Minerals Management Service October 28, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Secretary's approved 5-Year OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2002-2007 provides for 3 sales: Sales 186, 195, and 202 to be held in the Beaufort Sea Programlanning Area. The presale process incorporated planning and analysis for all three sales. From the initial step in the process (the Call for Information and Nominations (Call)) through the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/ Consistency Determination (CD) step, the process covered the multiple- sale proposals. However, we indicated that we would conduct and did conduct complete National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), OCS Lands Act, and Coastal Zone Management Act processes for each sale, including a proposed and final Notice of Sale. The environmental analysis and the CD for Sale 202 will focus primarily on new issues, new scientific information, and/or changes in the state's federally-approved coastal management plan. The Call NOI to Prepare an EIS for Sales 186, 195, and 202 was published in the Federal Register on September 19, 2001, at 66 FR 48268. The Beaufort Sea Multiple-Sale Final EIS for these sales was released in February 2003 (OCS EIS/EA, MMS 2003-001). Sales 186 and 195 were held on September 24, 2003, and March 30, 2005, respectively. When the multiple-sale EIS was prepared, MMS indicated it would do an EA for Sales 195 and 202 if no significant new issues or impacts are identified. The MMS is now initiating a RFI for Beaufort Sea Sale 202.