Minerals Management Service March 25, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is issuing this notice to advise the public, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., that MMS has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) for proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas Lease Sale 207 in the Western Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Planning Area (WPA) (Lease Sale 207) scheduled for August 2008. The preparation of this EA is an important step in the decision process for Lease Sale 207. The proposal for Lease Sale 207 was identified by the Call for Information and Nominations published in the Federal Register on December 3, 2007, and was analyzed in the Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2007-2012; Western Planning Area Sales 204, 207, 210, 215, and 218; Central Planning Area Sales 205, 206, 208, 213, 216, and 222Final Environmental Impact Statement; Volumes I and II (Multisale EIS, OCS EIS/EA MMS 2007-018). The proposal includes approximately 28.6 million acres offshore Texas and western Louisiana in water up to 10,978 ft (3,346 m) deep. This EA for proposed Lease Sale 207 reexamined the potential environmental effects of offering for lease all unleased blocks in the WPA (excluding unleased whole and partial blocks that are part of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, and whole and partial blocks that lie within the 1.4- nautical mile buffer zone north of the outer continental shelf boundary between the U.S. and Mexico). Alternatives excluded additional blocks in biologically sensitive areas of the western GOM, use of a nomination and tract selection leasing system, and no action. The EA determined that no new information about environmental resources or potential impacts were identified that were not considered in the Multisale EIS. MMS determined that a Supplemental EIS is not required and prepared a Finding of No New Significant Impact (FONNSI).