Bureau of Ocean Energy Management March 30, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This Notice of Availability (NOA) is published pursuant to the regulations (40 CFR part 1503 and 43 CFR part 46) implementing the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (1988)). BOEM has prepared a Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to evaluate potential environmental effects of multiple Geological and Geophysical (G&G) activities in the Mid- and South Atlantic Planning Areas of the OCS. These activities include, but are not limited to, seismic surveys, sidescan-sonar surveys, electromagnetic surveys, geological and geochemical sampling, and remote sensing. The Draft PEIS considers G&G activities for the three program areas managed by BOEM: (1) Oil and gas exploration and development; (2) renewable energy; and (3) marine minerals. A Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare the PEIS was published in the Federal Register on January 21, 2009, and scoping comments were received during a comment period that closed on March 23, 2009. Scoping was reopened by publication of a Federal Register Notice on April 2, 2010, that announced a 45-day scoping period and meeting locations in April 2010. The comment period closed on May 17, 2010.