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[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 145 (Tuesday, July 29, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44060-44064]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-17842]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

[Docket No. BOEM-2014-0017]

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Alaska OCS Region, Beaufort Sea 
Planning Area, Proposed Oil and Gas Lease Sale 242 (Sale 242) 
MMAA104000

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Interior.

ACTION: Call for Information and Nominations.

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SUMMARY: This Call for Information and Nominations (hereinafter 
referred to as ``Call'') is the initial step in the prelease process 
for Sale 242 in the Beaufort Sea Planning Area. The lease sale 
presently is scheduled to be held in 2017, as included in the Outer 
Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 
(hereinafter referred to as ``Five Year Program''). The purpose of this 
Call is to obtain nominations for leasing in the Beaufort Sea Planning 
Area and information on oil and gas leasing, exploration, and 
development that might result from an OCS oil and gas lease sale for 
the Beaufort Sea Planning Area. The area addressed in this Call 
(hereinafter referred to as ``Program Area'') is located offshore the 
State of Alaska in the Beaufort Sea Planning Area (see map included 
with this Call). As identified in the Five Year Program, the Program 
Area is a sub-area of the larger Beaufort Sea Planning Area.

DATES: All responses to the Call must be received no later than 
September 12, 2014.

[[Page 44061]]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael S. Rolland, Chief, Leasing 
Section, BOEM, Alaska OCS Region, 3801 Centerpoint Drive, Suite 500, 
Anchorage, Alaska 99503-5823, or at (907) 334-5200.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BOEM will not consider areawide leasing for 
this sale; this sale (if held) will be conducted under the targeted 
leasing model for Alaska, as described in the Five Year Program. This 
Call differs from the Call for Information and Nominations for the 
Chukchi Sea Lease Sale 237, issued on September 27, 2013, and found in 
the Federal Register at 78 FR 59715. Industry should note that for this 
Call, if nominations are within the BOEM-defined areas of high 
petroleum potential, the nominating party is not required to provide 
supporting geological, geophysical, or economic information. However, 
if industry nominates an area outside of the BOEM defined high 
petroleum potential area, then the company making such a nomination may 
be asked by BOEM to support its nomination with geological, 
geophysical, or economic information.
    In addition to seeking nominations, this Call requests information 
concerning:
     Geological conditions, including bottom hazards;
     archaeological sites on the seabed or nearshore;
     multiple uses of the Program Area, including navigation, 
recreation, and fisheries; and
     other socioeconomic, biological, and environmental 
information, including but not limited to, information regarding oil 
and gas resource potential, sensitive habitats, subsistence use, unique 
conditions, and important other uses of the Program Area.
    After BOEM identifies the area for the proposed lease sale based 
upon the information and nominations received from this Call, BOEM will 
initiate an environmental analysis process in accordance with the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) through publication of a 
Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (NOI/
EIS). BOEM will use the information obtained through this Call and the 
Area Identification in developing the proposed action and possible 
alternatives to be identified and scoped in the NOI/EIS.

Call for Information and Nominations

1. Authority

    This Call is published pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf 
Lands Act (OCSLA), as amended (43 U.S.C. 1331-1356), and the 
regulations issued thereunder (30 CFR part 556).

2. Purpose of This Call

    The purpose of this Call is to gather information to determine the 
Area Identification for Sale 242 under 30 CFR 556.26. BOEM seeks 
information and nominations on oil and gas leasing, exploration, and 
development and production in the Program Area from all interested 
parties. This early planning and consultation step is important to 
ensure that all interests and concerns are communicated to the U.S. 
Department of the Interior for consideration in future decisions in the 
leasing process, pursuant to OCSLA and the regulations at 30 CFR part 
556.

3. Description of Program Area

    The Program Area is located offshore the State of Alaska in the 
Beaufort Sea Planning Area. The Beaufort Sea Planning Area extends from 
the 3-nautical mile (4.8 kilometers [km]) limit of State of Alaska 
waters northward to latitude 75[deg] N. on the west (west of longitude 
148[deg] W.) or to latitude 74[deg] N on the east (east of longitude 
148[deg] W.) (see map included with this notice). The planning area 
extends from longitude 156[deg] W. (roughly north of the village of 
Barrow) on the west to the Canadian maritime boundary. As depicted on 
the page-size map accompanying this Call, the Program Area, which is a 
subset of the planning area, extends offshore from about 3 nautical 
miles to approximately 280 nautical miles, in water depths from 
approximately 25 feet to more than 14,000 feet. This area consists of 
approximately 11,800 whole and partial blocks (about 64.8 million 
acres, or 26.2 million hectares). A large-scale Call map showing the 
boundaries and blocks of the Beaufort Sea Program Area is available 
without charge on the BOEM Web site at http://www.boem.gov/ak242. 
Copies of Official Protraction Diagrams also are available without 
charge on the Web site at http://www.boem.gov/Oil-and-Gas-Energy-Program/Mapping-and-Data/Alaska.aspx.

4. Nominations on This Call

    Written nominations must be received no later than September 12, 
2014. Submittals should indicate ``Nominations for Beaufort Sea Lease 
Sale 242.''
    Persons or corporations, or other entities in the oil and gas 
industry (hereinafter referred to as ``industry'') submitting 
nominations, should describe explicitly their interest by ranking the 
areas nominated according to priority using five interest 
classifications: (1) Critical interest, (2) high interest, (3) general 
interest, (4) low interest, or (5) no interest. The area(s) nominated 
must be described accurately and shown on the large-scale Call map 
available at http://www.boem.gov/ak242. Industry nominations within the 
BOEM-defined areas of high petroleum potential, as identified on Map D 
in the document Final Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing 
Program for 2012-2017 (available at http://www.boem.gov/ak242), need 
not justify the nomination further. However, if the nomination is 
outside of the BOEM-defined area of high resource potential, the 
nominating party should be as specific as possible in prioritizing 
blocks and should be prepared, if called upon, to supply geological, 
geophysical, or economic information on why such blocks should be 
included in Sale 242. Industry nominators are requested to provide the 
telephone number and name of the individual to contact regarding the 
nominations. A representative from BOEM's Alaska OCS Regional office 
may contact this individual to set up a mutually agreeable meeting date 
and time to review more fully the nomination.
    To avoid inadvertent release of proprietary information, industry 
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, industry should mark clearly which portion of the document 
is proprietary and which is not. The OCSLA states that the ``Secretary 
shall maintain the confidentiality of all privileged or proprietary 
data or information for such period of time as is provided for in this 
subchapter, established by regulation, or agreed to by the parties'' 
(43 U.S.C. 1344(g)). BOEM considers written nominations of specific 
blocks to be proprietary, and it will not release those nominations to 
the public.

5. Exclusion Areas and Other Comments

    BOEM is seeking recommendations on whether to exclude specific 
blocks or areas from oil and gas leasing (hereinafter referred to as 
``proposed exclusion areas''), or to lease them under special 
conditions due to conflicting values and environmental concerns. 
Persons, Federal agencies, state and local governments, tribes, and 
other interested parties (hereinafter referred to as ``commenters'') 
should indicate proposed exclusion areas or areas of special concern on 
the large-scale Call map available at http://www.boem.gov/ak242. 
Commenters also may use the interactive map tool for the

[[Page 44062]]

Arctic at http://www.boem.gov/Oil-and-Gas-Energy-Program/Leasing/Five-Year-Program/Lease-Sale-Schedule/Interactive-Maps.aspx. Commenters are 
encouraged to be as specific as possible in explaining why the area 
should be excluded or leased under special conditions, provide 
supporting information, and be prepared to discuss the proposed 
exclusion areas with BOEM. Commenters are requested to provide the 
telephone number and name of the individual to contact regarding 
comments. A representative from BOEM's Alaska OCS Regional office may 
contact this individual to set up a mutually agreeable meeting date and 
time to review more fully the proposed exclusion areas.
    BOEM also is seeking comments and information from all interested 
persons regarding:
     Areas that should receive more detailed consideration and 
analysis;
     geological conditions, including bottom hazards;
     archaeological sites on the seabed or nearshore;
     other uses of the Program Area, including navigation and 
subsistence; and
     other socioeconomic, biological, or environmental 
information.
    BOEM received comments on the Program Area as part of the Five Year 
Program approval process. Those comments included information on the 
importance of the Boulder Patch, Camden Bay, and the Nuiqsut bowhead 
whale hunt area near Cross Island. BOEM will consider information 
submitted previously on the Five Year Program (see section 7. below), 
but BOEM encourages persons who submitted comments on the Five Year 
Program to refine their earlier comments and provide greater detail or 
new information, where appropriate, concerning the importance of these 
areas or associated activities.

6. Submissions of Nominations, Requests for Exclusion Areas, and Other 
Comments

    Industry representatives who are nominating area(s) for inclusion 
in the sale should send their nominations to: Chief, Leasing Section, 
BOEM, Alaska OCS Region, 3801 Centerpoint Drive, Suite 500, Anchorage, 
Alaska 99503-5823.
    Proposals for exclusion areas and areas of special concern, 
including general information from persons, Federal agencies, state and 
local governments, tribes, and other interested parties, will be 
accepted only through http://www.regulations.gov, using docket 
designation BOEM-2014-0017. All comments received via this Web site, 
including names and addresses of the commenter, are public and will be 
posted for public review. BOEM will not consider anonymous comments. 
BOEM will make available all nonproprietary submissions in their 
entirety on http://www.regulations.gov. However, BOEM will remove 
inappropriate content (i.e., contains vulgar language, personal attacks 
of any kind, threats, accusations, obscenity, or offensive terms that 
target specific ethnic or racial groups), or comments that are off-
topic (i.e., not pertinent to the information requested in the Call). 
Groups bundling comments from multiple individuals are encouraged to 
screen comments for inappropriate content.

7. Tracking Table and Interactive Map

    In the Five Year Program, BOEM established a mitigation/program 
tracking table (hereinafter referred to as ``Table''), which is 
designed to track the history and treatment of suggestions for 
inclusion or exclusion of acreage, temporal deferrals, and/or 
mitigation from the Five Year Program stage through the lease sale 
stage to the plan stage. The Table will allow commenters to see how and 
where their concerns are considered. The Table also will ensure that a 
reasonable concern not suitable for consideration during one stage will 
be considered at an appropriate subsequent stage. The Table may be 
viewed at http://www.boem.gov/Oil-and-Gas-Energy-Program/Leasing/Five-Year-Program/Lease-Sale-Schedule/Tracking-Table.aspx. Appropriate 
suggestions collected during the comment period on this Call will be 
added to the Table and tracked throughout the process.
    Additionally, BOEM has created an interactive map through the 
MarineCadastre.gov Web site for Alaska at http://www.boem.gov/Oil-and-Gas-Energy-Program/Leasing/Five-Year-Program/Lease-Sale-Schedule/Interactive-Maps.aspx. MarineCadastre.gov is an integrated marine 
information system that provides a more comprehensive look at 
geospatial data and ongoing activities and studies occurring in the 
area being considered. If persons believe that a data layer should be 
added for consideration, they should provide this information by 
following the commenting instructions above. Questions about the 
interactive map may be addressed to: Chief, Leasing Section, BOEM, 
Alaska OCS Region, 3801 Centerpoint Drive, Suite 500, Anchorage, Alaska 
99503-5823, or by calling (907) 334-5200.

8. Use of Information From This Call

    BOEM is undertaking a strategy of targeted leasing, whereby the 
BOEM Director will use the information provided in response to this 
Call to make an Area Identification decision under 30 CFR 556.26. BOEM 
will consider nominations, proposed exclusion areas, and areas proposed 
to receive special consideration and analysis, in light of resource 
estimates, information regarding exploratory drilling, environmental 
reviews, and other relevant information. Using this information, BOEM 
plans to target leasing by proactively determining which specific 
portions of the Program Area offer greater resource potential, while 
minimizing potential conflicts with environmental and subsistence 
considerations.
    Information submitted in response to this Call also will be used 
to:
     Develop potential lease terms and conditions;
     identify potential use conflicts; and
     assist in the NEPA scoping process.

9. Existing Information

    An extensive Environmental Studies Program, including 
environmental, social, and economic studies in the Beaufort Sea 
Planning Area, has been underway in the BOEM Alaska OCS Region since 
1976. The emphasis has been on environmental characterization of 
biologically sensitive habitats, marine mammals, physical oceanography, 
ocean-circulation modeling, subsistence uses, and ecological and 
sociocultural effects of oil and gas activities. Information on the 
BOEM Environmental Studies Program, completed studies, and a program 
status report for continuing studies in this area is available on the 
BOEM Web site at http://www.boem.gov/akstudies, or it may be obtained 
from the Chief, Environmental Sciences Management Section, Alaska OCS 
Region, by telephone request at (907) 334-5200.
    NEPA analyses were prepared for previous OCS lease sales held in 
the Beaufort Sea Planning Area. Previous NEPA analyses for Beaufort Sea 
lease sales and other actions are available at http://www.boem.gov/
About-BOEM/BOEM-Regions/Alaska-Region/Environment/Environmental-
Analysis/Environmental-Impact-Statements-and_Major-Environmental-
Assessments.aspx. Currently, 147 active OCS oil and gas leases exist in 
the Beaufort Sea Planning Area, encompassing an area of approximately 
760,000 acres (308,000 hectares). Information on the leases and other 
lease-related activities is available at

[[Page 44063]]

http://www.boem.gov/About-BOEM/BOEM-Regions/Alaska-Region/Leasing-and-Plans/Index.aspx.
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P

Walter D. Cruickshank,
Acting Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN29JY14.000

[[Page 44064]]

[FR Doc. 2014-17842 Filed 7-28-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-C
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