Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The preparation of an Environment Impact Statement (EIS) for the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) submitted by Vineyard Wind LLC (Vineyard Wind) concerning the construction and operation of an 800 megawatt wind energy facility offshore Massachusetts (Vineyard Wind 1 Project) is no longer necessary and the process is hereby terminated.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is announcing the availability of a Record of Decision for the final programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) for proposed geological and geophysical (G&G) activities on the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). This Record of Decision identifies BOEM's selected alternative for conducting proposed G&G activities on the Gulf of Mexico OCS, which is analyzed in the Gulf of Mexico OCS Proposed Geological and Geophysical Activities: Western, Central, and Eastern Planning Areas; Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Programmatic EIS). The Record of Decision and associated information are available on BOEM's website at https://www.boem.gov//or https:// www.boem.gov/regions/gulf-mexico-ocs-region/resource-evaluati on/gulf- mexico-geological-and-geophysical-gg.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announces the availability of the Proposed Notice of Sale (NOS) for the proposed Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Region-wide Oil and Gas Lease Sale 257 (GOM Region-wide Sale 257). BOEM is publishing this Notice pursuant to its regulatory authority. With regard to oil and gas leasing on the OCS, the Secretary of the Interior, pursuant to Section 19 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, provides governors of affected states the opportunity to review and comment on the Proposed NOS. The Proposed NOS describes the proposed size, timing, and location of the sale, including lease stipulations, terms and conditions, minimum bids, royalty rates, and rental rates.

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 256. This Record of Decision identifies BOEM's selected alternative for proposed Lease Sale 256, which is analyzed in the Gulf of Mexico OCS Lease Sale: Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 2018 (2018 GOM Supplemental EIS).

The Department of the Interior (the Department), acting through BOEM and BSEE, proposes to streamline its evaluation criteria for determining whether oil, gas and sulfur lessees, right-of-use and easement (RUE) grant holders, and pipeline right-of-way grant holders may be required to provide bonds or other security above the prescribed amounts for base bonds to ensure compliance with their Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) obligations. BOEM's portion of the proposed rule would also remove restrictive provisions for third-party guarantees and decommissioning accounts, and would add new criteria under which additional bonds and third-party guarantees may be cancelled. Based on the proposed framework, BOEM estimates its amount of financial assurance would decrease from $3.3 billion to $3.1 billion, although it would provide greater protection as the financial assurance would be focused on the riskiest properties. BSEE's portion of this proposed rule would establish the order in which BSEE could order predecessor lessees, owners of operating rights, or grant holders, who have accrued decommissioning obligations, to perform those obligations when the current owners of a lease or grant fail to do so. BSEE's proposed provisions would also clarify decommissioning responsibilities for RUE grant holders and require that any party appealing any final decommissioning order provide a surety bond to ensure that funding for decommissioning is available if the order is affirmed on appeal and the liable party subsequently defaults.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is proposing to renew an information collection request with revisions.

Consistent with the regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is announcing its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed 2021 Cook Inlet Lease Sale 258 in the Cook Inlet Planning Area. The EIS will focus on the potential effects of leasing, exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas in the proposed lease sale area. In addition to the no action alternative (i.e., not holding the lease sale), other alternatives will be considered.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announces the availability of the Proposed Notice of Sale (NOS) for the proposed Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Region-wide Lease Sale 256 (GOM Region-wide Sale 256). BOEM is publishing this Notice pursuant to its regulatory authority. With regard to oil and gas leasing on the OCS, the Secretary of the Interior, pursuant to Section 19 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, provides governors of affected states the opportunity to review and comment on the Proposed NOS. The Proposed NOS describes the proposed size, timing, and location of the sale, including lease stipulations, terms and conditions, minimum bids, royalty rates, and rental rates.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is proposing to renew an information collection request (ICR).

This Notice extends the post-sale evaluation period for the Gulf of Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Lease Sale 254 (Sale 254) by an additional 30 days. BOEM will complete the post- sale evaluation process for all bids received at Sale 254 by July 16, 2020. This extension is necessary due to operational constraints for the employees located in the BOEM New Orleans office resulting from health and safety concerns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to current hardware and software infrastructure limitations, BOEM staff are unable to perform geophysical subsurface interpretation while teleworking from their homes. Additional in-office work is still necessary to complete the post-sale evaluation process for these bids. Louisiana has been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 virus. The two most affected Louisiana parishes are Orleans and Jefferson Parishes, where the BOEM office building is located and most of the employees reside. In consideration of these factors, precautions and preventive measures were taken to keep all employees working from the safety of their homes until conditions improve.

Pursuant to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) regulatory restrictions on joint bidding, the Director of BOEM is publishing a List of Restricted Joint Bidders. Each entity within one of the following groups is restricted from bidding with any entity in any of the other following groups at Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas lease sales to be held during the bidding period May 1, 2020, through October 31, 2020.

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 254. This Record of Decision identifies BOEM's selected alternative for proposed Lease Sale 254, which is analyzed in the Gulf of Mexico OCS Lease Sale: Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 2018 (2018 GOM Supplemental EIS).

This final rule implements the 2020 inflation adjustments to the maximum daily civil monetary penalties contained in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) regulations for violations of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (FCPIA Improvements Act) and relevant Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance. The 2020 adjustment multiplier of 1.01764 accounts for one year of inflation from October 2018 through October 2019.

This Notice advises the public that BOEM is rescinding the Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the OCS Gulf of Mexico (GOM) lease sales for 2020 and subsequent GOM lease sales through 2022.