Bureau of Ocean Energy Management November 7, 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

BOEM, in cooperation with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), is issuing a request for information to aid in the development of a long-term monitoring plan (LTMP) for marine mammals in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The LTMP will focus on the potential impacts to marine mammals from geological and geophysical data acquisition activities, including seismic surveys. This LTMP is a required element of BOEM's petition for rulemaking under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

BOEM is announcing the availability of a Draft Second Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Chukchi Sea Planning Area, OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193 (Lease Sale 193). The Draft Second SEIS (OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2014-653) provides new analysis in accordance with the United States District Court for the District of Alaska (District Court) Order remanding Lease Sale 193 to BOEM. The District Court's order instructs BOEM to address the deficiency in the 2007 Final EIS (OCS EIS/EA MMS 2007-026) identified by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Ninth Circuit). The Ninth Circuit Court held that the Environmental Impact Statement supporting the decision to hold Lease Sale 193 arbitrarily relied on a 1 billion barrel oil production estimate.