Bureau of Ocean Energy Management August 1, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On June 16, 2014, BOEM published a Request for Information and Comments on the preparation of a new Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2017-2022, as required by section 18 of the OCS Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344). The Act requires the Department of the Interior to invite and solicit information on all 26 OCS planning areas from interested and affected parties as the first step in the preparation of a Five Year OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program (Five Year Program). The June 16 notice provided for a 45-day comment period, which is scheduled to end on July 31, 2014. BOEM has received requests from several coastal states to extend the comment period. To further the intent of the OCS Lands Act to collect information for future decision- making and provide ample opportunity for interested and affected parties to comment, BOEM is extending the comment period to August 15, 2014. See instructions for commenting below as they are simplified from the original notice as explained on the BOEM Five Year Web page.