Docket No. BOEM-2017-0078], 7068-7070 [2018-03280]
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7068
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 33 / Friday, February 16, 2018 / Notices
This draft list is based on the
definition of a ‘‘critical mineral’’
provided in Executive Order 13817. The
U.S. Government and other
organizations may also use other
definitions and rely on other criteria to
identify a material or mineral as
‘‘critical’’ or otherwise important. This
draft list is not intended to replace
related terms and definitions of
materials that are deemed strategic,
critical or otherwise important (e.g.,
National Defense Stockpile). In
addition, there are many minerals not
listed on the draft critical minerals list,
but which are still of significant
importance to the U.S. economy.
Industrial minerals, for example, are the
materials that form the physical basis of
our nation’s infrastructure. The
materials for making cement, for
example, limestone, clays, shales, and
aggregates; materials to reinforce
concrete structures such as iron and
steel for rebar and steel mesh/wire grids,
materials on which to place
infrastructure such as base courses
composed of crushed stone and
aggregates. These construction
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commodities are the largest (by volume)
sectors of the U.S. minerals industries.
Other minerals include inputs into the
chemical industries or agricultural
sector including sulfur, salt, phosphate,
and gypsum. The manufacture of
products such as glass, ceramics,
refractories, and abrasives require
quartz, soda ash, feldspar, kaolin, ball
clays, mullite and kyanite, industrial
diamonds, garnets, corundum, and
borates. These materials are not
considered critical in the conventional
sense because the U.S. largely meets its
needs for these through domestic
mining and processing and thus a
supply disruption is considered
unlikely.
Please submit written comments on
this draft list by March 19, 2018 to
facilitate consideration. In particular,
DOI is interested in comments
addressing the following topics: The
make-up of the draft list and the
rationale associated with potential
additions or subtractions to the draft
list. Before including your address,
phone number, email address, or other
personal identifying information in your
comment, you should be aware that
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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: E.O. 13817, 82 FR 60835
(December 26, 2017).
Timothy R. Petty,
Assistant Secretary for Water and Science.
[FR Doc. 2018–03219 Filed 2–15–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4334–63–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Docket No. BOEM–2017–0078]
Gulf of Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf
(OCS), Oil and Gas Lease Sale 250;
MMAA104000
Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability of a
Record of Decision.
AGENCY:
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daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
BILLING CODE 4334–63–C
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 33 / Friday, February 16, 2018 / Notices
The Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management (BOEM) is announcing the
availability of a Record of Decision for
proposed Gulf of Mexico (GOM) regionwide oil and gas Lease Sale 250. This
Record of Decision identifies BOEM’s
selected alternative for proposed Lease
Sale 250, which is analyzed in the Gulf
of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Lease
Sale: Final Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement 2018
(2018 GOM Supplemental EIS).
ADDRESSES: The Record of Decision is
available on BOEM’s website at https://
www.boem.gov/nepaprocess/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
more information on the Record of
Decision, you may contact Mr. Greg
Kozlowski, Deputy Regional Supervisor,
Office of Environment, by telephone at
504–736–2512 or by email at
greg.kozlowski@boem.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the
2018 GOM Supplemental EIS, BOEM
evaluated five alternatives in regards to
proposed Lease Sale 250. These
alternatives are summarized below:
Alternative A—Region-wide OCS
Lease Sale: This is BOEM’s preferred
alternative. This alternative would
allow for a proposed GOM region-wide
lease sale encompassing all three
planning areas: The Western Planning
Area (WPA); the Central Planning Area
(CPA); and a small portion of the
Eastern Planning Area (EPA) not under
Congressional moratorium. Under this
alternative, BOEM would offer for lease
all available unleased blocks within the
proposed region-wide lease sale area for
oil and gas operations with the
following exceptions: Whole and
portions of blocks deferred by the Gulf
of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006;
blocks that are adjacent to or beyond the
United States’ Exclusive Economic Zone
in the area known as the northern
portion of the Eastern Gap; whole and
partial blocks within the current
boundary of the Flower Garden Banks
National Marine Sanctuary; and blocks
whose lease status is currently under
appeal. The unavailable blocks are
listed in Section I of the Final Notice of
Sale for proposed Lease Sale 250. The
proposed region-wide lease sale area
encompasses about 91.93 million acres
(ac). As of February 2018,
approximately 77.3 million ac of the
proposed region-wide lease sale area are
currently available for lease. As
described in the 2018 Final GOM
Supplemental EIS, the estimated
amounts of resources projected to be
leased, discovered, developed, and
produced as a result of the proposed
region-wide lease sale are between
0.211and 1.118 billion barrels of oil
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
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(BBO) and 0.547 and 4.424 trillion cubic
feet (Tcf) of natural gas.
Alternative B—Region-wide OCS
Lease Sale Excluding Available
Unleased Blocks in the WPA Portion of
the Proposed Lease Sale Area: This
alternative would offer for lease all
available unleased blocks within the
CPA and EPA portions of the proposed
lease sale area for oil and gas operations,
with the following exceptions: Whole
and portions of blocks deferred by the
Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of
2006; and blocks that are adjacent to or
beyond the United States’ Exclusive
Economic Zone in the area known as the
northern portion of the Eastern Gap. The
proposed CPA/EPA lease sale area
encompasses about 63.35 million ac. As
of February 2018, approximately 51.2
million ac of the proposed CPA/EPA
lease sale area are currently available for
lease. The estimated amounts of
resources projected to be leased,
discovered, developed, and produced as
a result of the proposed lease sale under
Alternative B are 0.185–0.970 BBO and
0.441–3.672 Tcf of gas.
Alternative C—Region-wide OCS
Lease Sale Excluding Available
Unleased Blocks in the CPA and EPA
Portions of the Proposed Lease Sale
Area: This alternative would offer for
lease all available unleased blocks
within the WPA portion of the proposed
lease sale area for oil and gas operations,
with the following exception: Whole
and partial blocks within the current
boundary of the Flower Garden Banks
National Marine Sanctuary. The
proposed WPA lease sale area
encompasses about 28.58 million ac. As
of February 2018, approximately 26.2
million ac of the proposed WPA lease
sale area are currently available for
lease. The estimated amounts of
resources projected to be leased,
discovered, developed, and produced as
a result of the proposed lease sale under
Alternative C are 0.026–0.148 BBO and
0.106–0.752 Tcf of gas.
Alternative D—Alternative A, B, or C,
with the Option to Exclude Available
Unleased Blocks Subject to the
Topographic Features, Live Bottom
(Pinnacle Trend), and/or Blocks South
of Baldwin County, Alabama,
Stipulations: This alternative could be
combined with any of the Action
alternatives above (i.e., Alternatives A,
B, or C) and would allow the flexibility
to offer leases under any alternative
with additional exclusions. Under
Alternative D, the decision-maker could
exclude from leasing any available
unleased blocks subject to any one and/
or a combination of the following
stipulations: Topographic Features
Stipulation; Live Bottom Stipulation;
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7069
and Blocks South of Baldwin County,
Alabama, Stipulation (not applicable to
Alternative C). This alternative
considered blocks subject to these
stipulations because these areas have
been emphasized in scoping, can be
geographically defined, and adequate
information exists regarding their
ecological importance and sensitivity to
OCS oil- and gas-related activities.
A total of 207 blocks within the CPA
and 160 blocks in the WPA are affected
by the Topographic Features
Stipulation. There are currently no
identified topographic features
protected under this stipulation in the
EPA. The Live Bottom Stipulation
covers the pinnacle trend area of the
CPA, affecting a total of 74 blocks.
Under Alternative D, the number of
blocks that would become unavailable
for lease represents only a small
percentage of the total number of blocks
to be offered under Alternative A, B, or
C (<4%, even if blocks subject to all
three stipulations were excluded).
Therefore, Alternative D could reduce
offshore infrastructure and activities,
but Alternative D also shifts the location
of offshore infrastructure and activities
farther from these sensitive zones and
would not lead to a reduction in overall
offshore infrastructure and activities.
Alternative E—No Action: This
alternative is not holding proposed
region-wide Lease Sale 250 and is
identified as the environmentally
preferred alternative.
Lease Stipulations—The 2018 GOM
Supplemental EIS describes all lease
stipulations, which are included in the
Final Notice of Sale Package. In the
Record of Decision for the 2017–2022
Five-Year Program, the Secretary of the
Interior required the protection of
biologically sensitive underwater
features in all Gulf of Mexico oil and gas
lease sales as programmatic mitigation;
therefore, the application of the
Topographic Features Stipulation and
Live Bottom Stipulation are being
adopted and applied for applicable
designated lease blocks in Lease Sale
250.
The additional eight lease stipulations
for proposed region-wide Lease Sale 250
are the Military Areas Stipulation; the
Evacuation Stipulation; the
Coordination Stipulation; the Blocks
South of Baldwin County, Alabama,
Stipulation; the Protected Species
Stipulation; the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea
Royalty Payment Stipulation; the Below
Seabed Restrictions due to Rights-of-Use
and Easement for Floating Production
Facilities Stipulation; and the
Stipulation on the Agreement between
the United States of America and the
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 33 / Friday, February 16, 2018 / Notices
United Mexican States Concerning
Transboundary Hydrocarbon Reservoirs
in the Gulf of Mexico. These eight
stipulations will be added as lease terms
where applicable and will be
enforceable as part of the lease.
Appendix B of the Gulf of Mexico OCS
Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2017–2022;
Gulf of Mexico Lease Sales 249, 250,
251, 252, 253, 254, 256, 257, 259, and
261; Final Multisale Environmental
Impact Statement (2017–2022 GOM
Multisale EIS) provides a list and
description of standard post-lease
conditions of approval that may be
required by BOEM or the Bureau of
Safety and Environmental Enforcement
as a result of plan and permit review
processes for the Gulf of Mexico OCS
Region.
After careful consideration, BOEM
has selected the preferred alternative
(Alternative A) in the 2018 GOM
Supplemental EIS for proposed Lease
Sale 250. BOEM’s selection of the
preferred alternative meets the purpose
and need for the proposed action, as
identified in the 2018 GOM
Supplemental EIS, and provides for
orderly resource development with
protection of the human, marine, and
coastal environments while also
ensuring that the public receives an
equitable return for these resources and
that free-market competition is
maintained.
Authority: This Notice of Availability of a
Record of Decision is published pursuant to
the regulations (40 CFR part 1505)
implementing the provisions of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as
amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
Dated: February 13, 2018.
Walter D. Cruickshank,
Acting Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management.
[FR Doc. 2018–03280 Filed 2–15–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf
Oil and Gas Lease Sale 250;
MMAA104000
Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, Interior.
ACTION: Final Notice of Sale.
daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
AGENCY:
On Wednesday, March 21,
2018, the Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management (BOEM) will open and
publicly announce bids received for
blocks offered in the Gulf of Mexico
(GOM) Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)
Region-wide Oil and Gas Lease Sale 250
SUMMARY:
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(GOM Region-wide Sale 250), in
accordance with the provisions of the
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act
(OCSLA), as amended, and the
implementing regulations issued
pursuant thereto. The GOM Regionwide Sale 250 Final Notice of Sale
(NOS) package contains information
essential to potential bidders.
DATES: Public bid reading for GOM
Region-wide Sale 250 will begin at 9:00
a.m. on Wednesday, March 21, 2018, at
1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New
Orleans, Louisiana. All times referred to
in this document are Central Standard
Time, unless otherwise specified.
Bid Submission Deadline: BOEM
must receive all sealed bids between
8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on weekdays,
excluding holidays, prior to the sale,
with the exception of Tuesday, March
20, 2018, the day before the lease sale,
when the Bid Submission Deadline is
10:00 a.m. For more information on bid
submission, see Section VII, ‘‘Bidding
Instructions,’’ of this document.
ADDRESSES: Public bid reading for GOM
Region-wide Sale 250 will be held at
1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New
Orleans, Louisiana. The venue will not
be open to the general public, media, or
industry. Instead, the bid opening will
be available for public viewing on
BOEM’s website at www.boem.gov via
live-streaming video beginning at 9:00
a.m. on the date of the sale. BOEM will
also post the results on its website after
bid opening and reading are completed.
Interested parties may download the
Final NOS package from BOEM’s
website at https://www.boem.gov/Sale250/. Copies of the sale maps may be
obtained by contacting the BOEM GOM
Region at: Gulf of Mexico Region Public
Information Office, Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management, 1201 Elmwood
Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana
70123–2394, (504) 736–2519 or (800)
200–GULF.
For more information on bid
submission, see Section VII, ‘‘Bidding
Instructions,’’ of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ann
Glazner, Acting Regional Supervisor,
Office of Leasing and Plans, 504–736–
2607, ann.glazner@boem.gov or Dr.
Andrew Krueger, Acting Chief, Leasing
Division, 703–787–1554,
andrew.krueger@boem.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
This Final NOS includes the
following sections:
I. Lease Sale Area
II. Statutes and Regulations
III. Lease Terms and Economic Conditions
IV. Lease Stipulations
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V. Information to Lessees
VI. Maps
VII. Bidding Instructions
VIII. Bidding Rules and Restrictions
IX. Forms
X. The Lease Sale
XI. Delay of Sale
I. Lease Sale Area
Blocks Offered for Leasing: BOEM
will offer for bid in this lease sale all of
the available unleased acreage in the
GOM, except those blocks listed in
‘‘Blocks Not Offered for Leasing’’ below.
Blocks Not Offered for Leasing: The
following whole and partial blocks are
not offered for lease in this sale. The
BOEM Official Protraction Diagrams
(OPDs) and Supplemental Official Block
Diagrams are available online at https://
www.boem.gov/Maps-and-GIS-Data/.
Whole and partial blocks that lie
within the boundaries of the Flower
Garden Banks National Marine
Sanctuary (in the East and West Flower
Garden Banks and the Stetson Bank),
identified in the following list:
High Island, East Addition, South Extension
(Leasing Map TX7C)
Whole Block: A–398
Partial Blocks: A–366, A–367, A–374, A–
375, A–383, A–384, A–385, A–388, A–
389, A–397, A–399, A–401
High Island, South Addition (Leasing Map
TX7B)
Partial Blocks: A–502, A–513
Garden Banks (OPD NG15–02)
Partial Blocks: 134, 135
Blocks that are adjacent to or beyond
the United States Exclusive Economic
Zone in the area known as the northern
portion of the Eastern Gap:
Lund South (OPD NG 16–07)
Whole Blocks: 128, 129, 169 through 173,
208 through 217, 248 through 261, 293
through 305, and 349
Henderson (OPD NG 16–05)
Whole Blocks: 466, 508 through 510, 551
through 554, 594 through 599, 637
through 643, 679 through 687, 722
through 731, 764 through 775, 807
through 819, 849 through 862, 891
through 905, 933 through 949, and 975
through 992
Partial Blocks: 467, 511, 555, 556, 600, 644,
688, 732, 776, 777, 820, 821, 863, 864,
906, 907, 950, 993, and 994
Florida Plain (OPD NG 16–08)
Whole Blocks: 5 through 24, 46 through 67,
89 through 110, 133 through 154, 177
through 197, 221 through 240, 265
through 283, 309 through 327, and 363
through 370
All whole and portions of blocks
deferred by the Gulf of Mexico Energy
Security Act of 2006, Public Law 109–
432:
Pensacola (OPD NH 16–05)
Whole Blocks: 751 through 754, 793
through 798, 837 through 842, 881
through 886, 925 through 930, and 969
through 975
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[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 33 (Friday, February 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7068-7070]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-03280]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Docket No. BOEM-2017-0078]
Gulf of Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Oil and Gas Lease
Sale 250; MMAA104000
AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability of a Record of Decision.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 7069]]
SUMMARY: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is announcing the
availability of a Record of Decision for proposed Gulf of Mexico (GOM)
region-wide oil and gas Lease Sale 250. This Record of Decision
identifies BOEM's selected alternative for proposed Lease Sale 250,
which is analyzed in the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Lease
Sale: Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 2018 (2018 GOM
Supplemental EIS).
ADDRESSES: The Record of Decision is available on BOEM's website at
https://www.boem.gov/nepaprocess/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For more information on the Record of
Decision, you may contact Mr. Greg Kozlowski, Deputy Regional
Supervisor, Office of Environment, by telephone at 504-736-2512 or by
email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 2018 GOM Supplemental EIS, BOEM
evaluated five alternatives in regards to proposed Lease Sale 250.
These alternatives are summarized below:
Alternative A--Region-wide OCS Lease Sale: This is BOEM's preferred
alternative. This alternative would allow for a proposed GOM region-
wide lease sale encompassing all three planning areas: The Western
Planning Area (WPA); the Central Planning Area (CPA); and a small
portion of the Eastern Planning Area (EPA) not under Congressional
moratorium. Under this alternative, BOEM would offer for lease all
available unleased blocks within the proposed region-wide lease sale
area for oil and gas operations with the following exceptions: Whole
and portions of blocks deferred by the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security
Act of 2006; blocks that are adjacent to or beyond the United States'
Exclusive Economic Zone in the area known as the northern portion of
the Eastern Gap; whole and partial blocks within the current boundary
of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary; and blocks whose
lease status is currently under appeal. The unavailable blocks are
listed in Section I of the Final Notice of Sale for proposed Lease Sale
250. The proposed region-wide lease sale area encompasses about 91.93
million acres (ac). As of February 2018, approximately 77.3 million ac
of the proposed region-wide lease sale area are currently available for
lease. As described in the 2018 Final GOM Supplemental EIS, the
estimated amounts of resources projected to be leased, discovered,
developed, and produced as a result of the proposed region-wide lease
sale are between 0.211and 1.118 billion barrels of oil (BBO) and 0.547
and 4.424 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas.
Alternative B--Region-wide OCS Lease Sale Excluding Available
Unleased Blocks in the WPA Portion of the Proposed Lease Sale Area:
This alternative would offer for lease all available unleased blocks
within the CPA and EPA portions of the proposed lease sale area for oil
and gas operations, with the following exceptions: Whole and portions
of blocks deferred by the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006;
and blocks that are adjacent to or beyond the United States' Exclusive
Economic Zone in the area known as the northern portion of the Eastern
Gap. The proposed CPA/EPA lease sale area encompasses about 63.35
million ac. As of February 2018, approximately 51.2 million ac of the
proposed CPA/EPA lease sale area are currently available for lease. The
estimated amounts of resources projected to be leased, discovered,
developed, and produced as a result of the proposed lease sale under
Alternative B are 0.185-0.970 BBO and 0.441-3.672 Tcf of gas.
Alternative C--Region-wide OCS Lease Sale Excluding Available
Unleased Blocks in the CPA and EPA Portions of the Proposed Lease Sale
Area: This alternative would offer for lease all available unleased
blocks within the WPA portion of the proposed lease sale area for oil
and gas operations, with the following exception: Whole and partial
blocks within the current boundary of the Flower Garden Banks National
Marine Sanctuary. The proposed WPA lease sale area encompasses about
28.58 million ac. As of February 2018, approximately 26.2 million ac of
the proposed WPA lease sale area are currently available for lease. The
estimated amounts of resources projected to be leased, discovered,
developed, and produced as a result of the proposed lease sale under
Alternative C are 0.026-0.148 BBO and 0.106-0.752 Tcf of gas.
Alternative D--Alternative A, B, or C, with the Option to Exclude
Available Unleased Blocks Subject to the Topographic Features, Live
Bottom (Pinnacle Trend), and/or Blocks South of Baldwin County,
Alabama, Stipulations: This alternative could be combined with any of
the Action alternatives above (i.e., Alternatives A, B, or C) and would
allow the flexibility to offer leases under any alternative with
additional exclusions. Under Alternative D, the decision-maker could
exclude from leasing any available unleased blocks subject to any one
and/or a combination of the following stipulations: Topographic
Features Stipulation; Live Bottom Stipulation; and Blocks South of
Baldwin County, Alabama, Stipulation (not applicable to Alternative C).
This alternative considered blocks subject to these stipulations
because these areas have been emphasized in scoping, can be
geographically defined, and adequate information exists regarding their
ecological importance and sensitivity to OCS oil- and gas-related
activities.
A total of 207 blocks within the CPA and 160 blocks in the WPA are
affected by the Topographic Features Stipulation. There are currently
no identified topographic features protected under this stipulation in
the EPA. The Live Bottom Stipulation covers the pinnacle trend area of
the CPA, affecting a total of 74 blocks. Under Alternative D, the
number of blocks that would become unavailable for lease represents
only a small percentage of the total number of blocks to be offered
under Alternative A, B, or C (<4%, even if blocks subject to all three
stipulations were excluded). Therefore, Alternative D could reduce
offshore infrastructure and activities, but Alternative D also shifts
the location of offshore infrastructure and activities farther from
these sensitive zones and would not lead to a reduction in overall
offshore infrastructure and activities.
Alternative E--No Action: This alternative is not holding proposed
region-wide Lease Sale 250 and is identified as the environmentally
preferred alternative.
Lease Stipulations--The 2018 GOM Supplemental EIS describes all
lease stipulations, which are included in the Final Notice of Sale
Package. In the Record of Decision for the 2017-2022 Five-Year Program,
the Secretary of the Interior required the protection of biologically
sensitive underwater features in all Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease
sales as programmatic mitigation; therefore, the application of the
Topographic Features Stipulation and Live Bottom Stipulation are being
adopted and applied for applicable designated lease blocks in Lease
Sale 250.
The additional eight lease stipulations for proposed region-wide
Lease Sale 250 are the Military Areas Stipulation; the Evacuation
Stipulation; the Coordination Stipulation; the Blocks South of Baldwin
County, Alabama, Stipulation; the Protected Species Stipulation; the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Royalty Payment
Stipulation; the Below Seabed Restrictions due to Rights-of-Use and
Easement for Floating Production Facilities Stipulation; and the
Stipulation on the Agreement between the United States of America and
the
[[Page 7070]]
United Mexican States Concerning Transboundary Hydrocarbon Reservoirs
in the Gulf of Mexico. These eight stipulations will be added as lease
terms where applicable and will be enforceable as part of the lease.
Appendix B of the Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2017-
2022; Gulf of Mexico Lease Sales 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 256,
257, 259, and 261; Final Multisale Environmental Impact Statement
(2017-2022 GOM Multisale EIS) provides a list and description of
standard post-lease conditions of approval that may be required by BOEM
or the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement as a result of
plan and permit review processes for the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region.
After careful consideration, BOEM has selected the preferred
alternative (Alternative A) in the 2018 GOM Supplemental EIS for
proposed Lease Sale 250. BOEM's selection of the preferred alternative
meets the purpose and need for the proposed action, as identified in
the 2018 GOM Supplemental EIS, and provides for orderly resource
development with protection of the human, marine, and coastal
environments while also ensuring that the public receives an equitable
return for these resources and that free-market competition is
maintained.
Authority: This Notice of Availability of a Record of Decision
is published pursuant to the regulations (40 CFR part 1505)
implementing the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
Dated: February 13, 2018.
Walter D. Cruickshank,
Acting Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[FR Doc. 2018-03280 Filed 2-15-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P
