Gulf of Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Oil and Gas Lease Sale 252, 4531-4532 [2019-02557]
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 32 / Friday, February 15, 2019 / Notices
via live-streaming. The opening of the
bids is for the sole purpose of publicly
announcing and recording the bids
received; no bids will be accepted or
rejected at that time.
Bonus Bid Deposit for Apparent High
Bids
Each bidder submitting an apparent
high bid must submit a bonus bid
deposit to ONRR equal to one-fifth of
the bonus bid amount for each such bid.
A copy of the notification of the high
bidder’s one-fifth bonus bid amount
may be obtained on the BOEM website
at https://www.boem.gov/Sale-252 under
the heading ‘‘Notification of EFT 1⁄5
Bonus Liability’’ after 1:00 p.m. on the
day of the sale. All payments must be
deposited electronically into an interestbearing account in the U.S. Treasury by
1:00 p.m. Eastern Time the day
following the bid reading (no
exceptions). Account information is
provided in the ‘‘Instructions for
Making Electronic Funds Transfer
Bonus Payments’’ found on the BOEM
website identified above.
Submitting payment to your financial
institution as soon as possible the day
of bid reading, but no later than 7:00
p.m. Eastern Time the day of bid
reading, will help ensure that deposits
have time to process through the U.S.
Treasury and post to ONRR. ONRR
cannot confirm payment until the
monies have been moved into
settlement status by the U.S. Treasury.
BOEM requires bidders to use EFT
procedures for payment of one-fifth
bonus bid deposits for GOM Regionwide Sale 252 following the detailed
instructions contained on the ONRR
Payment Information web page at
https://www.onrr.gov/ReportPay/
payments.htm. Acceptance of a deposit
does not constitute and will not be
construed as acceptance of any bid on
behalf of the United States.
Withdrawal of Blocks
The United States reserves the right to
withdraw any block from this lease sale
prior to issuance of a written acceptance
of a bid for the block.
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Acceptance, Rejection, or Return of Bids
The United States reserves the right to
reject any and all bids. No bid will be
accepted, and no lease for any block
will be awarded to any bidder, unless:
(1) The bidder has complied with all
applicable regulations and requirements
of the Final NOS, including those set
forth in the documents contained in the
Final NOS package;
(2) The bid is the highest valid bid;
and
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(3) The amount of the bid has been
determined to be adequate by the
authorized officer.
Any bid submitted that does not
conform to the requirements of the Final
NOS and Final
NOS package, OCSLA, or other
applicable statute or regulation will be
rejected and returned to the bidder. The
United States Department of Justice and
the Federal Trade Commission will
review the results of the lease sale for
antitrust issues prior to the acceptance
of bids and issuance of leases.
Bid Adequacy Review Procedures for
GOM Region-Wide Sale 252
To ensure that the U.S. Government
receives a fair return for the conveyance
of leases from this sale, BOEM will
evaluate high bids in accordance with
its bid adequacy procedures, which are
available at https://www.boem.gov/Oiland-Gas-Energy-Program/Leasing/
Regional-Leasing/Gulf-of-MexicoRegion/Bid-Adequacy-Procedures.aspx.
Lease Award
BOEM requires each bidder awarded
a lease to:
(1) Execute all copies of the lease
(Form BOEM–2005 (February 2017), as
amended);
(2) Pay by EFT the balance of the
bonus bid amount and the first year’s
rental for each lease issued in
accordance with the requirements of 30
CFR 218.155 and 556.520(a); and
(3) Satisfy the bonding requirements
of 30 CFR part 556, subpart I, as
amended.
ONRR requests that only one
transaction be used for payment of the
balance of the bonus bid amount and
the first year’s rental. Once ONRR
receives such payment, the bidder
awarded the lease may not request a
refund of the balance bonus bid amount
or first year’s rental payment.
XI. Delay of Sale
The BOEM Gulf of Mexico RD has the
discretion to change any date, time,
and/or location specified in the Final
NOS package in the case of an event that
the BOEM Gulf of Mexico RD deems
may interfere with a fair and orderly
lease sale process. Such events could
include, but are not limited to, natural
disasters (e.g., earthquakes, hurricanes,
and floods), wars, riots, acts of
terrorism, fires, strikes, civil disorder, or
other events of a similar nature. In case
of such events, bidders should call (504)
736–0557, or access the BOEM website
at https://www.boem.gov, for information
regarding any changes.
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4531
Dated: February 12, 2019.
Walter D. Cruickshank,
Acting Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management.
[FR Doc. 2019–02554 Filed 2–14–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
[Docket No. BOEM–2019–0003]
Gulf of Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf
(OCS), Oil and Gas Lease Sale 252
Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability of a
Record of Decision.
AGENCY:
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 252.
This Record of Decision identifies
BOEM’s selected alternative for
proposed Lease Sale 252, which is
analyzed in the Gulf of Mexico OCS
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 Ms. Helen
Rucker, Chief, Environmental
Assessment Section, Office of
Environment, by telephone at 504–736–
2421 or by email at helen.rucker@
boem.gov.
SUMMARY:
In the
2018 GOM Supplemental EIS, BOEM
evaluated five alternatives for proposed
Lease Sale 252. We have summarized
these alternatives below:
Alternative A—Regionwide OCS Lease
Sale: This is BOEM’s preferred
alternative. This alternative would
allow for a proposed GOM regionwide
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 regionwide 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
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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4532
Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 32 / Friday, February 15, 2019 / Notices
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
where the lease status is currently under
appeal. We have listed the unavailable
blocks in Section I of the Final Notice
of Sale for proposed Lease Sale 252 and
at www.boem.gov/Sale-252. The
proposed regionwide lease sale area
encompasses about 91.93 million acres
(ac). As of December 2018,
approximately 78.4 million ac of the
proposed regionwide lease sale area are
available for lease. As described in the
Final 2018 GOM Supplemental EIS, the
estimated amounts of resources
projected to be leased, discovered,
developed, and produced as a result of
the proposed regionwide lease sale are
between 0.211 and 1.118 billion barrels
of oil (BBO) and 0.547 and 4.424 trillion
cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas.
Alternative B—Regionwide 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 December 2018, approximately 51.8
million ac of the proposed CPA/EPA
lease sale area are 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—Regionwide 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 December 2018,
approximately 26.5 million ac of the
proposed WPA lease sale area are
available for lease. The estimated
amounts of resources projected to be
leased, discovered, developed, and
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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., Alternative A, B,
or C) and would allow the flexibility to
offer leases under any alternative with
additional exclusions. Under
Alternative D, the decisionmaker 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 in
the pinnacle trend area, 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
regionwide Lease Sale 252 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
PO 00000
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Sfmt 4703
features in all Gulf of Mexico oil and gas
lease sales as programmatic mitigation;
therefore, we are adopting the
Topographic Features Stipulation and
Live Bottom Stipulation and applying
them to designated lease blocks in
proposed Lease Sale 252.
The additional eight lease stipulations
for proposed regionwide Lease Sale 252
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 Operations Stipulation; and the
Stipulation on the Agreement between
the United States of America and the
United Mexican States Concerning
Transboundary Hydrocarbon Reservoirs
in the Gulf of Mexico. We will add these
eight stipulations as lease terms where
applicable and they 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
provides a list and description of
standard post-lease conditions of
approval that BOEM or the Bureau of
Safety and Environmental Enforcement
may require as a result of their 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 252. BOEM’s selection of the
preferred alternative meets the purpose
of 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 a fair
market value 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 12, 2019.
Walter D. Cruickshank,
Acting Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management.
[FR Doc. 2019–02557 Filed 2–14–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 32 (Friday, February 15, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4531-4532]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-02557]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
[Docket No. BOEM-2019-0003]
Gulf of Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Oil and Gas Lease
Sale 252
AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability of a Record of Decision.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: 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 252. This Record of Decision
identifies BOEM's selected alternative for proposed Lease Sale 252,
which is analyzed in the Gulf of Mexico OCS 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 Ms. Helen Rucker, Chief, Environmental
Assessment Section, Office of Environment, by telephone at 504-736-2421
or by email at helen.rucker@boem.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 2018 GOM Supplemental EIS, BOEM
evaluated five alternatives for proposed Lease Sale 252. We have
summarized these alternatives below:
Alternative A--Regionwide OCS Lease Sale: This is BOEM's preferred
alternative. This alternative would allow for a proposed GOM regionwide
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 regionwide 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
[[Page 4532]]
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 where the lease status is
currently under appeal. We have listed the unavailable blocks in
Section I of the Final Notice of Sale for proposed Lease Sale 252 and
at www.boem.gov/Sale-252. The proposed regionwide lease sale area
encompasses about 91.93 million acres (ac). As of December 2018,
approximately 78.4 million ac of the proposed regionwide lease sale
area are available for lease. As described in the Final 2018 GOM
Supplemental EIS, the estimated amounts of resources projected to be
leased, discovered, developed, and produced as a result of the proposed
regionwide lease sale are between 0.211 and 1.118 billion barrels of
oil (BBO) and 0.547 and 4.424 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas.
Alternative B--Regionwide 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 December 2018, approximately 51.8 million ac of the
proposed CPA/EPA lease sale area are 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--Regionwide 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 December 2018, approximately 26.5 million ac of
the proposed WPA lease sale area are 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., Alternative A, B, or C) and would
allow the flexibility to offer leases under any alternative with
additional exclusions. Under Alternative D, the decisionmaker 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 in the pinnacle trend area, 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
regionwide Lease Sale 252 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, we are adopting the
Topographic Features Stipulation and Live Bottom Stipulation and
applying them to designated lease blocks in proposed Lease Sale 252.
The additional eight lease stipulations for proposed regionwide
Lease Sale 252 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 Operations Stipulation; and the
Stipulation on the Agreement between the United States of America and
the United Mexican States Concerning Transboundary Hydrocarbon
Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico. We will add these eight stipulations
as lease terms where applicable and they 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 provides a list and description of standard post-lease
conditions of approval that BOEM or the Bureau of Safety and
Environmental Enforcement may require as a result of their 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 252. BOEM's selection of the preferred alternative
meets the purpose of 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 a fair market
value 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 12, 2019.
Walter D. Cruickshank,
Acting Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[FR Doc. 2019-02557 Filed 2-14-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P
