66300 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 246 / Wednesday, December 26, 2018 / Notices 

Lands Outside the Former Clarence 

Rhode National Wildlife Range (Public 

Land Order No. 2213), Now Known as 

the Yukon Delta National Wildlife 

Refuge 

Surface estate to be conveyed to 

Kugkaktlik Limited; 

Subsurface estate to be conveyed to 

Calista Corporation. 

Seward Meridian, Alaska 

T. 1 S, R. 84 W, 

Sec. 22. 

Containing 0.94 acres. 

T. 1 S, R. 85 W, 

Secs. 31, 32, and 33. 

Containing 1,083 acres. 

T. 2 S, R. 85 W, 

Secs. 5 and 6. 

Containing 916 acres. 

Aggregating 2,000 acres. 

Aggregating a total of 2,881 acres. 

The BLM will publish notice of the 

decision once a week for four 

consecutive weeks in The Delta 

Discovery newspaper. 

Any party claiming a property interest 

in the lands affected by the decision 

may appeal the decision in accordance 

with the requirements of 43 CFR part 4 

within the following time limits: 

1. Unknown parties, parties unable to 

be located after reasonable efforts have 

been expended to locate, parties who 

fail or refuse to sign their return receipt, 

and parties who receive a copy of the 

decision by regular mail which is not 

certified, return receipt requested, shall 

have until January 25, 2019 to file an 

appeal. 

2. Parties receiving service of the 

decision by certified mail shall have 30 

days from the date of receipt to file an 

appeal. 

Parties who do not file an appeal in 

accordance with the requirements of 43 

CFR part 4 shall be deemed to have 

waived their rights. Notices of appeal 

transmitted by facsimile will not be 

accepted as timely filed. 

Judy A. Kelley, 

Land Law Examiner, Adjudication Section. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27880 Filed 12–21–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–JA–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[Docket No. BOEM–2018–0065] 

Outer Continental Shelf, Western, 

Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico, 

Oil and Gas Lease Sales for Years 

2019–2024 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management, Interior. 

ACTION: Call for Information and 

Nominations. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM) is issuing a Call 

for Information and Nominations (Call) 

covering up to ten proposed Regionwide oil and gas lease sales in the 

available portions of the Western, 

Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico 

Planning Areas (WPA, CPA, and EPA, 

respectively), as included in the 2019– 

2024 National Outer Continental Shelf 

(OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Draft 

Proposed Program (2019–2024 National 

Draft Proposed Program), which BOEM 

announced on January 4, 2018. 

DATES: All nominations and comments 

submitted in response to this Call must 

be received by BOEM no later than 

January 25, 2019. BOEM will consider 

submissions sent by mail so long as they 

are postmarked by the last day of the 

comment period. 

ADDRESSES: 

Public Comment Submission 

Procedures: All public comments 

should be submitted through one of the 

following methods: 

1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. In the field 

entitled, ‘‘Search,’’ enter ‘‘BOEM–2018– 

0065’’ and then click ‘‘search.’’ Follow 

the instructions to submit public 

comments and view supporting and 

related materials available for this 

notice; 

2. U.S. Postal Service or other delivery 

service to the following address: Dr. S. 

Erin O’Reilly Vaughan, Chief, Leasing 

and Financial Responsibility Section, 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 

Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 

Elmwood Park Boulevard, Mail Stop 

GM235D, New Orleans, Louisiana 

70123–2394. Send your comments in an 

envelope clearly labelled, ‘‘Comments 

on the Call for Information and 

Nominations for Proposed 2019–2024 

Gulf of Mexico Region-wide Lease 

Sales.’’ 

Nominations/Indications of Industry 

Interest Submission Procedures: To 

ensure security and confidentiality of 

proprietary information to the 

maximum extent possible, please send 

nominations/indications of interest and 

other proprietary information to Dr. S. 

Erin O’Reilly Vaughan, Chief, Leasing 

and Financial Responsibility Section, 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 

Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 

Elmwood Park Boulevard, Mail Stop 

GM235D, New Orleans, LA 70123–2394. 

Consistent with subsection 5 in the 

‘‘Call For Information and 

Nominations’’ section of this Call below, 

you should mark all documents and 

every page containing such information 

with ‘‘Confidential—Contains 

Proprietary Information.’’ Send your 

nominations in an envelope clearly 

labeled, ‘‘Nominations for Proposed 

2019–2024 Gulf of Mexico Region-wide 

Lease Sales.’’ Do not send indications of 

interest or other proprietary information 

through the Federal eRulemaking Portal. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

S. Erin O’Reilly Vaughan, Chief, Leasing 

and Financial Responsibility Section, 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 

Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 

Elmwood Park Boulevard, Mail Stop 

GM 235D, New Orleans, Louisiana 

70123–2394, telephone (504) 736–1759. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purpose of this Call is to solicit 

comments from industry and the public 

on: (a) Industry nominations of acreage 

for possible inclusion in the proposed 

sales; and (b) information on the Call 

Area for consideration in planning for 

these proposed OCS oil and gas lease 

sales, including geological conditions, 

archaeological sites, potential use 

conflicts in the Call Area, areas of 

special concern and analysis, and other 

socioeconomic, biological and 

environmental information. Because the 

first Gulf of Mexico Region-wide lease 

sale in the 2019–2024 National Draft 

Proposed Program is proposed to occur 

in 2020, and given the long lead time 

needed to prepare for a proposed sale, 

BOEM must initiate the planning 

process before the National OCS Oil and 

Gas Leasing Program (2019–2024 

National Program) has been finalized. 

This Call is not a decision to lease and 

does not prejudge any future Secretarial 

decision concerning areas to be made 

available for leasing under the 2019– 

2024 National Program. 

2019–2024 Program Development: On 

January 4, 2018, the Department of the 

Interior announced the release of the 

2019–2024 National Draft Proposed 

Program and published a Notice of 

Intent (NOI) to prepare a Programmatic 

Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) 

for the 2019–2024 National Program. 

Information on the development of the 

proposed 2019–2024 National Program 

and PEIS is available on BOEM’s 

website at: https://www.boem.gov/ 

National-OCS-Program/. 

Because the first Gulf of Mexico 

Region-wide sale in the 2019–2024 

National Draft Proposed Program is 

tentatively proposed to occur near the 

beginning of the lease sale schedule, 

and given the long lead time needed to 

prepare for a proposed oil and gas lease 

sale, the administrative and 

environmental review processes for this 

sale must occur simultaneously and in 

close coordination with the 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 246 / Wednesday, December 26, 2018 / Notices 66301 

development of the 2019–2024 National 

Program. 

This Call should not be construed as 

a prejudgment by the Secretary 

concerning whether to schedule a lease 

sale in this area under the 2019–2024 

National Program. This Call does not 

indicate a preliminary decision to lease 

in the areas described herein. BOEM 

will use the information and 

nominations received in response to this 

Call to identify the areas to be carried 

forward for analysis and potential 

inclusion in future oil and gas leasing. 

Multiple steps would be required prior 

to holding any lease sale, including but 

not limited to: inclusion of this sale in 

the approved 2019–2024 National 

Program, completion of environmental 

analyses and statutory requirements, 

and issuance of Proposed and Final 

Notices of Sale (NOS). 

Environmental Review Process: BOEM 

intends to prepare a Multisale 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), 

in accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 

covering the proposed lease sales 

included in this Call. BOEM will also 

prepare a Supplemental EIS, which will 

inform decisions for the proposed lease 

sales scheduled for 2020 in the Gulf of 

Mexico, as currently scheduled in the 

2017–2022 National Program and which 

are also proposed in the 2019–2024 

National Draft Proposed Program. The 

Multisale EIS and Supplemental EIS 

will evaluate the potential effects that 

oil and gas activities resulting from 

these lease sales could have on the 

human, marine, and coastal 

environments, and may propose 

measures and lease stipulations to 

mitigate adverse impacts for the options 

being analyzed. Several consultations 

will be conducted concurrently with the 

NEPA process. As appropriate, these 

may include consultations under the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA), the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, 

Section 106 of the National Historic 

Preservation Act (NHPA), and Executive 

Order 13175—‘‘Consultation and 

Coordination with Tribal 

Governments.’’ The results of these 

consultations will assist BOEM in its 

leasing decisions. The Supplemental 

EIS may be supplemented if necessary 

for decisions on future Gulf of Mexico 

proposed Region-wide lease sales. 

BOEM’s Leasing Process: BOEM’s 

regulations for planning and holding an 

oil and gas lease sale are found at 30 

CFR 556.300–309. These regulations 

include the following steps: 

(1) Call for Information and 

Nominations: See section below. 

(2) Area Identification: Based on the 

information and nominations submitted 

in response to this Call, BOEM will 

develop a recommendation of the area 

proposed for further leasing 

consideration and environmental 

analysis. Upon approval by the 

Secretary, BOEM will announce the 

proposed area identified for leasing in 

the Federal Register, in accordance with 

30 CFR 556.302(a)(3). 

(3) Proposed NOS: If BOEM proceeds 

with consideration of leasing after 

completion of Area Identification and 

environmental analysis, it will publish 

a Notice of Availability of a Proposed 

NOS in the Federal Register and send 

the Proposed NOS to the Governors of 

affected states for comment and 

recommendations on the size, timing, 

and location of the proposed sale. The 

Proposed NOS describes the size, 

timing, and location of the proposed 

sale, provides additional information on 

the area(s) proposed for leasing, lists 

proposed lease terms and conditions of 

the sale, and provides proposed 

stipulations to mitigate potential 

adverse impacts on the environment 

and other uses of the area. 

(4) Final NOS: If BOEM decides to 

proceed with leasing, it will publish a 

Final NOS in the Federal Register at 

least 30 days before the date of the lease 

sale. The Final NOS will describe the 

place, time, and method for filing bids 

and the place, date, and hour for 

opening and publicly announcing bids. 

It will also contain a description of the 

area(s) offered for lease, the lease terms 

and conditions of the sale, and 

stipulations to mitigate potential 

adverse impacts on the environment 

and other uses of the area. 

Call for Information and Nominations 

1. Purpose of Call 

The purpose of this Call is to solicit 

industry nominations for areas of 

leasing interest and to gather comments 

and information from the public on the 

area(s) that should be included in the 

proposed OCS oil and gas lease sales in 

the Gulf of Mexico under the 2019–2024 

National Draft Proposed Program. 

Pursuant to 30 CFR 556.301, BOEM 

seeks comments from industry and the 

public on: 

(a) Industry interest in the Call Area, 

including nominations or indications of 

interest in specific blocks within the 

Call Area; 

(b) geological conditions, including 

bottom hazards; 

(c) archaeological sites on the seabed 

or near shore; 

(d) potential multiple uses in the Call 

Area, including navigation, recreation, 

and fisheries; 

(e) areas that should receive special 

concern and analysis; and 

(f) other socioeconomic, biological, 

and environmental information. 

BOEM will consider information 

submitted in response to this Call to: 

• Inform the Area Identification 

process under 30 CFR 556.302; 

• prioritize areas with potential for 

oil and gas development; 

• develop potential lease terms and 

conditions; 

• identify potential use conflicts and 

potential mitigation measures; and 

• assist in BOEM’s planning and 

environmental review process. 

2. Description of the Call Area 

The GOM Region-wide sale area of 

this Call includes the entire CPA, WPA, 

and EPA, except for those areas 

currently subject to the Gulf of Mexico 

Energy Security Act of 2006 (GOMESA, 

Pub. L. 109–432) moratorium. 

The CPA is bound on the north by the 

Federal-State boundaries offshore 

Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. 

The eastern boundary of the CPA begins 

at the offshore boundary between 

Alabama and Florida and proceeds 

southeasterly to 26.19° N latitude, 

thence southwesterly to 25.6° N 

latitude. The western boundary of the 

CPA begins at the offshore boundary 

between Texas and Louisiana and 

proceeds southeasterly to 28.43° N 

latitude, thence south-southwesterly to 

27.49° N latitude, thence southsoutheasterly to 25.80° N latitude. The 

CPA is bound on the south by the 

maritime boundary with Mexico as 

established by the Treaty between the 

Government of the United States of 

America and the Government of the 

United Mexican States on the 

Delimitation of the Continental Shelf in 

the Western Gulf of Mexico beyond 200 

Nautical Miles, which took effect in 

January 2001, and by the limit of the 

U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone in the 

area east of the continental shelf 

boundary with Mexico. BOEM is 

seeking nominations and comments at 

this time on the entire CPA, which 

consists of approximately 66.45 million 

acres, of which approximately 50.26 

million acres are currently unleased. 

The WPA is bound on the west and 

north by the Federal-State boundary 

offshore Texas. The eastern boundary 

begins at the offshore boundary between 

Texas and Louisiana and proceeds 

southeasterly to 28.43° N latitude, 

thence south-southwesterly to 27.49° N 

latitude, thence south-southeasterly to 

25.80° N latitude. The WPA is bound on 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1
66302 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 246 / Wednesday, December 26, 2018 / Notices 

the south by the maritime boundary 

with Mexico as established by the 

Treaty between the Government of the 

United States of America and the 

Government of the United Mexican 

States on the Delimitation of the 

Continental Shelf in the Western Gulf of 

Mexico beyond 200 nautical miles, 

which took effect in January 2001. 

BOEM is seeking nominations and 

comments at this time on the entire 

WPA, which consists of approximately 

28.58 million acres, of which 

approximately 26.10 million acres are 

currently unleased. 

The GOM Region-wide sale area 

includes a small section of the EPA that 

is not subject to the GOMESA 

moratorium, which currently runs until 

June 30, 2022. See https://

www.boem.gov/Areas-Under-Moratoria/ 

for a map and description of the 

GOMESA Moratorium Area. The portion 

of the EPA not subject to Congressional 

moratorium is bound on the east by the 

Military Mission Line (86°41′ W 

longitude), on the south by blocks that 

are beyond the U.S. Exclusive Economic 

Zone in the area known as the northern 

portion of the Eastern Gap, and on the 

west by the CPA. BOEM is seeking 

nominations and comments at this time 

on the portion of the EPA that is not 

subject to the GOMESA moratorium. 

The portion of the EPA not subject to 

the moratorium consists of 

approximately 657,905 acres, of which 

approximately 606,995 acres are 

currently unleased. 

A map depicting the Call Area is 

available for download on the BOEM 

website at: http://www.boem.gov/MultiSale2020. Copies of Official Protraction 

Diagrams (OPDs) also are available for 

download on the BOEM website at: 

https://www.boem.gov/Maps-and-GISData/. 

3. Instructions on the Call 

Parties interested in leasing one or 

more whole or partial blocks within the 

Call Area are requested to indicate their 

interest in, and comment on, blocks 

within the boundaries of the Call Area 

that they wish to have included in the 

proposed lease sale. Respondents 

should explicitly outline the areas of 

interest along block lines and rank the 

areas or specific blocks in which they 

are interested, according to their 

priority, using the following indicators: 

1 [high], 2 [medium], or 3 [low]. 

Respondents are encouraged to be as 

specific as possible in prioritizing 

blocks and supporting nominations of 

specific blocks with detailed 

information, such as relevant geologic, 

geophysical, and economic data. Areas 

where interest has been indicated, but 

on which respondents have not 

indicated priorities, will be considered 

low priority. Respondents may also 

submit a list of blocks nominated by 

OPD and Leasing Map designations to 

ensure correct interpretation of their 

nominations. OPDs and Leasing Maps 

are available on BOEM’s website at 

https://www.boem.gov/Maps-and-GISData/. See subsection 5, ‘‘Protection of 

Privileged or Proprietary Information,’’ 

regarding protection and release of 

information and how to mark and 

submit proprietary information. 

BOEM also seeks comments from all 

interested parties regarding particular 

geological, environmental, biological, 

archaeological, and socioeconomic 

conditions; potential use conflicts, or 

other information about conditions that 

could affect the potential leasing and 

development of particular areas. 

Comments may refer to broad areas or 

may refer to particular OCS blocks. 

4. Protection of Privileged or Proprietary 

Information 

BOEM will protect privileged or 

proprietary information in accordance 

with the Freedom of Information Act 

(FOIA) and OCSLA requirements. To 

avoid inadvertent release of such 

information, you should mark all 

documents and every page containing 

such information with ‘‘Confidential— 

Contains Proprietary Information.’’ To 

the extent a document contains a mix of 

proprietary and nonproprietary 

information, you should clearly mark 

the document to indicate which portion 

of the document is proprietary and 

which is not. Exemption 4 of FOIA 

applies to trade secrets and commercial 

or financial information that you submit 

that is privileged or confidential. BOEM 

considers nominations of specific blocks 

to be proprietary, and therefore will not 

release information that identifies any 

particular nomination with any 

particular party, so as not to 

compromise the competitive position of 

any participants in the process of 

indicating interest. 

However, please be aware that 

BOEM’s practice is to make all 

comments, including the names and 

addresses of individuals, available for 

public inspection. Before including your 

address, phone number, email address, 

or other personal identifying 

information in your comment, please be 

advised that your entire comment, 

including your personal identifying 

information, may be made publicly 

available at any time. In order for BOEM 

to withhold from disclosure your 

personal identifying information, you 

must identify any information contained 

in the submission of your comments 

that, if released, would constitute a 

clearly unwarranted invasion of your 

personal privacy. You must also briefly 

describe any possible harmful 

consequences of the disclosure of 

information, such as embarrassment, 

injury or other harm. Although you can 

ask us in your comment to withhold 

from public review your personal 

identifying information, we cannot 

guarantee that we will be able to do so. 

BOEM will make available for public 

inspection, in their entirety, all 

comments submitted by organizations 

and businesses, or by individuals 

identifying themselves as 

representatives of organizations or 

businesses. 

Authority: This Call is published pursuant 

to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

(OCSLA), as amended (43 U.S.C. 1331–1356) 

and the implementing regulations at 30 CFR 

part 556.301. 

Dated: December 19, 2018. 

Walter D. Cruickshank, 

Acting Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27876 Filed 12–21–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[Docket ID: BOEM–2018–0060] 

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Gulf of 

Mexico (GOM), Oil and Gas Lease 

Sales for 2020 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM), Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a 

supplemental environmental impact 

statement. 

SUMMARY: 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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on the 2020 GOM 

Supplemental EIS or BOEM’s policies 

associated with this notice, please 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1