Trainor (202–205–3354)
not later than June 25, 2007, to arrange
for their appearance. Parties in support
of the imposition of countervailing
duties and antidumping duties in these
investigations and parties in opposition
to the imposition of such duties will
each be collectively allocated one hour
within which to make an oral
presentation at the conference. A
nonparty who has testimony that may
aid the Commission’s deliberations may
request permission to present a short
statement at the conference.
Written submissions.—As provided in
sections 201.8 and 207.15 of the
Commission’s rules, any person may
submit to the Commission on or before
July 3, 2007, a written brief containing
information and arguments pertinent to
the subject matter of the investigations.
Parties may file written testimony in
connection with their presentation at
the conference no later than three days
before the conference. If briefs or
written testimony contain BPI, they
must conform with the requirements of
sections 201.6, 207.3, and 207.7 of the
Commission’s rules. The Commission’s
rules do not authorize filing of
submissions with the Secretary by
facsimile or electronic means, except to
the extent permitted by section 201.8 of
the Commission’s rules, as amended, 67
FR 68036 (November 8, 2002). Even
where electronic filing of a document is
permitted, certain documents must also
be filed in paper form, as specified in II
(C) of the Commission’s Handbook on
Electronic Filing Procedures, 67 FR
68168, 68173 (November 8, 2002).
In accordance with sections 201.16(c)
and 207.3 of the rules, each document
filed by a party to the investigations
must be served on all other parties to
the investigation (as identified by either
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 114 (Thursday, June 14, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32860-32862]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-11517]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Chukchi Sea Planning Area Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193 and Seismic
Surveying Activities in the Chukchi Sea
AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact
Statement (FEIS).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The proposed federal action addressed in this FEIS (OCS EIS/EA
MMS 2007-026) is to offer for lease
[[Page 32861]]
areas in the Chukchi Sea Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) that might
contain recoverable oil and gas resources. This lease sale would
provide qualified bidders the opportunity to bid on certain blocks in
the Chukchi Sea OCS to gain conditional rights to explore, develop, and
produce oil and natural gas. This FEIS is the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) analysis to enable the MMS to make informed decisions
on the configuration of the lease sale and the applicable mitigation
measures. In the FEIS, the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative
environmental impacts of the sale, including estimated exploration and
development and production activities related to the sale, on the
physical, biological, and human environments in the Chukchi Sea area
are analyzed. The FEIS also provides NEPA evaluation for exploration
activities in the Chukchi Sea, including seismic survey geophysical
permitting (30 CFR part 251), ancillary activities (30 CFR 250.207),
and exploration plans (30 CFR 250.214). In addition, the FEIS provides
information that the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
may possibly use for issuance of Incidental Harassment Authorizations
to the seismic-survey industry to take marine mammals by harassment,
incidental to conducting prelease and ancillary on-lease oil and gas
seismic surveys in the Chukchi Sea. To address its NEPA
responsibilities, the NMFS is a cooperating agency (as that term is
defined in 40 CFR 1501.6).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Minerals Management Service, Alaska
OCS Region, 3801 Centerpoint Drive, 500, Anchorage, Alaska
99503-5823, Ms. Deborah Cranswick, telephone (907) 334-5267.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In this FEIS, the MMS has examined the
potential environmental effects of the Proposed Action and its
alternatives. The Proposed Action (Alternative I) is to conduct Chukchi
Sea OCS Lease Sale 193 in 2008. The resource estimates and scenario
information included in this FEIS analysis are presented as a range of
activities that could be associated with the sale, including
exploration seismic surveying, on-lease ancillary activities,
exploration and delineation drilling, development and production of OCS
oil and gas resources, and lease abandonment. The Proposed Action would
offer for lease approximately 6,156 whole and partial blocks (about 34
million acres) identified as the program area in the 2002-2007 5-Year
Program. Although Sale 193 was scheduled under the 2002-2007 5-Year
Program, it is being held under the 2007-2012 5-Year Program to
accommodate the time required to complete the EIS analyses and process.
The proposed Sale 193 area excludes up to a 50-mile-wide corridor along
the coast, the polynya or spring lead system. Water depths in the sale
area vary from about 95 feet (ft) to approximately 262 ft. A small
portion of the northeast corner of the area deepens to approximately
9,800 ft.
Alternative II (No Lease Sale) is equivalent to cancellation of the
Proposed Action as scheduled in the approved 5-Year Program. The
opportunity for development of the estimated oil and gas resources that
could have resulted from the Proposed Action would be precluded or
postponed, and any potential environmental impacts resulting from the
Proposed Action would not occur or would be postponed.
Alternative III (Corridor I Deferral) is the Proposed Action
excluding an area comprising approximately 1,765 whole or partial
blocks along the coastward edge of the sale area. This alternative
would attempt to reduce potential impacts to subsistence hunting as
well as various wildlife species and associated habitats.
Alternative IV (Corridor II Deferral) is the Proposed Action
excluding an area comprising approximately 795 whole or partial blocks
along the coastward edge of the sale area. This alternative was
developed as a result of the 1987 Biological Opinion for the Chukchi
Sea as recommended by the NMFS.
The MMS also examines potential environmental effects of prelease
seismic survey geophysical permitting. The FEIS includes an analysis of
two alternatives for exploration seismic surveys: Alternative A and
Alternative B. All permitted seismic surveys would be subject to the
standard stipulations for geological and geophysical (G&G) permit
activities, additional measures to mitigate seismic-surveying effects,
and the mitigation and monitoring requirements of the selected
alternative (Alternative 6) from the Final Programmatic Environmental
Assessment (PEA) Arctic Ocean Outer Continental Shelf Seismic Surveys--
2006, dated June 2006 (USDOI, MMS, 2006a). Alternative A would allow
pre-Sale 193 seismic surveying in the entire proposed Sale 193 area
(the area under Alternative I). Alternative B would prohibit pre-Sale
193 exploration seismic surveys in the 795 whole or partial blocks in
Corridor II Deferral area (Alternative IV) along the coastward edge of
the proposed Sale 193 area. The Corridor II Deferral area was developed
from the recommended conservation measures in the 1987 Biological
Opinion from NMFS. The southern end of the corridor was expanded to
encompass a portion of the Ledyard Bay Critical Habitat Area that lies
within the proposed Sale 193 area.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concluded in its March 28, 2007,
Biological Opinion for Chukchi Sea Planning Area Oil and Gas Lease Sale
193 and Associated Seismic Surveys and Exploratory Drilling that, based
on the information available at this time, the action would not
jeopardize the continued existence of the spectacled or Steller's
eider, or destroy or adversely modify designated critical habitat. The
NMFS concluded in its Arctic Region Biological Opinion, dated June
2006, that leasing and exploration activities are not likely to
jeopardize the continued existence of the threatened, endangered, or
candidate species under its jurisdiction; however, the potential
additive effects of oil and gas activities associated with exploration,
production, and transportation throughout the Chukchi Sea and
neighboring Beaufort Sea is of concern. The NMFS concluded further that
activities associated with seismic surveys in the Chukchi Sea may
adversely affect but not jeopardize the continued existence of any
species listed under the ESA that are under the jurisdiction of the
NMFS.
FEIS Availability: To obtain a copy of the final FEIS, you may
contact the Minerals Management Service, Alaska OCS Region, Attention:
Resource Center, 3801 Centerpoint Drive, 500, Anchorage,
Alaska 99503-5823, telephone 1-800-764-2627, or by e-mail at
akwebmaster@mms.gov. You may also view the FEIS on the MMS Web site at
https://www.mms.gov/alaska.
Written Comments: Interested parties may submit their written
comments on this FEIS until 30 days after the publication of this
notice, to the Regional Director, Alaska OCS Region, Attention: Sale
193 Coordinator, Minerals Management Service, 3801 Centerpoint Drive,
500, Anchorage, Alaska 99503-5823, or by e-mail to
akeis@mms.gov. Before including your address, phone number, e-mail
address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, be
advised that your entire comment-including your personal identifying
information-may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold from public review your personal
identifying information, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do
so. We will not
[[Page 32862]]
consider anonymous comments, and we will make available for inspection
in their entirety all comments submitted by organizations or businesses
or by individuals identifying themselves as representatives of
organizations or businesses.
Dated: June 4, 2007.
Walter D. Cruickshank,
Acting Director, Minerals Management Service.
[FR Doc. E7-11517 Filed 6-13-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P
