Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 173 / Wednesday, September 9, 2009 / Notices 46455 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Minerals Management Service 

Preparation of an Environmental 

Assessment (EA) for Proposed Outer 

Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas 

Lease Sale 215 in the Western Gulf of 

Mexico Planning Area (2010) 

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Preparation (NOP) of 

an EA. 

SUMMARY: The purpose of the NOP is to 

gather information on oil and gas 

leasing, exploration, and development 

that might result from an OCS oil and 

gas lease sale tentatively scheduled for 

mid-2010. 

DATES: Comments must be received no 

later than October 9, 2009 at the address 

specified below. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on the NOP, you may 

contact Mr. Gary Goeke, Gulf of Mexico 

OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park 

Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 

70123–2394, telephone (504) 736–3233. 

Notice of Preparation of an 

Environmental Assessment 

1. Authority 

This NOP is published pursuant to 

the regulations (40 CFR 1501.7) 

implementing the provisions of NEPA of 

1969 as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. 

(1988)). 

2. Purpose of Notice of Preparation 

Pursuant to the regulations 

implementing the procedural provisions 

of NEPA, the MMS is announcing its 

intent to prepare an EA on an oil and 

gas lease sale tentatively scheduled for 

mid-2010 in the Western Planning Area 

(WPA) offshore of Texas and western 

Louisiana. The MMS is issuing this 

notice to facilitate public involvement. 

The preparation of this EA is an 

important step in the decision process 

for Lease Sale 215. The proposal for 

Lease Sale 215 was analyzed in the Gulf 

of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 

2009–2012; Central Planning Area Sales 

208, 213, 216, and 222; Western 

Planning Area Sales 210, 215, and 218— 

Final Supplemental Environmental 

Impact Statement (Supplemental EIS, 

OCS EIS/EA MMS 2008–041). This EA 

for proposed Lease Sale 215 will 

examine the potential environmental 

effects of the proposed lease sale and its 

alternatives (i.e., excluding the unleased 

blocks near biologically sensitive 

topographic features; and no action) 

based on changes and any new relevant 

information and circumstances 

regarding potential environmental 

impacts and issues that were not 

available at the time the Supplemental 

EIS was prepared to determine if 

preparation of a new supplemental EIS 

is warranted. 

3. Supplemental Information 

Final delineation of this area for 

possible leasing will be made at a later 

date and in compliance with applicable 

laws, including all requirements of 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA), Coastal Zone Management Act 

(CZMA) and Outer Continental Shelf 

Lands Act (OCSLA) and other 

applicable statutes. Established 

Departmental procedures will be 

followed. 

The MMS routinely assesses the 

status of information acquisition efforts 

and the quality of the information base 

for potential decisions on a tentatively 

scheduled lease sale. An extensive 

environmental studies program has been 

under way in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) 

since 1973. The emphasis, including 

continuing studies, has been on 

‘‘environmental analysis’’ of biologically 

sensitive habitats, physical 

oceanography, ocean-circulation 

modeling, ecological effects of oil and 

gas activities, and hurricane impacts on 

coastal communities and the 

environment. 

Federal regulations allow for several 

related or similar proposals to be 

analyzed in one EIS (40 CFR 1502.4). 

Each proposed lease sale and its 

projected activities are very similar each 

year for each planning area. The 

Multisale EIS (OCS EIS/EA MMS 2007– 

018) addressed WPA Lease Sale 204 in 

2007, Sale 207 in 2008, Sale 210 in 

2009, Sale 215 in 2010, and Sale 218 in 

2011; and Central Planning Area (CPA) 

Lease Sale 205 in 2007, Sale 206 in 

2008, Sale 208 in 2009, Sale 213 in 

2010, Sale 216 in 2011, and Sale 222 in 

2012. However, the Gulf of Mexico 

Energy Security Act of 2006 repealed 

the Congressional moratorium on 

approximately 5.8 million acres located 

in the southeastern part of the CPA. 

Therefore, it was necessary to prepare 

additional NEPA documentation to 

address the MMS proposal to expand 

the CPA by the 5.8 million acre area. A 

single Supplemental Multi-sale EIS was 

prepared for the remaining seven WPA 

and CPA lease sales scheduled in the 

OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program: 

2007–2012 (5-Year Program). In 

September 2008, MMS published a 

Supplemental Multi-sale EIS (OCS EIS/ 

EA MMS 2008–041) that addressed 

seven proposed Federal actions that 

would offer for lease areas on the GOM 

OCS that may contain economically 

recoverable oil and gas resources. 

After completion of this EA, MMS 

will determine whether to prepare a 

Finding of No Significant Impact 

(FONSI) or a Supplemental EIS for Sale 

215 and subsequent sales. The MMS 

prepares a Consistency Determination 

(CD) to determine whether the lease sale 

is consistent with each affected State’s 

federally-approved Coastal Zone 

Management program. Finally, MMS 

will solicit comments via the Proposed 

Notice of Sale (NOS) from the governors 

of the affected States on the size, timing, 

and location of the lease sale. The 

tentative schedule for the prelease 

decision process for Lease Sale 215 is as 

follows: EA/FONSI or Supplemental EIS 

decision, March–April 2010; CDs will 

be sent to the affected States 5 months 

before the lease sale; Proposed NOS sent 

to the governors of the affected States 5 

months before the lease sale; Final NOS, 

if applicable, will be published in the 

Federal Register in July 2010. 

4. Comments 

Federal, State, and local government 

agencies, and other interested parties 

are requested to send their written 

comments on the EA, significant issues 

that should be addressed, and 

alternatives that should be considered 

in one of the following two ways: 

1. In written form enclosed in an 

envelope labeled ‘‘Comments on the 

Lease Sale 215 EA’’ and mailed (or hand 

carried) to the Regional Supervisor, 

Leasing and Environment (MS 5410), 

Minerals Management Service, Gulf of 

Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood 

Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 

70123–2394. 

2. Electronically to the MMS e-mail 

address: WPALeaseSale215@mms.gov. 

Comments should be submitted no 

later than 30 days from the publication 

of this NOP. 

Dated: August 24, 2009. 

S. Elizabeth Birnbaum, 

Director, Minerals Management Service. 


cprice-sewell on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES
46456 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 173 / Wednesday, September 9, 2009 / Notices 

[FR Doc. E9–21670 Filed 9–8–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R5–R–2008–N198; 50133–1265– 

XENP–S3] 

Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge, 

Kent County, MD 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability: draft 

comprehensive conservation plan and 

draft environmental assessment; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service (Service) announces the 

availability of the draft comprehensive 

conservation plan (CCP) and draft 

environmental assessment (EA) for 

Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge 

(NWR), located in Kent County, 

Maryland, with its office in Rock Hall, 

Maryland. The draft CCP/EA describes 

three alternatives, including our 

Service-preferred alternative B, for 

managing this refuge for the next 15 

years. Also available for public review 

and comment are the draft compatibility 

determinations, which are included as 

appendix B in the draft CCP/EA. 

DATES: To ensure our consideration of 

your written comments, please send 

them by October 9, 2009. We will also 

hold a public meeting in Rock Hall, 

Maryland. We will announce and post 

details of the public meeting in local 

news media, via our project mailing list, 

and on our Regional planning Web site, 

http://www.fws.gov/northeast/planning/ 

eastern%20neck/ccphome.html. 

ADDRESSES: Send your comments or 

requests for copies of the draft CCP/EA 

by one of the following methods. 

U.S. Mail: Nancy McGarigal, Natural 

Resource Planner, U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, 300 Westgate Center 

Drive, Hadley, MA 01035. 

Fax: Attention: Nancy McGarigal, 

413–253–8468. 

E-mail: northeastplanning@fws.gov. 

Please put the words ‘‘Eastern Neck 

NWR CCP’’ in the subject line of your 

e-mail. 

Agency Web site: View or download 

the draft document on the Web at 

http://www.fws.gov/northeast/planning/ 

eastern%20neck/ccphome.html. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Suzanne Baird, Project Leader, 

Chesapeake Marshlands National 

Wildlife Refuge Complex, 2145 Key 

Wallace Drive, Cambridge, MD 21613; 

phone 410–228–2692, extension 101; 

fax 410–228–3261; or e-mail at 

fw5rw_bwnwr@fws.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction 

This notice continues the CCP process 

for Eastern Neck NWR, which is one of 

the four refuges that comprise the 

Chesapeake Marshlands NWR Complex. 

The other three are Blackwater, Martin, 

and Susquehanna NWRs. We prepared 

the draft CCP in compliance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969, as amended (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 

4321 et seq.), and the National Wildlife 

Refuge System Administration Act of 

1966 (Administration Act), as amended 

by the National Wildlife Refuge System 

Improvement Act of 1997 (Improvement 

Act), which requires us to develop a 

CCP for each national wildlife refuge. 

We published our original notice of 

intent to prepare a CCP in the Federal 

Register on June 11, 2002 (67 FR 40002). 

Due to changes in budget and staffing 

priorities, the project was put on hold 

in 2003. We subsequently announced 

we were restarting the process by 

publishing another notice in the Federal 

Register on January 22, 2007 (72 FR 

2709). 

Eastern Neck NWR is a 2,285-acre 

island that lies at the confluence of the 

Chester River and the Chesapeake Bay 

in Kent County, Maryland. Established 

in 1962 to protect migratory birds, the 

refuge is recognized regionally as a 

major feeding and resting place for a 

wide variety of migrating and wintering 

waterfowl. Its habitats are highly 

diverse, and include tidal marsh, open 

water, and woodland. Its managed 

croplands also contribute to the quality 

of its habitats by providing a ready 

source of high-energy food for wintering 

waterfowl when their reserves are low. 

The moist soil units and green tree 

reservoirs on the refuge also are 

managed to enhance habitats for 


cprice-sewell on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICESEN09SE09.000</GPH>