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

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.

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).

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) with revisions.

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 254 (GOM Region-wide Sale 254). 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) with revisions.

On Wednesday, August 21, 2019, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will open and publicly announce bids received for blocks offered in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Region-wide Oil and Gas Lease Sale 253 (GOM Region-wide Sale 253), in accordance with the provisions of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), and the implementing regulations issued pursuant thereto. The GOM Region-wide Sale 253 Final Notice of Sale (NOS) package contains information essential to potential bidders.

The purpose of this public notice is to: Describe the New York and New Jersey Ocean Grid proposed by Anbaric Development Partners, LLC (ADP); determine if there is competitive interest in a right-of-way (ROW) grant for renewable energy purposes in the area identified in this notice; and solicit public input regarding the proposal, its potential environmental consequences, and other uses of the area in which the proposal would be located.

Pursuant to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) regulatory restrictions on joint bidding, the Director of the 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, 2019, through October 31, 2019.

This final rule implements the 2019 adjustment of the level of 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), in accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 and relevant Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance. The 2019 adjustment multiplier of 1.02522 accounts for one year of inflation spanning the period from October 2017 through October 2018.

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 252. This Record of Decision identifies BOEM's selected alternative for proposed Lease Sale 252, which is analyzed in the Gulf of Mexico OCS Lease Sale: Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 2018 (2018 GOM Supplemental EIS).

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

Consistent with the regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), BOEM is announcing its intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which is expected to be used to inform the decisions for each of the two proposed lease sales scheduled in 2020 and the subsequent lease sales through 2022 (2020 GOM Supplemental EIS) that are comprised of the Western and Central Planning Areas, and a small 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.

On November 16, 2018, consistent with the regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced its intent, in the Federal Register (83 FR 57749), to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed 2019 Beaufort Sea Lease Sale in the Beaufort Sea Planning Area. Because of earthquakes in Alaska, BOEM has rescheduled some of its scoping meetings and extended the comment period.

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 2019 Beaufort Sea Lease Sale in the Beaufort Sea 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. Consistent with the regulations implementing the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), BOEM is also announcing the area recommended for leasing.

BOEM is announcing the availability of the Record of Decision for the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Liberty Development and Production Plan (DPP) in the Beaufort Sea Planning Area. The Record of Decision identifies the Bureau's selected alternative for the Liberty DPP. The Record of Decision and associated information are available on BOEM's website at https://www.boem.gov/ liberty.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) invites the submission of information and nominations for commercial wind leases that would allow a lessee to propose the construction of a wind energy project on the OCS offshore California, and to develop one or more projects, if approved, after further environmental review. This is not a leasing announcement, but the Call Areas or portions of Call Areas described may be available for future leasing. BOEM will use responses to this Call to gauge specific interest in acquiring commercial wind leases in some or all of the Call Areas. Any nominations submitted in response to this Call should provide detailed and specific information addressing the requirements described in the section of this notice entitled, ``Required Nomination Information.'' This Call also requests comments and information regarding site conditions, resources, and multiple uses in close proximity to, or within, the Call Areas that would be relevant to BOEM's review of the nominations or to any subsequent decision whether to offer all or part of the Call Areas for commercial wind leasing. In providing this information, please refer to the section of this Call entitled, ``Requested Information from Interested or Affected Parties.''