Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Alaska OCS Region, Chukchi Sea Planning Area, Proposed Oil and Gas Lease Sale 237, 59715-59718 [2013-23670]
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 188 / Friday, September 27, 2013 / Notices
sensing-derived monitoring products for
the Arctic will provide participants an
opportunity to generate a requirements
document that defines remote sensing
needs for the Arctic.
All meetings are open to the public.
The public may present written
comments to the Science Technical
Advisory Panel through the Executive
Director, North Slope Science Initiative.
Each formal meeting will also have time
allotted for hearing public comments.
Depending on the number of persons
wishing to comment and time available,
the time for individual oral comments
may be limited. Individuals who plan to
attend and need special assistance, such
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transportation, or other reasonable
accommodations, should contact the
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Initiative. Before including your
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Dated: September 20, 2013.
Bud C. Cribley,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2013–23586 Filed 9–26–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1310–JA–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLCON06000–L16100000–DQ0000]
Notice of Resource Advisory Council
Meetings for the Dominguez-Escalante
National Conservation Area Advisory
Council
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of public meetings
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Federal Land Policy and Management
Act of 1976 and the Federal Advisory
Committee Act of 1972, notice is hereby
given that the U.S. Department of the
Interior, Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) Dominguez-Escalante National
Conservation Area (NCA) Advisory
Council (Council) is scheduled to meet
as indicated below.
DATES: The meetings will be held on
October 22, 2013, and October 24, 2013.
The meetings begin at 3 p.m. and will
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SUMMARY:
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normally adjourn at 6 p.m. Any
adjustments to the meetings will be
advertised on the Dominguez-Escalante
NCA Resource Management Plan (RMP)
Web site, https://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/
nca/denca/denca_rmp.html.
ADDRESSES: The meeting on October 22
will be held at the Bill Heddles
Recreation Center, 530 Gunnison River
Drive, Delta, CO 81416. The meeting on
October 24 will be held at the Whitman
Educational Center, 248 S. 4th St.,
Grand Junction, CO 81501.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Collin Ewing, Advisory Council
Designated Federal Official, 2815 H
Road, Grand Junction, CO 81506. Phone:
(970) 244–3049. Email: cewing@blm.gov.
Persons who use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the
Federal Information Relay Service
(FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 to contact the
above individual during normal
business hours. The FIRS is available 24
hours a day, seven days a week, to leave
a message or question with the above
individual. You will receive a reply
during normal business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 10member Council advises the Secretary
of the Interior, through the BLM, on a
variety of planning and management
issues associated with the RMP process
for the Dominguez-Escalante NCA and
Dominguez Canyon Wilderness.
Topics of discussion during the
meetings may include informational
presentations from various resource
specialists working on the RMP, as well
as Council reports on the following
topics: recreation, fire management,
land-use planning process, invasive
species management, travel
management, wilderness, land exchange
criteria, cultural resource management
and other resource management topics
of interest to the Council raised during
the planning process.
These meetings are anticipated to
occur monthly, and may occur as
frequently as every two weeks during
intensive phases of the planning
process. Dates, times and agendas for
additional meetings may be determined
at future Council meetings, and will be
published in the Federal Register,
announced through local media and on
the BLM’s Web site for the DominguezEscalante planning effort, www.blm.gov/
co/st/en/nca/denca/denca_rmp.html.
These meetings are open to the
public. The public may present written
comments to the Council. Each formal
Council meeting will have time
allocated at the middle and end of each
meeting to hear public comments.
Depending on the number of persons
wishing to comment and time available,
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the time for individual, oral comments
may be limited at the discretion of the
chair.
Helen M. Hankins,
BLM Colorado State Director.
[FR Doc. 2013–23445 Filed 9–26–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–JB–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
[MMAA104000; Lease Sale 237]
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Alaska
OCS Region, Chukchi Sea Planning
Area, Proposed Oil and Gas Lease Sale
237
Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management (BOEM), Interior.
ACTION: Call for Information and
Nominations.
AGENCY:
This Call for Information and
Nominations (‘‘Call’’) is the initial step
in the prelease process for Lease Sale
237 in the Chukchi Sea Planning Area,
scheduled to be held in 2016, as
included in the Proposed Final OCS Oil
and Gas Leasing Program 2012–2017
(‘‘Five Year Program’’). The purpose of
this Call is to obtain nominations and
information on oil and gas leasing,
exploration, and development that
might result from an OCS oil and gas
lease sale for the Chukchi Sea Planning
Area. The lease sale area addressed in
this Call (‘‘Program Area’’) is located
offshore Alaska in the Chukchi Sea
Planning Area. As identified in the Five
Year Program, the Program Area is a
sub-area of the larger Chukchi Sea
Planning Area.
DATES: All responses to the Call must be
received no later than November 12,
2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michael S. Rolland, Chief, Leasing
Section, BOEM, Alaska OCS Region,
3801 Centerpoint Drive, Suite 500,
Anchorage, Alaska 99503–5823, or at
(907) 334–5271.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Five
Year Program states: While BOEM has
determined that it is appropriate to
continue areawide leasing in the
GOM. . . . BOEM will not be
conducting areawide leasing in the
Arctic, consistent with rigorous internal
analysis as well as a number of outside
recommendations to develop alternative
leasing approaches for Arctic areas.
Rather, potential sales are deliberately
set late in the five year program
schedule to allow for further analysis
and information-gathering. These would
be geographically targeted in scope, in
SUMMARY:
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order to achieve an appropriate balance
between making resources available
while limiting conflicts with
environmentally sensitive areas and
subsistence use by making certain
determinations from the outset about
which blocks within the planning areas
are most suitable for leasing. See,
Proposed Final Outer Continental Shelf
Oil and Gas Leasing Program 2012–
2017, page 94.
In light of the targeted leasing strategy
for the Arctic in the current Five Year
Program, this Call differs in two ways
from Calls issued in the Gulf of Mexico
and in earlier Calls issued in the Alaska
OCS Region under previous Five Year
Programs: (1) Because the leasing will
not be areawide, BOEM is requesting
more specific nominations within the
Program Area (as defined below),
including specific support of those
nominations in terms of geological and
geophysical data, and (2) this Call is not
accompanied by a Notice of Intent to
Prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement (NOI). After BOEM identifies
the area for the proposed lease sale
based upon the information and
nominations received from this Call,
BOEM will initiate the formal National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
process through publication of an NOI.
By proceeding in this order, BOEM will
be able to use the information obtained
through this Call in developing the
proposed action and possible
alternatives to be identified and scoped
in the NOI.
In addition to seeking area
nominations, this Call is requesting
information concerning geological
conditions, including bottom hazards;
archaeological sites on the seabed or
nearshore; multiple uses of the Program
Area, including navigation, recreation,
and fisheries; and other socioeconomic,
biological, and environmental
information, including but not limited
to, information regarding oil and gas
resource potential, sensitive habitats,
subsistence use, unique conditions, and
important other uses of the Program
Area. This Call and targeted leasing
strategy also embraces the principles of
an Integrated Arctic Management (IAM)
approach as defined by the Interagency
Working Group on Coordination of
Domestic Energy Development and
Permitting in Alaska in its Report to the
President: Managing for the Future in a
Rapidly Changing Arctic dated March
2013. The IAM approach was also
adopted as a key component of the
President’s National Strategy for the
Arctic Region, dated May 2013.
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Call for Information and Nominations
4. Nominations on This Call
1. Authority
Written nominations must be received
no later than November 12, 2013. In
their letters of nomination, interested
parties should describe explicitly their
interest by ranking the areas nominated
according to priority using five interest
classifications: (1) Critical interest, (2)
high interest, (3) general interest, (4) low
interest, or (5) no interest. The area(s)
nominated must be described accurately
and shown on the large-scale Call map
available at https://www.boem.gov/
leasesale237. An interested party
nominating areas for inclusion in the
sale must provide a detailed explanation
of the basis for classifying each
nominated area as (1) through (5),
including a summary of the relevant
geologic, geophysical, and economic
information. Interested parties are
encouraged to be as specific as possible
in prioritizing blocks and supporting
nominations of specific blocks in the
Program Area with detailed data and/or
information. Interested parties should
be prepared to discuss their range of
interest classifications and anticipated
activity regarding the nominated area(s).
Interested parties are requested to
provide the telephone number and
name of the individual to contact.
BOEM’s Alaska OCS Region office will
contact this individual to set up a
mutually agreeable meeting date and
time to review more fully the interested
parties level of interest where an area is
classified as critical interest or high
interest, and possibly as general interest.
Submittals should indicate
‘‘Nominations to Call for Chukchi Sea
Lease Sale 237.’’
To avoid inadvertent release of
proprietary information, interested
parties should mark all documents and
every page containing such information
with ‘‘Confidential—Contains
Proprietary Information.’’ To the extent
a document contains a mix of
proprietary and nonproprietary
information, interested parties should
mark clearly which portion of the
document is proprietary and which is
not. The OCSLA states that the
‘‘Secretary shall maintain the
confidentiality of all privileged or
proprietary data or information for such
period of time as is provided for in this
subchapter, established by regulation, or
agreed to by the parties’’ (43 U.S.C.
1344(g)). BOEM considers each
interested parties written nominations
of specific blocks to be proprietary, and
it will not release such information to
the public.
This Call is published pursuant to the
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act
(OCSLA), as amended (43 U.S.C. 1331–
1356), and the regulations issued
thereunder (30 CFR part 556).
2. Purpose of This Call
The purpose of this Call is to gather
information to determine the Area
Identification under 30 CFR 556.26 for
Lease Sale 237 in the Program Area.
BOEM seeks information and
nominations on oil and gas leasing,
exploration, development, and
production in the Program Area from all
interested parties. This early planning
and consultation step is important to
ensure that all interests and concerns
are communicated to the U.S.
Department of the Interior for
consideration in future decisions in the
leasing process pursuant to OCSLA and
the regulations at 30 CFR part 556.
3. Description of Program Area
The Program Area is located offshore
Alaska in the Chukchi Sea Planning
Area. The Chukchi Sea Planning Area
extends from the 3-nautical mile (4.8kilometer) limit of State of Alaska
waters, northward from approximately
latitude 68° 30′ N to latitude 75° N, and
from longitude 156° W (roughly north of
the village of Barrow) on the east to the
United States-Russia Provisional
Maritime Boundary on the west at
longitude 168° 58′ 37″ W. As identified
in the Five Year Program, the Program
Area is a sub-area of the larger Chukchi
Sea Planning Area. As depicted on the
page-size map accompanying this Call,
the southern boundary of the Program
Area generally begins about 25 nautical
miles offshore along the coastline,
except near Barrow, where it begins
approximately 50 nautical miles
offshore. The northern boundary of the
Program Area is approximately 300
nautical miles from shore. Water depths
vary from approximately 65 feet (20
meters) to more than 13,100 feet (4,000
meters) in the Program Area. This
Program Area consists of approximately
10,128 whole and partial blocks (about
55.16 million acres, or 22.32 million
hectares). A larger scale Call map
showing the boundaries and blocks of
the Program Area is available without
charge on the BOEM Web site at
https://www.boem.gov/leasesale237.
Copies of Official Protraction Diagrams
also are available without charge on the
Web site at https://www.boem.gov/Oiland-Gas-Energy-Program/Mapping-andData/Alaska.aspx.
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5. Exclusion Areas and Other Comments
BOEM is seeking recommendations
either to exclude specific blocks or areas
from oil and gas leasing, or to be leased
under special conditions due to
conflicting values, uses or
environmental concerns (hereinafter
referred to as ‘‘proposed exclusion
areas’’). Interested parties should
indicate proposed exclusion areas on
the large-scale Call map available at
https://www.boem.gov/leasesale237.
Interested parties also may use the
interactive map tool for the Arctic at
https://www.boem.gov/Oil-and-GasEnergy-Program/Leasing/Five-YearProgram/Lease-Sale-Schedule/
Interactive-Maps.aspx. Interested parties
are encouraged to be as specific as
possible in explaining why the area
should be excluded or leased under
special conditions, provide supporting
information, and be prepared to discuss
the proposed exclusion areas with
BOEM. Interested parties are requested
to provide the telephone number and
name of the individual to contact.
BOEM’s Alaska OCS Region office may
contact this individual to set up a
mutually agreeable meeting date and
time to review more fully the proposed
exclusion areas.
BOEM also is seeking comments and
information from all interested parties
regarding areas that should receive more
detailed consideration and analysis;
geological conditions, including bottom
hazards; archaeological sites on the
seabed or nearshore; other uses of the
Program Area, including navigation and
subsistence; and other socioeconomic,
biological, or environmental
information. BOEM previously had
received comments on the Program Area
as part of the Five Year Program
process. Those comments included
information on the importance of Hanna
Shoal and Herald Shoal. While already
excluded from the Program Area,
comments were also received on the Pt.
Barrow area, Kaseguluk Lagoon, Peard
Bay, the nearshore lead system, and the
bowhead whale migration area. While
BOEM will consider information
submitted previously on the Five Year
Program, BOEM also encourages
interested parties who submitted
comments on the Five Year Program to
refine their earlier comments and
provide greater detail or new
information, where appropriate,
concerning the importance of these
areas or associated activities.
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6. Submissions of Nominations,
Requests for Exclusion Areas, and Other
Comments
Interested parties who are requesting
area(s) for inclusion in the sale should
send their recommendations, along with
an explanation of the basis of their
interest priority, including a summary
of the relevant geologic, geophysical,
and economic information supporting
their nomination, to: Chief, Leasing
Section, BOEM, Alaska OCS Region,
3801 Centerpoint Drive, Suite 500,
Anchorage, Alaska 99503–5823.
Requests for proposed exclusion areas
or general proposed inclusion areas
(absent a formal nomination) and all
other comments to this Call, including
general information from interested
parties, Federal agencies, state and local
governments, tribes, and other
interested parties, will be accepted only
through https://www.regulations.gov,
using docket designation BOEM–2013–
0015. All comments received via this
Web site, including names and
addresses of the commenter, are public
and will be posted for public review.
BOEM will not consider anonymous
comments. BOEM will make available
all nonproprietary submissions in their
entirety on https://www.regulations.gov.
7. Tracking Table and Interactive Map
In the Five Year Program, BOEM
established a mitigation/program
tracking table (hereinafter referred to as
the ‘‘Table’’), which is designed to track
the history and treatment of suggestions
for inclusion or exclusion of acreage,
temporal deferrals, and/or mitigation
from the Five Year Program stage
through the lease sale stage to the plan
stage. This Table will allow commenters
to see how and where their concerns are
considered, while ensuring that a
reasonable concern not suitable for
consideration during one stage will be
considered at an appropriate subsequent
stage. The Table may be viewed at
https://www.boem.gov/Oil-and-GasEnergy-Program/Leasing/Five-YearProgram/Lease-Sale-Schedule/TrackingTable.aspx. Appropriate suggestions
collected during the comment period on
this Call will be added to the Table and
tracked throughout the process.
Additionally, BOEM has created an
interactive map through the
Multipurpose Marine Cadastre (MMC)
Web site for Alaska at https://
www.boem.gov/Oil-and-Gas-EnergyProgram/Leasing/Five-Year-Program/
Lease-Sale-Schedule/InteractiveMaps.aspx. The MMC is an integrated
marine information system that
provides a more comprehensive look at
geospatial data and ongoing activities
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and studies occurring in the area being
considered. If interested parties believe
that a data layer should be added for
consideration, they should provide this
information by following the
commenting instructions above.
Questions about the interactive map
may be addressed to Donna Dixon,
Chief, Leasing Division, at (703) 787–
1215.
8. Use of Information From This Call
BOEM is undertaking a strategy of
targeted leasing, whereby the BOEM
Director will use the information
provided in response to this Call to
make an Area Identification decision.
BOEM will consider nominations,
proposed exclusion areas, and areas
proposed to receive special
consideration and analysis, in light of
resource estimates, information
regarding exploratory drilling,
environmental reviews, and other
relevant information. Using this
information, BOEM plans to target
leasing by proactively determining
which specific portions of the Program
Area offer greater resource potential,
while minimizing potential conflicts
with environmental subsistence
considerations.
Information submitted in response to
this Call will be used to:
• Determine the Area Identification
under 30 CFR 556.26(a) and (b);
• Develop potential lease terms and
conditions;
• Identify potential use conflicts and
potential mitigation measures; and
• Assist in planning the NEPA
scoping process.
9. Existing Information
An extensive Environmental Studies
Program, including environmental,
social, and economic studies in the
Chukchi Sea Planning Area, has been
underway in the Alaska OCS Region
since 1976. The emphasis has been on
environmental characterization of
biologically sensitive habitats, marine
mammals, physical oceanography,
ocean-circulation modeling, subsistence
uses, and ecological and sociocultural
effects of oil and gas activities.
Information on the BOEM
Environmental Studies Program,
completed studies, and a program status
report for continuing studies in this area
is available on the BOEM Web site at
https://www.boem.gov/akstudies, or it
may be obtained from the Chief,
Environmental Sciences Management
Section, Alaska OCS Region, by
telephone request at (907) 334–5200.
NEPA analyses were prepared for
previous OCS lease sales held in the
Chukchi Sea Planning Area. Previous
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NEPA analyses for Chukchi Sea lease
sales and other actions are available at
https://www.boem.gov/About-BOEM/
BOEM-Regions/Alaska-Region/
Environment/Environmental-Analysis/
Environmental-Impact-Statements-and-Major-EnvironmentalAssessments.aspx. Currently, there are
460 active OCS oil and gas leases in the
Chukchi Sea Planning Area,
encompassing an area of approximately
2.7 million acres (1.0 million hectares).
Information on the leases and other
lease-related activities is available at
https://www.boem.gov/About-BOEM/
BOEM-Regions/Alaska-Region/Leasingand-Plans/Index.aspx.
Dated: September 23, 2013.
Tommy P. Beaudreau,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management.
[FR Doc. 2013–23670 Filed 9–26–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P
To submit
comments:
Send them to:
By e-mail .....
pubcomment-ees.enrd@
usdoj.gov.
Assistant Attorney General,
U.S. DOJ—ENRD, P.O. Box
7611, Washington, DC
20044–7611.
By mail ........
During the public comment period,
the Consent Decree may be examined
and downloaded at this Justice
Department Web site: https://
www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_
Decrees.html. We will provide a paper
copy of the Consent Decree upon
written request and payment of
reproduction costs. Please mail your
request and payment to: Consent Decree
Library, U.S. DOJ—ENRD, P.O. Box
7611, Washington, DC 20044–7611.
Please enclose a check or money order
for $9.00 (25 cents per page
reproduction cost) payable to the United
States Treasury.
Thomas P. Carroll,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental
Enforcement Section, Environment and
Natural Resources Division.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
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Notice of Lodging of Proposed
Consent Decree Under the Clean Air
Act
[FR Doc. 2013–23620 Filed 9–26–13; 8:45 am]
On September 19, 2013, the
Department of Justice lodged a proposed
Consent Decree with the United States
District Court for the Southern District
of Texas in the lawsuit entitled United
States v CITGO Petroleum Corporation,
Case No. 4:13-cv-02762.
The Consent Decree resolves the
claims of the United States set forth in
the complaint against CITGO Petroleum
Corporation for violations of Section
211 of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C.
7445, and the regulations promulgated
thereunder at 40 CFR part 80 (the ‘‘fuels
regulations’’), during production of
gasoline at its Lake Charles, Louisiana,
and Lemont, Illinois refineries. Under
the proposed Consent Decree, CITGO
has agreed to pay a civil penalty of
$737,000 and to perform environmental
mitigation projects valued at $500,000.
The publication of this notice opens
a period for public comment on the
Consent Decree. Comments should be
addressed to the Assistant Attorney
General, Environment and Natural
Resources Division, and should refer to
United States of America v. CITGO
Petroleum Corporation, D.J. Ref. No. 90–
5–2–1–10162. All comments must be
submitted no later than thirty (30) days
after the publication date of this notice.
Comments may be submitted either by
email or by mail:
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
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BILLING CODE 4410–15–P
Notice of Lodging of Proposed
Settlement Agreement Under the
Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act
On September 2, 2013, a proposed
Settlement Agreement was lodged with
the United States Bankruptcy Court for
the Central District of California in the
case entitled In re Halaco Engineering
Company, Case No. 9:02–bk–12255–RR
(Bankr. C.D. Cal.).
In 2006, the United States, on behalf
of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (‘‘EPA’’), the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration of the
Department of Commerce (‘‘NOAA’’),
and the Fish and Wildlife Service of the
Department of Interior (‘‘FWS’’) filed in
the above bankruptcy action a Proof of
Claim for environmental response costs,
natural resource damages, and natural
resource damage assessment costs
pursuant to Section 107 of the
Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act (‘‘CERCLA’’), 42 U.S.C. 9607,
relating to the Halaco Superfund Site in
Oxnard, California. In 2010, the United
States filed a Request for Payment of
Environmental Response Costs as
Chapter 7 Administrative Expenses and
Updated Proof of Claim. Under the
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Settlement Agreement, the Chapter 7
Bankruptcy Trustee has agreed to
provide to EPA an allowed $335,686
Chapter 7 administrative priority claim
and an allowed $52,593,544 general
unsecured claim; to NOAA, an allowed
$487,199 general unsecured claim; and
to FWS, an allowed $329,267 general
unsecured claim. The Settlement
Agreement further provides the United
States with a judgment for the allowed
claims above and an assignment of
insurance rights and policies owned by
the debtor, Halaco Engineering
Company. The Settlement Agreement
separately resolves non-CERCLA statelaw claims asserted in the bankruptcy
action by the California Regional Water
Quality Control Board, Los Angeles
Region, and the California State Water
Quality Control Board.
The publication of this notice opens
a period for public comment on the
proposed settlement agreement.
Comments should be addressed to the
Assistant Attorney General,
Environment and Natural Resources
Division, and should refer to In re
Halaco Engineering Company, Case No.
9:02–bk–12255–RR (Bankr. C.D. Cal.),
D.J. Ref. No. 90–11–2–08829. All
comments must be submitted no later
than thirty (30) days after the
publication date of this notice.
Comments may be submitted either by
email or by mail:
To submit
comments:
Send them to:
By e-mail .....
pubcomment-ees.enrd@
usdoj.gov.
Assistant Attorney General,
U.S. DOJ—ENRD, P.O. Box
7611, Washington, DC
20044–7611.
By mail ........
During the public comment period,
the proposed consent decree may be
examined and downloaded at this
Justice Department Web site: https://
www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_
Decrees.html. We will provide a paper
copy of the proposed consent decree
upon written request and payment of
reproduction costs. Please mail your
request and payment to: Consent Decree
Library, U.S. DOJ—ENRD, P.O. Box
7611, Washington, DC 20044–7611.
Please enclose a check or money order
for $12.75 (25 cents per page
reproduction cost) payable to the United
States Treasury.
Henry Friedman,
Assistant Section Chief, Environmental
Enforcement Section, Environment and
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2013–23500 Filed 9–26–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410–15–P
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[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 188 (Friday, September 27, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59715-59718]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-23670]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
[MMAA104000; Lease Sale 237]
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Alaska OCS Region, Chukchi Sea
Planning Area, Proposed Oil and Gas Lease Sale 237
AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Interior.
ACTION: Call for Information and Nominations.
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SUMMARY: This Call for Information and Nominations (``Call'') is the
initial step in the prelease process for Lease Sale 237 in the Chukchi
Sea Planning Area, scheduled to be held in 2016, as included in the
Proposed Final OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program 2012-2017 (``Five Year
Program''). The purpose of this Call is to obtain nominations and
information on oil and gas leasing, exploration, and development that
might result from an OCS oil and gas lease sale for the Chukchi Sea
Planning Area. The lease sale area addressed in this Call (``Program
Area'') is located offshore Alaska in the Chukchi Sea Planning Area. As
identified in the Five Year Program, the Program Area is a sub-area of
the larger Chukchi Sea Planning Area.
DATES: All responses to the Call must be received no later than
November 12, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael S. Rolland, Chief, Leasing
Section, BOEM, Alaska OCS Region, 3801 Centerpoint Drive, Suite 500,
Anchorage, Alaska 99503-5823, or at (907) 334-5271.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Five Year Program states: While BOEM has
determined that it is appropriate to continue areawide leasing in the
GOM. . . . BOEM will not be conducting areawide leasing in the Arctic,
consistent with rigorous internal analysis as well as a number of
outside recommendations to develop alternative leasing approaches for
Arctic areas. Rather, potential sales are deliberately set late in the
five year program schedule to allow for further analysis and
information-gathering. These would be geographically targeted in scope,
in
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order to achieve an appropriate balance between making resources
available while limiting conflicts with environmentally sensitive areas
and subsistence use by making certain determinations from the outset
about which blocks within the planning areas are most suitable for
leasing. See, Proposed Final Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas
Leasing Program 2012-2017, page 94.
In light of the targeted leasing strategy for the Arctic in the
current Five Year Program, this Call differs in two ways from Calls
issued in the Gulf of Mexico and in earlier Calls issued in the Alaska
OCS Region under previous Five Year Programs: (1) Because the leasing
will not be areawide, BOEM is requesting more specific nominations
within the Program Area (as defined below), including specific support
of those nominations in terms of geological and geophysical data, and
(2) this Call is not accompanied by a Notice of Intent to Prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement (NOI). After BOEM identifies the area
for the proposed lease sale based upon the information and nominations
received from this Call, BOEM will initiate the formal National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process through publication of an NOI.
By proceeding in this order, BOEM will be able to use the information
obtained through this Call in developing the proposed action and
possible alternatives to be identified and scoped in the NOI.
In addition to seeking area nominations, this Call is requesting
information concerning geological conditions, including bottom hazards;
archaeological sites on the seabed or nearshore; multiple uses of the
Program Area, including navigation, recreation, and fisheries; and
other socioeconomic, biological, and environmental information,
including but not limited to, information regarding oil and gas
resource potential, sensitive habitats, subsistence use, unique
conditions, and important other uses of the Program Area. This Call and
targeted leasing strategy also embraces the principles of an Integrated
Arctic Management (IAM) approach as defined by the Interagency Working
Group on Coordination of Domestic Energy Development and Permitting in
Alaska in its Report to the President: Managing for the Future in a
Rapidly Changing Arctic dated March 2013. The IAM approach was also
adopted as a key component of the President's National Strategy for the
Arctic Region, dated May 2013.
Call for Information and Nominations
1. Authority
This Call is published pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf
Lands Act (OCSLA), as amended (43 U.S.C. 1331-1356), and the
regulations issued thereunder (30 CFR part 556).
2. Purpose of This Call
The purpose of this Call is to gather information to determine the
Area Identification under 30 CFR 556.26 for Lease Sale 237 in the
Program Area. BOEM seeks information and nominations on oil and gas
leasing, exploration, development, and production in the Program Area
from all interested parties. This early planning and consultation step
is important to ensure that all interests and concerns are communicated
to the U.S. Department of the Interior for consideration in future
decisions in the leasing process pursuant to OCSLA and the regulations
at 30 CFR part 556.
3. Description of Program Area
The Program Area is located offshore Alaska in the Chukchi Sea
Planning Area. The Chukchi Sea Planning Area extends from the 3-
nautical mile (4.8-kilometer) limit of State of Alaska waters,
northward from approximately latitude 68[deg] 30' N to latitude 75[deg]
N, and from longitude 156[deg] W (roughly north of the village of
Barrow) on the east to the United States-Russia Provisional Maritime
Boundary on the west at longitude 168[deg] 58' 37'' W. As identified in
the Five Year Program, the Program Area is a sub-area of the larger
Chukchi Sea Planning Area. As depicted on the page-size map
accompanying this Call, the southern boundary of the Program Area
generally begins about 25 nautical miles offshore along the coastline,
except near Barrow, where it begins approximately 50 nautical miles
offshore. The northern boundary of the Program Area is approximately
300 nautical miles from shore. Water depths vary from approximately 65
feet (20 meters) to more than 13,100 feet (4,000 meters) in the Program
Area. This Program Area consists of approximately 10,128 whole and
partial blocks (about 55.16 million acres, or 22.32 million hectares).
A larger scale Call map showing the boundaries and blocks of the
Program Area is available without charge on the BOEM Web site at https://www.boem.gov/leasesale237. Copies of Official Protraction Diagrams
also are available without charge on the Web site at https://www.boem.gov/Oil-and-Gas-Energy-Program/Mapping-and-Data/Alaska.aspx.
4. Nominations on This Call
Written nominations must be received no later than November 12,
2013. In their letters of nomination, interested parties should
describe explicitly their interest by ranking the areas nominated
according to priority using five interest classifications: (1) Critical
interest, (2) high interest, (3) general interest, (4) low interest, or
(5) no interest. The area(s) nominated must be described accurately and
shown on the large-scale Call map available at https://www.boem.gov/leasesale237. An interested party nominating areas for inclusion in the
sale must provide a detailed explanation of the basis for classifying
each nominated area as (1) through (5), including a summary of the
relevant geologic, geophysical, and economic information. Interested
parties are encouraged to be as specific as possible in prioritizing
blocks and supporting nominations of specific blocks in the Program
Area with detailed data and/or information. Interested parties should
be prepared to discuss their range of interest classifications and
anticipated activity regarding the nominated area(s). Interested
parties are requested to provide the telephone number and name of the
individual to contact. BOEM's Alaska OCS Region office will contact
this individual to set up a mutually agreeable meeting date and time to
review more fully the interested parties level of interest where an
area is classified as critical interest or high interest, and possibly
as general interest. Submittals should indicate ``Nominations to Call
for Chukchi Sea Lease Sale 237.''
To avoid inadvertent release of proprietary information, interested
parties should mark all documents and every page containing such
information with ``Confidential--Contains Proprietary Information.'' To
the extent a document contains a mix of proprietary and nonproprietary
information, interested parties should mark clearly which portion of
the document is proprietary and which is not. The OCSLA states that the
``Secretary shall maintain the confidentiality of all privileged or
proprietary data or information for such period of time as is provided
for in this subchapter, established by regulation, or agreed to by the
parties'' (43 U.S.C. 1344(g)). BOEM considers each interested parties
written nominations of specific blocks to be proprietary, and it will
not release such information to the public.
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5. Exclusion Areas and Other Comments
BOEM is seeking recommendations either to exclude specific blocks
or areas from oil and gas leasing, or to be leased under special
conditions due to conflicting values, uses or environmental concerns
(hereinafter referred to as ``proposed exclusion areas''). Interested
parties should indicate proposed exclusion areas on the large-scale
Call map available at https://www.boem.gov/leasesale237. Interested
parties also may use the interactive map tool for the Arctic at https://www.boem.gov/Oil-and-Gas-Energy-Program/Leasing/Five-Year-Program/Lease-Sale-Schedule/Interactive-Maps.aspx. Interested parties are
encouraged to be as specific as possible in explaining why the area
should be excluded or leased under special conditions, provide
supporting information, and be prepared to discuss the proposed
exclusion areas with BOEM. Interested parties are requested to provide
the telephone number and name of the individual to contact. BOEM's
Alaska OCS Region office may contact this individual to set up a
mutually agreeable meeting date and time to review more fully the
proposed exclusion areas.
BOEM also is seeking comments and information from all interested
parties regarding areas that should receive more detailed consideration
and analysis; geological conditions, including bottom hazards;
archaeological sites on the seabed or nearshore; other uses of the
Program Area, including navigation and subsistence; and other
socioeconomic, biological, or environmental information. BOEM
previously had received comments on the Program Area as part of the
Five Year Program process. Those comments included information on the
importance of Hanna Shoal and Herald Shoal. While already excluded from
the Program Area, comments were also received on the Pt. Barrow area,
Kaseguluk Lagoon, Peard Bay, the nearshore lead system, and the bowhead
whale migration area. While BOEM will consider information submitted
previously on the Five Year Program, BOEM also encourages interested
parties who submitted comments on the Five Year Program to refine their
earlier comments and provide greater detail or new information, where
appropriate, concerning the importance of these areas or associated
activities.
6. Submissions of Nominations, Requests for Exclusion Areas, and Other
Comments
Interested parties who are requesting area(s) for inclusion in the
sale should send their recommendations, along with an explanation of
the basis of their interest priority, including a summary of the
relevant geologic, geophysical, and economic information supporting
their nomination, to: Chief, Leasing Section, BOEM, Alaska OCS Region,
3801 Centerpoint Drive, Suite 500, Anchorage, Alaska 99503-5823.
Requests for proposed exclusion areas or general proposed inclusion
areas (absent a formal nomination) and all other comments to this Call,
including general information from interested parties, Federal
agencies, state and local governments, tribes, and other interested
parties, will be accepted only through https://www.regulations.gov,
using docket designation BOEM-2013-0015. All comments received via this
Web site, including names and addresses of the commenter, are public
and will be posted for public review. BOEM will not consider anonymous
comments. BOEM will make available all nonproprietary submissions in
their entirety on https://www.regulations.gov.
7. Tracking Table and Interactive Map
In the Five Year Program, BOEM established a mitigation/program
tracking table (hereinafter referred to as the ``Table''), which is
designed to track the history and treatment of suggestions for
inclusion or exclusion of acreage, temporal deferrals, and/or
mitigation from the Five Year Program stage through the lease sale
stage to the plan stage. This Table will allow commenters to see how
and where their concerns are considered, while ensuring that a
reasonable concern not suitable for consideration during one stage will
be considered at an appropriate subsequent stage. The Table may be
viewed at https://www.boem.gov/Oil-and-Gas-Energy-Program/Leasing/Five-Year-Program/Lease-Sale-Schedule/Tracking-Table.aspx. Appropriate
suggestions collected during the comment period on this Call will be
added to the Table and tracked throughout the process.
Additionally, BOEM has created an interactive map through the
Multipurpose Marine Cadastre (MMC) Web site for Alaska at https://www.boem.gov/Oil-and-Gas-Energy-Program/Leasing/Five-Year-Program/Lease-Sale-Schedule/Interactive-Maps.aspx. The MMC is an integrated
marine information system that provides a more comprehensive look at
geospatial data and ongoing activities and studies occurring in the
area being considered. If interested parties believe that a data layer
should be added for consideration, they should provide this information
by following the commenting instructions above. Questions about the
interactive map may be addressed to Donna Dixon, Chief, Leasing
Division, at (703) 787-1215.
8. Use of Information From This Call
BOEM is undertaking a strategy of targeted leasing, whereby the
BOEM Director will use the information provided in response to this
Call to make an Area Identification decision. BOEM will consider
nominations, proposed exclusion areas, and areas proposed to receive
special consideration and analysis, in light of resource estimates,
information regarding exploratory drilling, environmental reviews, and
other relevant information. Using this information, BOEM plans to
target leasing by proactively determining which specific portions of
the Program Area offer greater resource potential, while minimizing
potential conflicts with environmental subsistence considerations.
Information submitted in response to this Call will be used to:
Determine the Area Identification under 30 CFR 556.26(a)
and (b);
Develop potential lease terms and conditions;
Identify potential use conflicts and potential mitigation
measures; and
Assist in planning the NEPA scoping process.
9. Existing Information
An extensive Environmental Studies Program, including
environmental, social, and economic studies in the Chukchi Sea Planning
Area, has been underway in the Alaska OCS Region since 1976. The
emphasis has been on environmental characterization of biologically
sensitive habitats, marine mammals, physical oceanography, ocean-
circulation modeling, subsistence uses, and ecological and
sociocultural effects of oil and gas activities. Information on the
BOEM Environmental Studies Program, completed studies, and a program
status report for continuing studies in this area is available on the
BOEM Web site at https://www.boem.gov/akstudies, or it may be obtained
from the Chief, Environmental Sciences Management Section, Alaska OCS
Region, by telephone request at (907) 334-5200.
NEPA analyses were prepared for previous OCS lease sales held in
the Chukchi Sea Planning Area. Previous
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NEPA analyses for Chukchi Sea lease sales and other actions are
available at https://www.boem.gov/About-BOEM/BOEM-Regions/Alaska-Region/Environment/Environmental-Analysis/Environmental-Impact-Statements-and--Major-Environmental-Assessments.aspx. Currently, there are 460 active
OCS oil and gas leases in the Chukchi Sea Planning Area, encompassing
an area of approximately 2.7 million acres (1.0 million hectares).
Information on the leases and other lease-related activities is
available at https://www.boem.gov/About-BOEM/BOEM-Regions/Alaska-Region/Leasing-and-Plans/Index.aspx.
Dated: September 23, 2013.
Tommy P. Beaudreau,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[FR Doc. 2013-23670 Filed 9-26-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P
