Minerals Management Service September 14, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

A Call for Information and Nominations was published in the Federal Register on February 9, 2005. The Call area was identical to the program area chosen by the Secretary for leasing consideration in the 5-Year Program for 2002-2007approximately 34 million acres located offshore the coast of Alaska at a distance from shore ranging from 8 nautical miles to 200 nautical miles. Water depths range from 32 feet to 230 feet; a small portion of the northeast corner of the Chukchi Sea area drops to approximately 3,000 feet. Scoping meetings will then be held as needed in appropriate locations. The response to the February 2005 Call for Information for the Chukchi Sea Planning Area indicated a broader industry interest than envisioned in the ``special'' sale process outlined in the Federal Register notice. Instead of nominating a small ``focused'' area, industry commenters proposed consideration of a substantial portion of the planning area. MMS has concluded that consideration of such a large area has merit in light of the significant resource potential and the Administration's goal to expedite exploration of domestic energy resources. However, consideration of such a proposal warrants a more extensive National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review than contemplated under the ``special'' sale process that MMS initially considered. Therefore, MMS will initiate a process to prepare a comprehensive ``areawide'' Chukchi Sea EIS. As a result, however, it may not be possible to complete such an EIS in time to allow a sale during the current program. Nonetheless, MMS will initiate the process at this time to preserve the Secretary's options. Commencement of the consultative process in the near future will allow the Secretary to consider a Chukchi lease sale either at the end of the 2002-2007 Program or early in the schedule for the next 5-Year Program for 2007- 2012, but only if such a proposed sale is adopted in the next 5-year program. The decision whether to include such a sale will be made during the process of developing the 5-Year Program for 2007-2012. Our first action to initiate the NEPA review is to issue this NOI. Scoping meetings will then be held as needed in appropriate locations.