Outer Continental Shelf, Gulf of Mexico, Oil and Gas Lease Sales, Western Planning Area Lease Sale 248 MMAA 104000, 16693-16694 [2015-07325]
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 60 / Monday, March 30, 2015 / Notices
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Henlopen Acres ..........................................................................
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[FR Doc. 2015–07148 Filed 3–27–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110–12–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Outer Continental Shelf, Gulf of
Mexico, Oil and Gas Lease Sales,
Western Planning Area Lease Sale 248
MMAA 104000
Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management (BOEM), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare a
Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement and Announcement of
Scoping Meetings and Comment Period
for Proposed Gulf of Mexico Outer
Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Western
Planning Area Lease Sale 248.
AGENCY:
Consistent with the
regulations implementing the National
Environmental Policy Act, as amended
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) (NEPA), BOEM
is announcing its intent to prepare a
Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) for proposed Western
Planning Area (WPA) Lease Sale 248 in
the Gulf of Mexico (WPA 248
Supplemental EIS). The WPA 248
Supplemental EIS will update the
environmental and socioeconomic
analyses in the Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil
and Gas Lease Sales: 2012–2017;
Western Planning Area Lease Sales 229,
233, 238, 246, and 248; Central
Planning Area Lease Sales 227, 231,
235, 241, and 247, Final Environmental
Impact Statement (2012–2017 WPA/
CPA Multisale EIS; OCS EIS/EA BOEM
2012–019); Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and
Gas Lease Sales: 2013–2014; Western
Planning Area Lease Sale 233; Central
Planning Area Lease Sale 231, Final
Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement (WPA 233/CPA 231
Supplemental EIS; OCS EIS/EA BOEM
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:57 Mar 27, 2015
Jkt 235001
16693
Town Hall, 33134 Main Street, Dagsboro, DE 19939.
Town Hall, 105 Rodney Avenue, Dewey Beach, DE 19971.
Building Department, 800 Coastal Highway, Fenwick Island, DE 19944.
Town Hall, 100 West Market Street, Greenwood, DE 19950.
Henlopen Acres Town Hall, 104 Tidewater Road, Rehoboth Beach, DE
19971.
Code Enforcement Office, 201 Mechanic Street, Laurel, DE 19956.
Town Center, 322 Wilson Highway, Millsboro, DE 19966.
Town Hall, 36404 Club House Road, Millville, DE 19967.
Town Hall, 115 Federal Street, Milton, DE 19968.
Wallace A. Melson Municipal Building, 201 Central Avenue, 2nd Floor,
Ocean View, DE 19970.
Town Office, Memorial Fire Company Station 89, 2nd Floor, 359 Bay
Avenue, Slaughter Beach, DE 19963.
Sussex County Planning and Zoning Department, 2 The Circle,
Georgetown, DE 19947.
2013–0118); Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil
and Gas Lease Sales: 2014–2016;
Western Planning Area Lease Sales 238,
246, and 248, Final Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement (WPA
238, 246, and 248 Supplemental EIS;
OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2014–009); and Gulf
of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales:
2015 and 2016; Western Planning Area
Lease Sales 246 and 248, Final
Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement (WPA 246 and 248
Supplemental EIS; OCS EIS/EA BOEM
2015–008).
The WPA 248 Supplemental EIS will
supplement the NEPA documents cited
above for the proposed lease sale in
order to consider new circumstances
and information arising from, among
other things, the Deepwater Horizon
explosion, oil spill, and response. It will
focus on updating the baseline
conditions and any new information on
the potential environmental effects of
oil and natural gas leasing, exploration,
development, and production in the
WPA identified through the Area
Identification procedure as the proposed
lease sale area. In addition to the no
action alternative (i.e., canceling the
proposed lease sale), other alternatives
may be considered for the proposed
WPA lease sale, such as deferring
certain areas from the proposed lease
sale area.
DATES: Comments should be submitted
by April 29, 2015 to the address
specified above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
information on the WPA 248
Supplemental EIS, the submission of
comments, or BOEM’s policies
associated with this notice, please
contact: Mr. Gary D. Goeke, Chief,
Environmental Assessment Section,
Office of Environment (GM 623E),
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,
Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201
Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans,
PO 00000
Frm 00078
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Louisiana 70123–2394, telephone 504–
736–3233.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August
27, 2012, the Secretary of the Interior
approved as final the Proposed Final
OCS Oil & Gas Leasing Program: 2012–
2017 (Five-Year Program). This
Supplemental EIS will consider the one
remaining WPA lease sale for this 2012–
2017 Five-Year Program. The proposed
WPA lease sale area encompasses
virtually all of the WPA’s 28.58 million
acres, with the exception of whole and
partial blocks within the boundary of
the Flower Garden Banks National
Marine Sanctuary.
This Federal Register notice is not an
announcement to hold the proposed
lease sale, but it is a continuation of
information gathering and is published
early in the environmental review
process in furtherance of the goals of
NEPA. Once the NEPA process and
WPA 248 Supplemental EIS is
completed, the WPA 248 Supplemental
EIS content will be summarized in
presale documentation prepared during
the decisionmaking process for WPA
Lease Sale 248. If, after completion of
the WPA 248 Supplemental EIS, the
Department of the Interior’s Assistant
Secretary for Land and Minerals
Management decides to hold the lease
sale, then the lease sale area identified
in the final Notice of Sale may exclude
or defer certain lease blocks from the
area offered. However, for purposes of
the WPA 248 Supplemental EIS and to
adequately assess the potential impacts
of an areawide lease sale, BOEM will
consider all unleased blocks that may be
offered in proposed WPA Lease Sale
248.
Scoping Process: This Notice of Intent
(NOI) serves to announce the scoping
process for identifying issues and
alternatives to consider in the WPA 248
Supplemental EIS. Throughout the
scoping process, Federal, State, Tribal,
E:\FR\FM\30MRN1.SGM
30MRN1
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
16694
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 60 / Monday, March 30, 2015 / Notices
and local governments and the general
public have the opportunity to help
BOEM determine significant resources
and issues, impacting factors,
reasonable alternatives, and potential
mitigating measures to be analyzed in
the WPA 248 Supplemental EIS and to
provide additional information. BOEM
will also use the NEPA commenting
process to initiate the Section 106
consultation process of the National
Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C.
470f), as provided for in 36 CFR
800.2(d)(3).
Pursuant to the regulations
implementing the procedural provisions
of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), BOEM
will hold public scoping meetings in
Texas and Louisiana on the WPA 248
Supplemental EIS. The purpose of these
meetings is to solicit comments on the
scope of the WPA 248 Supplemental
EIS. BOEM’s scoping meetings will be
held at the following places and times:
• Houston, Texas: Tuesday, April 14,
2015, Houston Airport Marriott at
George Bush Intercontinental, 18700
John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Houston,
Texas 77032, one meeting beginning at
1:00 p.m. CDT; and
• New Orleans, Louisiana: Thursday,
April 16, 2015, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS
Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard,
New Orleans, Louisiana 70123, one
meeting beginning at 1:00 p.m. CDT.
Cooperating Agency: BOEM invites
other Federal, State, Tribal, and local
governments to consider becoming
cooperating agencies in the preparation
of the WPA 248 Supplemental EIS. We
invite qualified government entities to
inquire about cooperating agency status
for the WPA 248 Supplemental EIS.
Following the guidelines from the
Council on Environmental Quality
(CEQ), qualified agencies and
governments are those with
‘‘jurisdiction by law or special
expertise.’’ Potential cooperating
agencies should consider their authority
and capacity to assume the
responsibilities of a cooperating agency,
and remember that an agency’s role in
the environmental analysis neither
enlarges nor diminishes the final
decisionmaking authority of any other
agency involved in the NEPA process.
Upon request, BOEM will provide
potential cooperating agencies with a
written summary of 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. BOEM
anticipates this summary will form the
basis of a Memorandum of Agreement
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:57 Mar 27, 2015
Jkt 235001
between BOEM and any cooperating
agency. Agencies should also consider
the ‘‘Factors for Determining
Cooperating Agency Status’’ in
Attachment 1 to CEQ’s January 30, 2002,
Memorandum for the Heads of Federal
Agencies: Cooperating Agencies in
Implementing the Procedural
Requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act. These
documents are available at the following
locations on the Internet: https://ceq.hss.
doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/.html;
and https://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/
cooperating/.html.
BOEM, as the lead agency, will not
provide financial assistance to
cooperating agencies. Even if an
organization is not a cooperating
agency, opportunities will exist to
provide information and comments to
BOEM during the normal public input
stages of the NEPA/EIS process. For
further information about cooperating
agencies, please contact Mr. Gary D.
Goeke at 504–736–3233.
Comments: All interested parties,
including Federal, State, Tribal, and
local governments, and other interested
parties, may submit written comments
on the scope of the WPA 248
Supplemental EIS, significant issues
that should be addressed, alternatives
that should be considered, potential
mitigating measures, and the types of oil
and gas activities of interest in the
proposed WPA 248 lease sale area.
Written scoping comments may be
submitted in one of the following ways:
1. In an envelope labeled ‘‘Scoping
Comments for the WPA 248
Supplemental EIS’’ and mailed (or hand
delivered) to Mr. Gary D. Goeke, Chief,
Environmental Assessment Section,
Office of Environment (GM 623E),
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,
Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201
Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans,
Louisiana 70123–2394;
2. Through the regulations.gov web portal:
Navigate to https://www.regulations.gov
and search for ‘‘Oil and Gas Lease Sales:
Gulf of Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf;
Western Planning Area Lease Sale 248’’
(Note: It is important to include the
quotation marks in your search terms).
Click on the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ button to
the right of the document link. Enter
your information and comment, then
click ‘‘Submit’’; or
3. Through BOEM’s email address: wpa248@
boem.gov.
Petitions, although accepted, do not
generally provide useful information to
assist in the development of
alternatives, resources, and issues to be
analyzed, or impacting factors. BOEM
does not consider anonymous
comments; please include your name
and address as part of your submittal.
PO 00000
Frm 00079
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
BOEM makes all comments, including
the names and addresses of
respondents, available for public review
during regular business hours.
Individual respondents may request that
BOEM withhold their names and/or
addresses from the public record;
however, BOEM cannot guarantee that
we will be able to do so. If you wish
your name and/or address to be
withheld, you must state your
preference prominently at the beginning
of your comment. All submissions from
organizations or businesses and from
individuals identifying themselves as
representatives or officials of
organizations or businesses will be
made available for public inspection in
their entirety.
Authority: This NOI is published pursuant
to the regulations (40 CFR 1501. 7)
implementing the provisions of NEPA.
Dated: March 25, 2015.
Abigail Ross Hopper,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management.
[FR Doc. 2015–07325 Filed 3–27–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS–HQ–IA–2015–N061;
FXIA16710900000–156–FF09A30000]
Endangered Species; Marine
Mammals; Receipt of Applications for
Permit
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of receipt of applications
for permit.
AGENCY:
We, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, invite the public to
comment on the following applications
to conduct certain activities with
endangered species, marine mammals,
or both. With some exceptions, the
Endangered Species Act (ESA) and
Marine Mammal Protection Act
(MMPA) prohibit activities with listed
species unless Federal authorization is
acquired that allows such activities.
DATES: We must receive comments or
requests for documents on or before
April 29, 2015. We must receive
requests for marine mammal permit
public hearings, in writing, at the
address shown in the ADDRESSES section
by April 29, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Brenda Tapia, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Division of
Management Authority, Branch of
Permits, MS: IA, 5275 Leesburg Pike,
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\30MRN1.SGM
30MRN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 60 (Monday, March 30, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16693-16694]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-07325]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Outer Continental Shelf, Gulf of Mexico, Oil and Gas Lease Sales,
Western Planning Area Lease Sale 248 MMAA 104000
AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement and Announcement of Scoping Meetings and Comment Period for
Proposed Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Western
Planning Area Lease Sale 248.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Consistent with the regulations implementing the National
Environmental Policy Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) (NEPA),
BOEM is announcing its intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) for proposed Western Planning Area (WPA) Lease
Sale 248 in the Gulf of Mexico (WPA 248 Supplemental EIS). The WPA 248
Supplemental EIS will update the environmental and socioeconomic
analyses in the Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2012-2017;
Western Planning Area Lease Sales 229, 233, 238, 246, and 248; Central
Planning Area Lease Sales 227, 231, 235, 241, and 247, Final
Environmental Impact Statement (2012-2017 WPA/CPA Multisale EIS; OCS
EIS/EA BOEM 2012-019); Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales:
2013-2014; Western Planning Area Lease Sale 233; Central Planning Area
Lease Sale 231, Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (WPA
233/CPA 231 Supplemental EIS; OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2013-0118); Gulf of
Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2014-2016; Western Planning Area
Lease Sales 238, 246, and 248, Final Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement (WPA 238, 246, and 248 Supplemental EIS; OCS EIS/EA BOEM
2014-009); and Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2015 and
2016; Western Planning Area Lease Sales 246 and 248, Final Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement (WPA 246 and 248 Supplemental EIS; OCS
EIS/EA BOEM 2015-008).
The WPA 248 Supplemental EIS will supplement the NEPA documents
cited above for the proposed lease sale in order to consider new
circumstances and information arising from, among other things, the
Deepwater Horizon explosion, oil spill, and response. It will focus on
updating the baseline conditions and any new information on the
potential environmental effects of oil and natural gas leasing,
exploration, development, and production in the WPA identified through
the Area Identification procedure as the proposed lease sale area. In
addition to the no action alternative (i.e., canceling the proposed
lease sale), other alternatives may be considered for the proposed WPA
lease sale, such as deferring certain areas from the proposed lease
sale area.
DATES: Comments should be submitted by April 29, 2015 to the address
specified above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the WPA 248
Supplemental EIS, the submission of comments, or BOEM's policies
associated with this notice, please contact: Mr. Gary D. Goeke, Chief,
Environmental Assessment Section, Office of Environment (GM 623E),
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201
Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394, telephone
504-736-3233.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 27, 2012, the Secretary of the
Interior approved as final the Proposed Final OCS Oil & Gas Leasing
Program: 2012-2017 (Five-Year Program). This Supplemental EIS will
consider the one remaining WPA lease sale for this 2012-2017 Five-Year
Program. The proposed WPA lease sale area encompasses virtually all of
the WPA's 28.58 million acres, with the exception of whole and partial
blocks within the boundary of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine
Sanctuary.
This Federal Register notice is not an announcement to hold the
proposed lease sale, but it is a continuation of information gathering
and is published early in the environmental review process in
furtherance of the goals of NEPA. Once the NEPA process and WPA 248
Supplemental EIS is completed, the WPA 248 Supplemental EIS content
will be summarized in presale documentation prepared during the
decisionmaking process for WPA Lease Sale 248. If, after completion of
the WPA 248 Supplemental EIS, the Department of the Interior's
Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management decides to hold
the lease sale, then the lease sale area identified in the final Notice
of Sale may exclude or defer certain lease blocks from the area
offered. However, for purposes of the WPA 248 Supplemental EIS and to
adequately assess the potential impacts of an areawide lease sale, BOEM
will consider all unleased blocks that may be offered in proposed WPA
Lease Sale 248.
Scoping Process: This Notice of Intent (NOI) serves to announce the
scoping process for identifying issues and alternatives to consider in
the WPA 248 Supplemental EIS. Throughout the scoping process, Federal,
State, Tribal,
[[Page 16694]]
and local governments and the general public have the opportunity to
help BOEM determine significant resources and issues, impacting
factors, reasonable alternatives, and potential mitigating measures to
be analyzed in the WPA 248 Supplemental EIS and to provide additional
information. BOEM will also use the NEPA commenting process to initiate
the Section 106 consultation process of the National Historic
Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470f), as provided for in 36 CFR
800.2(d)(3).
Pursuant to the regulations implementing the procedural provisions
of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), BOEM will hold public scoping
meetings in Texas and Louisiana on the WPA 248 Supplemental EIS. The
purpose of these meetings is to solicit comments on the scope of the
WPA 248 Supplemental EIS. BOEM's scoping meetings will be held at the
following places and times:
Houston, Texas: Tuesday, April 14, 2015, Houston Airport
Marriott at George Bush Intercontinental, 18700 John F. Kennedy
Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77032, one meeting beginning at 1:00 p.m.
CDT; and
New Orleans, Louisiana: Thursday, April 16, 2015, Bureau
of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood
Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123, one meeting beginning at
1:00 p.m. CDT.
Cooperating Agency: BOEM invites other Federal, State, Tribal, and
local governments to consider becoming cooperating agencies in the
preparation of the WPA 248 Supplemental EIS. We invite qualified
government entities to inquire about cooperating agency status for the
WPA 248 Supplemental EIS. Following the guidelines from the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ), qualified agencies and governments are
those with ``jurisdiction by law or special expertise.'' Potential
cooperating agencies should consider their authority and capacity to
assume the responsibilities of a cooperating agency, and remember that
an agency's role in the environmental analysis neither enlarges nor
diminishes the final decisionmaking authority of any other agency
involved in the NEPA process. Upon request, BOEM will provide potential
cooperating agencies with a written summary of 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.
BOEM anticipates this summary will form the basis of a Memorandum of
Agreement between BOEM and any cooperating agency. Agencies should also
consider the ``Factors for Determining Cooperating Agency Status'' in
Attachment 1 to CEQ's January 30, 2002, Memorandum for the Heads of
Federal Agencies: Cooperating Agencies in Implementing the Procedural
Requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. These documents
are available at the following locations on the Internet: https://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/.html; and https://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/.html.
BOEM, as the lead agency, will not provide financial assistance to
cooperating agencies. Even if an organization is not a cooperating
agency, opportunities will exist to provide information and comments to
BOEM during the normal public input stages of the NEPA/EIS process. For
further information about cooperating agencies, please contact Mr. Gary
D. Goeke at 504-736-3233.
Comments: All interested parties, including Federal, State, Tribal,
and local governments, and other interested parties, may submit written
comments on the scope of the WPA 248 Supplemental EIS, significant
issues that should be addressed, alternatives that should be
considered, potential mitigating measures, and the types of oil and gas
activities of interest in the proposed WPA 248 lease sale area.
Written scoping comments may be submitted in one of the following
ways:
1. In an envelope labeled ``Scoping Comments for the WPA 248
Supplemental EIS'' and mailed (or hand delivered) to Mr. Gary D.
Goeke, Chief, Environmental Assessment Section, Office of
Environment (GM 623E), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of
Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans,
Louisiana 70123-2394;
2. Through the regulations.gov web portal: Navigate to https://www.regulations.gov and search for ``Oil and Gas Lease Sales: Gulf
of Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf; Western Planning Area Lease Sale
248'' (Note: It is important to include the quotation marks in your
search terms). Click on the ``Comment Now!'' button to the right of
the document link. Enter your information and comment, then click
``Submit''; or
3. Through BOEM's email address: wpa248@boem.gov.
Petitions, although accepted, do not generally provide useful
information to assist in the development of alternatives, resources,
and issues to be analyzed, or impacting factors. BOEM does not consider
anonymous comments; please include your name and address as part of
your submittal. BOEM makes all comments, including the names and
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular
business hours. Individual respondents may request that BOEM withhold
their names and/or addresses from the public record; however, BOEM
cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. If you wish your name
and/or address to be withheld, you must state your preference
prominently at the beginning of your comment. All submissions from
organizations or businesses and from individuals identifying themselves
as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses will be
made available for public inspection in their entirety.
Authority: This NOI is published pursuant to the regulations
(40 CFR 1501. 7) implementing the provisions of NEPA.
Dated: March 25, 2015.
Abigail Ross Hopper,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[FR Doc. 2015-07325 Filed 3-27-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P
