Department of the Interior April 6, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

BOEM announces the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) for remanded Chukchi Sea Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193 (Lease Sale 193), originally held on February 6, 2008. BOEM prepared the Chukchi Sea Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193 Final Second Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to address a deficiency identified by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Court of Appeals) in its opinion of January 22, 2014. The Final Second SEIS considers the potential impacts of oil and gas activities that could result from leases issued in Lease Sale 193, including the full range of likely production if oil production were to occur (80 FR 9266, Feb. 20, 2015). In making her decision, the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management (ASLM) considered four alternatives for Lease Sale 193, the potential impacts for each alternative as presented in the Final Second SEIS, and all comments received throughout the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. After careful consideration, the ASLM selected BOEM's preferred alternative, to affirm Lease Sale 193 and leases previously issued. This selection meets the purpose and need for the proposed action, promotes orderly resource development with protection of the human, marine, and coastal environments, and ensures that the public receives an equitable return for these resources and that free-market competition is maintained.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published a Notice of Proposed Supplementary Rules in the Federal Register on February 3, 2015 [80 FR 5781] and announced the beginning of a 60-day public comment period. In response to technical difficulties with one of the methods for taking comments, the BLM is extending the public comment period for the Proposed Supplementary Rules until May 5, 2015.

This order withdraws 230.08 acres of public lands from location and entry under the United States mining laws for 20 years on behalf of the Bureau of Land Management to protect scenic, recreational, and other natural resource values within the Browns Canyon corridor of the Arkansas River. The lands have been and will remain open to leasing under the mineral and geothermal leasing laws.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite the public to comment on the following applications for recovery permits to conduct activities with the purpose of enhancing the survival of an endangered species. The Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), prohibits certain activities with endangered species unless a Federal permit allows such activity. The Act also requires that we invite public comment before issuing such permits.