Notice of Availability of the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program, 84612-84615 [2016-28296]
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 226 / Wednesday, November 23, 2016 / Notices
is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week, to leave a message or question
with Mr. McGee. You will receive a
reply during normal business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Loss of
suitable sage-grouse habitat from
conversion of sagebrush steppe to
juniper woodlands is a major threat to
Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus
urophasianus) in southwest Idaho. The
BLM, in collaboration with other
Federal and State agencies and local
groups, is proposing to remove
encroaching juniper in areas that would
provide the greatest benefit to existing
sage-grouse habitat and improve the
long-term viability and persistence of
sage-grouse in the BOSH project area.
The purpose of the project is to restore,
improve, and maintain Greater SageGrouse habitat at a landscape scale that
is being and/or has been degraded by
the encroachment of western juniper
(Juniperus occidentalis) into sagebrush
communities.
The proposed BOSH project boundary
encompasses approximately 1.5 million
acres in the BLM Owyhee and Bruneau
Field Office management areas in
Owyhee County, Idaho. Within the
proposed project area, an approximately
600,000-acre focal treatment area has
been identified based on modeling and
treatment criteria. The preferred
alternative is to remove all juniper
within 3 kilometers of occupied sagegrouse leks (breeding habitat areas
where male sage-grouse gather each
spring to perform courtship displays to
attract and mate with females), all
juniper in the early phases of
encroachment (greater than 20 percent
canopy cover), as well as 5-acre or
smaller patches of later phases of
juniper encroachment (less than 20
percent canopy cover) in riparian areas
deemed important for sage-grouse in the
focal treatment area. Old growth juniper
trees, as identified in the Draft EIS, will
not be removed during these treatments.
Proposed treatment methods include
cutting juniper with handsaws or
chainsaws, lopping with pruning shears,
or using heavy equipment such as a
track-hoe fitted with a grinding
implement (masticator) or a shearing
implement (large, powerful pruning
shears). Juniper material (logs, branches,
etc.) may be scattered on site and left,
or the material may be jackpot-burned
or piled and burned where scattering
cut material is not feasible or desirable
(e.g., where there would be too much
material to scatter, or in riparian areas).
The focal treatment area includes
approximately 47,000 acres of
designated wilderness where only nonmotorized hand tools would be used to
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cut juniper, which must be less than or
equal to eight inches diameter at breast
height, and access to treatment areas
would be permitted on foot only.
Juniper treatment in wilderness is
included in the preferred alternative
because 92 percent of the wilderness
area (43,000 acres) is identified as a
Priority Habitat Management Area for
sage-grouse, and the remaining 8
percent (4,000 acres) is considered a
General Habitat Management Area.
Habitat management areas are
delineated in the Record of Decision for
the 2015 Greater Sage-Grouse Approved
Resource Management Plan
Amendments for Idaho and Southwest
Montana. The BLM used the Minimum
Requirements Decision Guide (MRDG)
to ensure that juniper treatments in
wilderness areas would produce the
least disturbance possible (e.g., hand
saws only, no vehicle travel off
designated roads, foot traffic only, etc.).
The other alternatives analyzed in the
draft EIS include the No Action
alternative (i.e., present management
would continue as usual and the project
would not be implemented in any form)
and an action alternative to treat juniper
on approximately 553,000 acres within
the project area boundary that excludes
wilderness (i.e., juniper in the 47, 000
acres of designated wilderness would
remain untreated).
Internal meetings and meetings with
collaborators to discuss and develop the
project proposal began in 2013. A 30day public scoping period was held
from January 20 to February 20, 2015 to
aid the BLM in project development.
The scoping period included public
meetings held at the Boise District
Office on February 4, 2015 and at the
Owyhee County Historical Museum on
February 5, 2015. Important issues
identified during internal and public
scoping and addressed in the document
include effects to the following: wildlife
habitat (especially sage-grouse and
migratory birds), native plant
communities, riparian areas and
vegetation, soils, visual resources,
spread of noxious weeds and invasive
plants, wilderness values, recreation
values, cultural resources, and social
values.
Please note that public comments and
information submitted including names,
street addresses, and email addresses of
persons who submit comments will be
available for public review and
disclosure at the above address during
regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.),
Monday through Friday, except
holidays.
Before including your address, phone
number, email address, or other
personal identifying information in your
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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 your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10.
Lara Douglas,
BLM Boise District Manager.
[FR Doc. 2016–28236 Filed 11–22–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–GG–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
[Docket No. BOEM–2016–0003];
[MAA104000]
Notice of Availability of the 2017–2022
Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas
Leasing Proposed Final Program
Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
AGENCY:
The Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management (BOEM) is announcing the
availability of the 2017–2022 Outer
Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas
Leasing Proposed Final Program
(‘‘Proposed Final Program’’ or ‘‘PFP’’).
This proposal is the last of three
proposals for the 2017–2022 OCS Oil
and Gas Leasing Program that will
succeed the current, 2012–2017
Program. The PFP provides information
and analyses to inform the Secretary of
the Interior’s (Secretary) decision on the
size, timing, and location of leasing in
the 2017–2022 Program. Section 18 of
the OCS Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344)
specifies a multi-step process of
consultation and analysis that must be
completed before the Secretary may
approve a new OCS Oil and Gas Leasing
Program, commonly known as the FiveYear Program. The required steps
following this notice include a
minimum 60-day period after the
submission of the PFP to the President
and Congress before the Secretary may
approve the 2017–2022 Program.
Concurrently with this notice, and
pursuant to the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA), BOEM is publishing
a Notice of Availability (NOA) of the
Final Programmatic Environmental
Impact Statement (PEIS) for the 2017–
2022 Program.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Kelly Hammerle, Five-Year Program
Manager, at (703) 787–1613 or
Kelly.hammerle@boem.gov.
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 226 / Wednesday, November 23, 2016 / Notices
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 18 of the OCS Lands Act
requires the Secretary to prepare and
maintain a schedule of proposed OCS
oil and gas lease sales determined to
‘‘best meet national energy needs for the
five-year period following its approval
or reapproval.’’ This PFP is the last of
three proposed leasing schedules for
OCS lease sales under the 2017–2022
Program. The first proposal, the Draft
Proposed Program (DPP), was published
on January 29, 2015, and was followed
by a 60-day comment period that ended
on March 30, 2015. The second
proposal, the Proposed Program, was
published on March 18, 2016, with a 90day comment period that closed on June
16, 2016.
The areas identified in the PFP were
chosen after careful consideration of the
factors specified in Section 18 of the
OCS Lands Act and the comments
received during the Program
development process. Included in this
PFP is an analysis of the lease sale
options identified by the Secretary in
the Proposed Program. The
development of the Five-Year Program
is a winnowing process; thus, only those
areas that the Secretary decided were
appropriate to include in the Proposed
Program are analyzed in the PFP and the
associated Final PEIS. The PFP and
Final PEIS will be submitted to the
President and Congress at least 60 days
prior to Secretarial approval of the
2017–2022 Program.
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
Summary of the Proposed Final
Program
As part of the Administration’s energy
strategy, the PFP is designed to best
meet the nation’s energy needs. It takes
into account the Section 18 requirement
to balance the potential for discovery of
offshore oil and gas resources with the
potential for environmental damage and
the potential for adverse impact on the
coastal zone. In weighing the Section 18
factors to develop a nationwide
program, region-specific considerations
were taken into account, including
information about resource potential,
the status of resource development and
infrastructure to support oil and gas
activities and emergency response
capabilities, industry interest, and the
regional interests and policies of
affected states. Through the Five-Year
Program winnowing process, the
Secretary gathers information to
determine the timing of lease sales and
the combination of offshore areas that
will, if leased, best meet the energy
needs of the nation while protecting
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against environmental damage and
adverse impact to the coastal zone.
Grounded in the above principles,
and after careful consideration of public
input and the OCS Lands Act Section
18(a)(2) factors, the PFP contains a
proposed lease sale schedule of 11 lease
sales, 10 in those portions of three OCS
planning areas in the Gulf of Mexico
that are not subject to moratorium, and
one in the Cook Inlet offshore Alaska.
These areas have high resource
potential, existing Federal or state leases
and infrastructure, and more
manageable potential environmental
and coastal conflicts from development
as compared to other OCS areas that are
not included in the 2017–2022 Program.
In total, the PFP makes available
approximately 70 percent of the
resources that are economically
recoverable at an oil price of $40 per
barrel, and nearly one half of the
estimated undiscovered technically
recoverable OCS oil and gas resources.
84613
proposal includes region-wide sales:
One sale in 2017 and 2022, and two
sales in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.
Alaska Region
In Alaska, the PFP includes a Cook
Inlet lease sale in 2021 that comprises
the northern portion of the Cook Inlet
Planning Area (see Figure 2). Cook Inlet
is a mature basin with a long history of
oil and gas development in State waters,
where existing infrastructure is capable
of supporting new activity. The design
of this lease sale area allows for the
protection of the endangered beluga
whale, and for the protection of
northern sea otter critical habitat, and
makes available those areas with the
greatest industry interest and significant
oil and gas resource potential. BOEM
will continue to use developing
scientific information and stakeholder
feedback to determine, in advance of
any sale, which specific areas offer the
greatest resource potential, while
minimizing conflicts with
environmental, subsistence, and
TABLE 1—2017–2022 PROPOSED
multiple use considerations in Cook
FINAL PROGRAM LEASE SALE Inlet.
SCHEDULE
The DPP and Proposed Program
included one sale each in the Chukchi
Year
Planning area
Sale No.
Sea and Beaufort Sea Planning Areas.
1. 2017 ............ Gulf of Mexico
249 After considering all available
2. 2018 ............ Gulf of Mexico
250 information and analyses, the Secretary
3. 2018 ............ Gulf of Mexico
251 removed the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort
4. 2019 ............ Gulf of Mexico
252 Sea Program Areas from the PFP. The
5. 2019 ............ Gulf of Mexico
253 Secretary’s decision to remove the
6. 2020 ............ Gulf of Mexico
254 Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea Program
7. 2020 ............ Gulf of Mexico
256 Areas was based on a consideration of
8. 2021 ............ Gulf of Mexico
257 the Section 18(a)(2) factors, which
9. 2021 ............ Cook Inlet ........
258 include regional geographical,
10. 2021 .......... Gulf of Mexico
259
geological and ecological characteristics
11. 2022 .......... Gulf of Mexico
261
of the region; equitable sharing of
developmental benefits and
Gulf of Mexico Region
environmental risks among regions;
The Gulf of Mexico combines
environmental and predictive
abundant proven and estimated oil and
information; industry interest; regional
gas resources, broad industry interest,
and national energy markets; state goals
and well-developed infrastructure. The
and policy; environmental sensitivity;
oil and gas resource potential of the
and other uses of the various planning
Western and Central Gulf of Mexico, as
areas.
While there are significant
well as the portion of the Eastern Gulf
hydrocarbon resources in the Arctic, the
of Mexico that is not subject to
region is a unique, sensitive, and costly
Congressional moratorium, is the best
environment in which to operate.
understood of all of the OCS planning
Unlike the Cook Inlet, the Arctic OCS is
areas. Not only are the oil and gas
remote, and would require substantially
resource volume estimates for the Gulf
more new investment for large-scale
of Mexico OCS unparalleled, the
OCS development. Industry voiced its
existing infrastructure to support
interest in the Arctic OCS in the
development is mature for and able to
comment period on the Proposed
support oil and gas activity and
Program. However, foreshadowed by
response capabilities in the event of an
Shell’s disappointing 2015 drilling
emergency.
Of the 11 lease sales included in the
season and subsequent announcement
PFP, 10 are in the Gulf of Mexico (see
that it would leave the U.S. Arctic for
Figure 1), where infrastructure is well
the foreseeable future, industry has
established, and there is strong adjacent demonstrated its declining interest in
state support and significant oil and gas the Arctic OCS with the relinquishment
resource potential. The Gulf of Mexico
of the majority of leases in these two
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 226 / Wednesday, November 23, 2016 / Notices
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Planning Areas. In fact, the number of
active leases in the Arctic OCS has
declined by more than 90 percent in a
matter of months, from 527 in February
2016 to only 43 as of October 2016, with
most of these expected to expire in
2017.
While the Arctic OCS has the
potential to provide domestic energy
production when economic conditions
are considerably more favorable, the
increase in domestic onshore
production from shale formations and
other market factors have shifted
expectations regarding oil and gas price
trajectories and have substantially
reduced the economic incentives for
Arctic exploration and production. As
described in Chapter 6 of the PFP,
recent developments in domestic oil
and natural gas markets have reduced
the United States’ reliance on imported
petroleum. With the existing U.S.
onshore crude production increasing in
every year since 2008, and substantial
Gulf of Mexico offshore production
continuing, U.S. domestic energy
supply remains strong. While new
production can be beneficial, the Arctic
lease sales are not necessary to have a
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2017–2022 Program that best meets the
energy needs of the nation. BOEM
estimates that without the Arctic OCS
lease sales, cumulative U.S. oil and gas
production will be less than one percent
lower over the 70-year life of projected
activity, and only four percent lower
during the years of peak production.
The Nation’s energy security remains
strong without leasing in the Arctic, and
the oil and gas resources in the Arctic
will likely become more valuable to
potential bidders at some point in the
future.
Atlantic Region
As in the Proposed Program, no lease
sales are included in the Atlantic Region
in the lease sale schedule for 2017–
2022.
Pacific Region
As in the DPP and Proposed Program,
no lease sales are included in the Pacific
Region in the lease sale schedule for
2017–2022.
Assurance of Fair Market Value
Section 18 of the OCS Lands Act
requires receipt of fair market value
from OCS oil and gas leases. BOEM
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plans to continue to use the two-phase
post-sale bid evaluation process that it
has used since 1983 to meet the fair
market value requirement. BOEM
recently revised its post-sale bid
evaluation process (see Summary of
Procedures for Determining Bid
Adequacy at Offshore Oil and Gas Lease
Sales: Effective March 2016 at https://
www.boem.gov/Summary-ofProcedures-For-Determining-BidAdequacy/). Further, the PFP provides
that BOEM may set minimum bid levels,
rental rates, and royalty rates for each
individual lease sale, based on BOEM’s
assessment of market and resource
conditions closer to the date of the lease
sale.
Next Steps in the Process
BOEM will submit the PFP and Final
PEIS to the President and Congress at
least 60 days prior to Secretarial
approval of the 2017–2022 Program.
Dated: November 16, 2016.
Abigail R. Hopper,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management.
BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 226 / Wednesday, November 23, 2016 / Notices
BILLING CODE 4310–MR–C
UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL
TRADE COMMISSION
By order of the Commission.
Issued: November 17, 2016.
William R. Bishop,
Supervisory Hearings and Information
Officer.
[USITC SE–16–039]
Government in the Sunshine Act
Meeting Notice
United
States International Trade Commission.
TIME AND DATE: December 2, 2016 at
11:00 a.m.
PLACE: Room 101, 500 E Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20436, Telephone:
(202) 205–2000.
STATUS: Open to the public.
MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:
1. Agendas for future meetings: none.
2. Minutes.
3. Ratification List.
4. Vote in Inv. Nos. 701–TA–249 and
731–TA–262, 263, and 265 (Fourth
Review)(Iron Construction Castings
from Brazil, Canada, and China). The
Commission is currently scheduled to
complete and file its determinations and
views of the Commission on December
15, 2016.
5. Outstanding action jackets: none.
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AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:
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18:04 Nov 22, 2016
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[FR Doc. 2016–28360 Filed 11–21–16; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 7020–02–P
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
COMMISSION
[USITC SE–16–040]
Government in the Sunshine Act
Meeting Notice
United
States International Trade Commission.
TIME AND DATE: December 6, 2016 at
11:00 a.m.
PLACE: Room 101, 500 E Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20436, Telephone:
(202) 205–2000.
STATUS: Open to the public.
MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:
1. Agendas for future meetings: none.
AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:
PO 00000
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2. Minutes.
3. Ratification List.
4. Vote in Inv. Nos. 701–TA–470–471
and 731–TA–1169–1170 (Review)
(Coated Paper Suitable for High-Quality
Print Graphics Using Sheet-Fed Presses
from China and Indonesia). The
Commission is currently scheduled to
complete and file its determinations and
views of the Commission on December
20, 2016.
5. Outstanding action jackets: none.
In accordance with Commission
policy, subject matter listed above, not
disposed of at the scheduled meeting,
may be carried over to the agenda of the
following meeting.
By order of the Commission.
Issued: November 17, 2016.
William R. Bishop,
Supervisory Hearings and Information
Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016–28361 Filed 11–21–16; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 7020–02–P
E:\FR\FM\23NON1.SGM
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EN23NO16.003</GPH>
In accordance with Commission
policy, subject matter listed above, not
disposed of at the scheduled meeting,
may be carried over to the agenda of the
following meeting.
[FR Doc. 2016–28296 Filed 11–21–16; 8:45 am]
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 226 (Wednesday, November 23, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84612-84615]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-28296]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
[Docket No. BOEM-2016-0003]; [MAA104000]
Notice of Availability of the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf
Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program
AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is announcing the
availability of the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas
Leasing Proposed Final Program (``Proposed Final Program'' or ``PFP'').
This proposal is the last of three proposals for the 2017-2022 OCS Oil
and Gas Leasing Program that will succeed the current, 2012-2017
Program. The PFP provides information and analyses to inform the
Secretary of the Interior's (Secretary) decision on the size, timing,
and location of leasing in the 2017-2022 Program. Section 18 of the OCS
Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) specifies a multi-step process of
consultation and analysis that must be completed before the Secretary
may approve a new OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program, commonly known as
the Five-Year Program. The required steps following this notice include
a minimum 60-day period after the submission of the PFP to the
President and Congress before the Secretary may approve the 2017-2022
Program. Concurrently with this notice, and pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), BOEM is publishing a Notice of
Availability (NOA) of the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement (PEIS) for the 2017-2022 Program.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Kelly Hammerle, Five-Year Program
Manager, at (703) 787-1613 or Kelly.hammerle@boem.gov.
[[Page 84613]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 18 of the OCS Lands Act requires the Secretary to prepare
and maintain a schedule of proposed OCS oil and gas lease sales
determined to ``best meet national energy needs for the five-year
period following its approval or reapproval.'' This PFP is the last of
three proposed leasing schedules for OCS lease sales under the 2017-
2022 Program. The first proposal, the Draft Proposed Program (DPP), was
published on January 29, 2015, and was followed by a 60-day comment
period that ended on March 30, 2015. The second proposal, the Proposed
Program, was published on March 18, 2016, with a 90-day comment period
that closed on June 16, 2016.
The areas identified in the PFP were chosen after careful
consideration of the factors specified in Section 18 of the OCS Lands
Act and the comments received during the Program development process.
Included in this PFP is an analysis of the lease sale options
identified by the Secretary in the Proposed Program. The development of
the Five-Year Program is a winnowing process; thus, only those areas
that the Secretary decided were appropriate to include in the Proposed
Program are analyzed in the PFP and the associated Final PEIS. The PFP
and Final PEIS will be submitted to the President and Congress at least
60 days prior to Secretarial approval of the 2017-2022 Program.
Summary of the Proposed Final Program
As part of the Administration's energy strategy, the PFP is
designed to best meet the nation's energy needs. It takes into account
the Section 18 requirement to balance the potential for discovery of
offshore oil and gas resources with the potential for environmental
damage and the potential for adverse impact on the coastal zone. In
weighing the Section 18 factors to develop a nationwide program,
region-specific considerations were taken into account, including
information about resource potential, the status of resource
development and infrastructure to support oil and gas activities and
emergency response capabilities, industry interest, and the regional
interests and policies of affected states. Through the Five-Year
Program winnowing process, the Secretary gathers information to
determine the timing of lease sales and the combination of offshore
areas that will, if leased, best meet the energy needs of the nation
while protecting against environmental damage and adverse impact to the
coastal zone.
Grounded in the above principles, and after careful consideration
of public input and the OCS Lands Act Section 18(a)(2) factors, the PFP
contains a proposed lease sale schedule of 11 lease sales, 10 in those
portions of three OCS planning areas in the Gulf of Mexico that are not
subject to moratorium, and one in the Cook Inlet offshore Alaska. These
areas have high resource potential, existing Federal or state leases
and infrastructure, and more manageable potential environmental and
coastal conflicts from development as compared to other OCS areas that
are not included in the 2017-2022 Program. In total, the PFP makes
available approximately 70 percent of the resources that are
economically recoverable at an oil price of $40 per barrel, and nearly
one half of the estimated undiscovered technically recoverable OCS oil
and gas resources.
Table 1--2017-2022 Proposed Final Program Lease Sale Schedule
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Year Planning area Sale No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. 2017............................. Gulf of Mexico......... 249
2. 2018............................. Gulf of Mexico......... 250
3. 2018............................. Gulf of Mexico......... 251
4. 2019............................. Gulf of Mexico......... 252
5. 2019............................. Gulf of Mexico......... 253
6. 2020............................. Gulf of Mexico......... 254
7. 2020............................. Gulf of Mexico......... 256
8. 2021............................. Gulf of Mexico......... 257
9. 2021............................. Cook Inlet............. 258
10. 2021............................ Gulf of Mexico......... 259
11. 2022............................ Gulf of Mexico......... 261
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gulf of Mexico Region
The Gulf of Mexico combines abundant proven and estimated oil and
gas resources, broad industry interest, and well-developed
infrastructure. The oil and gas resource potential of the Western and
Central Gulf of Mexico, as well as the portion of the Eastern Gulf of
Mexico that is not subject to Congressional moratorium, is the best
understood of all of the OCS planning areas. Not only are the oil and
gas resource volume estimates for the Gulf of Mexico OCS unparalleled,
the existing infrastructure to support development is mature for and
able to support oil and gas activity and response capabilities in the
event of an emergency.
Of the 11 lease sales included in the PFP, 10 are in the Gulf of
Mexico (see Figure 1), where infrastructure is well established, and
there is strong adjacent state support and significant oil and gas
resource potential. The Gulf of Mexico proposal includes region-wide
sales: One sale in 2017 and 2022, and two sales in 2018, 2019, 2020,
and 2021.
Alaska Region
In Alaska, the PFP includes a Cook Inlet lease sale in 2021 that
comprises the northern portion of the Cook Inlet Planning Area (see
Figure 2). Cook Inlet is a mature basin with a long history of oil and
gas development in State waters, where existing infrastructure is
capable of supporting new activity. The design of this lease sale area
allows for the protection of the endangered beluga whale, and for the
protection of northern sea otter critical habitat, and makes available
those areas with the greatest industry interest and significant oil and
gas resource potential. BOEM will continue to use developing scientific
information and stakeholder feedback to determine, in advance of any
sale, which specific areas offer the greatest resource potential, while
minimizing conflicts with environmental, subsistence, and multiple use
considerations in Cook Inlet.
The DPP and Proposed Program included one sale each in the Chukchi
Sea and Beaufort Sea Planning Areas. After considering all available
information and analyses, the Secretary removed the Chukchi Sea and
Beaufort Sea Program Areas from the PFP. The Secretary's decision to
remove the Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea Program Areas was based on a
consideration of the Section 18(a)(2) factors, which include regional
geographical, geological and ecological characteristics of the region;
equitable sharing of developmental benefits and environmental risks
among regions; environmental and predictive information; industry
interest; regional and national energy markets; state goals and policy;
environmental sensitivity; and other uses of the various planning
areas.
While there are significant hydrocarbon resources in the Arctic,
the region is a unique, sensitive, and costly environment in which to
operate. Unlike the Cook Inlet, the Arctic OCS is remote, and would
require substantially more new investment for large-scale OCS
development. Industry voiced its interest in the Arctic OCS in the
comment period on the Proposed Program. However, foreshadowed by
Shell's disappointing 2015 drilling season and subsequent announcement
that it would leave the U.S. Arctic for the foreseeable future,
industry has demonstrated its declining interest in the Arctic OCS with
the relinquishment of the majority of leases in these two
[[Page 84614]]
Planning Areas. In fact, the number of active leases in the Arctic OCS
has declined by more than 90 percent in a matter of months, from 527 in
February 2016 to only 43 as of October 2016, with most of these
expected to expire in 2017.
While the Arctic OCS has the potential to provide domestic energy
production when economic conditions are considerably more favorable,
the increase in domestic onshore production from shale formations and
other market factors have shifted expectations regarding oil and gas
price trajectories and have substantially reduced the economic
incentives for Arctic exploration and production. As described in
Chapter 6 of the PFP, recent developments in domestic oil and natural
gas markets have reduced the United States' reliance on imported
petroleum. With the existing U.S. onshore crude production increasing
in every year since 2008, and substantial Gulf of Mexico offshore
production continuing, U.S. domestic energy supply remains strong.
While new production can be beneficial, the Arctic lease sales are not
necessary to have a 2017-2022 Program that best meets the energy needs
of the nation. BOEM estimates that without the Arctic OCS lease sales,
cumulative U.S. oil and gas production will be less than one percent
lower over the 70-year life of projected activity, and only four
percent lower during the years of peak production. The Nation's energy
security remains strong without leasing in the Arctic, and the oil and
gas resources in the Arctic will likely become more valuable to
potential bidders at some point in the future.
Atlantic Region
As in the Proposed Program, no lease sales are included in the
Atlantic Region in the lease sale schedule for 2017-2022.
Pacific Region
As in the DPP and Proposed Program, no lease sales are included in
the Pacific Region in the lease sale schedule for 2017-2022.
Assurance of Fair Market Value
Section 18 of the OCS Lands Act requires receipt of fair market
value from OCS oil and gas leases. BOEM plans to continue to use the
two-phase post-sale bid evaluation process that it has used since 1983
to meet the fair market value requirement. BOEM recently revised its
post-sale bid evaluation process (see Summary of Procedures for
Determining Bid Adequacy at Offshore Oil and Gas Lease Sales: Effective
March 2016 at https://www.boem.gov/Summary-of-Procedures-For-Determining-Bid-Adequacy/). Further, the PFP provides that BOEM may set
minimum bid levels, rental rates, and royalty rates for each individual
lease sale, based on BOEM's assessment of market and resource
conditions closer to the date of the lease sale.
Next Steps in the Process
BOEM will submit the PFP and Final PEIS to the President and
Congress at least 60 days prior to Secretarial approval of the 2017-
2022 Program.
Dated: November 16, 2016.
Abigail R. Hopper,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
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[FR Doc. 2016-28296 Filed 11-21-16; 8:45 am]
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