Bureau of Ocean Energy Management August 19, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Consistent with the regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), BOEM is announcing its intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for proposed GOM Lease Sales 250 and 251 (2018 GOM Lease Sales 250 and 251 Supplemental EIS) as scheduled in the 2017-2022 OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Program (2017-2022 Proposed Program). This Notice of Intent (NOI) serves to announce the EIS scoping process for the 2018 GOM Lease Sales 250 and 251 Supplemental EIS. The 2018 GOM Lease Sales 250 and 251 Supplemental EIS will tier from the 2017-2022 GOM Multisale EIS. Section 18 of the OCS Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1344) requires the development of an OCS oil and gas leasing program every five years. The Program sets forth a schedule of lease sales designed to best meet the Nation's energy needs. The lease sales proposed in the GOM in the 2017- 2022 Proposed Program are areawide sales encompassing both the Western and Central Planning Areas, and a portion of the Eastern Planning Area not subject to Congressional moratorium. These planning areas are located off the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. By proposing lease sales that offer all available GOM acreage, BOEM seeks to provide more opportunity for industry to bid on rejected, relinquished, or expired OCS lease blocks and facilitate better planning to explore resources that straddle the U.S./Mexico boundary. During the pre-lease sale process, the size of any individual lease sale could be reduced, and a smaller area offered for leasing, should circumstances warrant. For example, an individual lease sale could be focused on a single GOM Planning Area as in the 2012-2017 OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program.