35378 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 119 / Friday, June 20, 2014 / Notices 

proposed lease area, as no indications of 

competitive interest were submitted in 

response to the RFCI. 

In the RFCI, BOEM also solicited 

public input from interested 

stakeholders regarding the proposed 

lease area, the potential environmental 

consequences of MHK energy 

development in the area, and multiple 

uses of the area. In response to the RFCI, 

BOEM received public comment 

submissions from six entities. BOEM 

will use the comments to inform 

subsequent decisions. After publication 

of this DNCI, BOEM may proceed with 

the noncompetitive leasing process for a 

research lease pursuant to 30 CFR 

585.238. 

Map of the Area 

A map of the area proposed for a 

research lease can be found at the 

following Web site: http://

www.boem.gov/State-Activities-Oregon. 

Dated: May 30, 2014. 

Walter D. Cruickshank, 

Acting Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 2014–14002 Filed 6–19–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[MMAA104000] 

Notice of Intent To Prepare a 

Supplemental Environmental Impact 

Statement for Outer Continental Shelf, 

Alaska OCS Region, Chukchi Sea 

Planning Area, Oil and Gas Lease Sale 

193 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM), Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare 

a Supplemental Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS). 

SUMMARY: BOEM is giving notice of its 

intent to prepare a Supplemental EIS for 

OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193 in the 

Chukchi Sea Planning Area, Alaska. 

This Supplemental EIS will provide 

new analysis in response to a remand by 

the United States Court of Appeals for 

the Ninth Circuit. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Authority: The NOI is published pursuant 

to the regulations (40 CFR 1508.22) 

implementing the procedural provisions of 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 

et seq.) 

Purpose of Notice of Intent: BOEM is 

announcing its intent to prepare a 

Supplemental EIS for Oil and Gas Lease 

Sale 193 in the Chukchi Sea Planning 

Area, Alaska. The Supplemental EIS 

will supplement the analysis from the 

Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193 Final EIS 

(OCS EIS/EA MMS 2007–0026) and the 

Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193 Final 

Supplemental EIS (OCS EIS/EA 

BOEMRE 2011–041) by providing an 

updated oil and gas exploration, 

development and production scenario 

and associated environmental effects 

analysis. The Final EIS for Oil and Gas 

Lease Sale 193 evaluated the potential 

effects of four alternatives that included 

a proposed action, a no action 

alternative, and two other alternatives 

with sale area configurations that would 

defer areas from leasing along the coast 

adjacent to the proposed sale area. The 

Final Supplemental EIS evaluated the 

potential effects of exploration seismic 

surveying and drilling; oil development, 

production, and transportation; and 

accidental crude oil spills. The Final 

Supplemental EIS also evaluated 

potential effects of a natural gas 

development and production scenario, 

as well as a hypothetical Very Large Oil 

Spill event. The proposed action and 

alternatives from the Final EIS and Final 

Supplemental EIS will be carried 

forward in this supplemental EIS. The 

Assistant Secretary will issue a new 

Record of Decision after evaluating this 

supplemental EIS and public comments. 

Implementation of the Secretary’s 

selection among the alternatives will 

require the Secretary to either reaffirm, 

modify, or vacate the leases previously 

sold. 

Scoping: In accordance with 40 CFR 

1502.9(c)(4), there will be no scoping 

conducted for this Supplemental EIS. 

The scope of the Final EIS for Sale 193 

and the remand by the United States 

Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 

establish the scope for this 

Supplemental EIS. The Draft 

Supplemental EIS will be announced for 

public review and comment: (1) In the 

Federal Register by BOEM and the 

Environmental Protection Agency; (2) 

on the BOEM Alaska OCS Region 

homepage; and (3) in the local media. 

Public hearings will be held following 

release of the Draft Supplemental EIS. 

Dates and locations will be determined 

and published at a later date. 

Cooperating Agencies: The 

Department of the Interior’s policy is to 

invite other Federal agencies, and state, 

tribal, and local governments to become 

cooperating agencies during the 

preparation of an EIS. Council on 

Environmental Quality (CEQ) 

regulations state that qualified agencies 

and governments are those with 

‘‘jurisdiction by law or special 

expertise.’’ Potential cooperating 

agencies should consider their authority 

and capacity to assume the 

responsibilities of a cooperating agency. 

Cooperating agency status neither 

enlarges nor diminishes the final 

decision making authority of an agency 

involved in the NEPA process. BOEM 

invites qualified government entities to 

inquire about cooperating agency status 

for this Supplemental EIS. Upon 

request, BOEM will provide qualified 

cooperating agencies with a written 

summary of ground rules for 

cooperating agencies, including time 

schedules and critical action dates, 

milestones, responsibilities, and scope 

and detail of cooperating agencies’ 

contributions. Potential cooperating 

agencies should also consider the CEQ’s 

‘‘Factors for Determining Cooperating 

Agency Status.’’ This document is 

available on the CEQ Web site at: http:// 

ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/

cooperatingagencymemofactors.html. 

Even if your organization is not a 

cooperating agency, you will have an 

opportunity to provide information and 

comments to BOEM during the 

comment phase of the Supplemental EIS 

process. Additional information may be 

found at the following Web site: http:// 

www.boem.gov/Alaska-Region. 

FOR FUTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Frances Mann, Chief, Environmental 

Analysis Section II, Bureau of Ocean 

Energy Management, Alaska OCS 

Region, 3801 Centerpoint Drive, Suite 

500, Anchorage, Alaska 99503–5820, 

telephone (907) 334–5277. 

Dated: June 9, 2014. 

Walter D. Cruickshank, 

Acting Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 2014–14290 Filed 6–19–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[MMAA 104000] 

Central Planning Area Lease Sales 241 

and 247, and Eastern Planning Area 

Lease Sale 226 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM), Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare 

a Supplemental Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS). 

SUMMARY: Consistent with the 

regulations implementing the National 

Environmental Policy Act, as amended 

(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) (NEPA), BOEM 

is announcing its intent to prepare a 

Supplemental EIS for proposed Central 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 119 / Friday, June 20, 2014 / Notices 35379 

Planning Area (CPA) Lease Sales 241 

and 247, and Eastern Planning Area 

(EPA) Lease Sale 226 in the Gulf of 

Mexico (CPA 241 and 247/EPA 226 

Supplemental EIS). Proposed Lease Sale 

241 is the next proposed lease sale in 

the Gulf of Mexico’s CPA off the States 

of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. 

Proposed Lease Sale 226 is the next 

proposed lease sale in the Gulf of 

Mexico’s EPA off the States of Alabama 

and Florida. The CPA 241 and 247/EPA 

226 Supplemental EIS will update the 

environmental and socioeconomic 

analyses in the Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil 

and Gas Lease Sales: 2012–2017; 

Western Planning Area Lease Sales 229, 

233, 238, 246, and 248; Central 

Planning Area Lease Sales 227, 231, 

235, 241, and 247, Final Environmental 

Impact Statement (OCS EIS/EA BOEM 

2012–019) (2012–2017 WPA/CPA 

Multisale EIS); Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil 

and Gas Lease Sales: 2013–2014; 

Western Planning Area Lease Sale 233; 

Central Planning Area Lease Sale 231, 

Final Supplemental Environmental 

Impact Statement (OCS EIS/EA BOEM 

2013–0118) (WPA 233/CPA 231 

Supplemental EIS); and Gulf of Mexico 

OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2015– 

2017; Central Planning Area Lease Sales 

235, 241, and 247, Final Supplemental 

Environmental Impact Statement (OCS 

EIS/EA BOEM 2014–010) (CPA 235, 

241, and 247 Supplemental EIS). The 

2012–2017 WPA/CPA Multisale EIS was 

completed in July 2012. The WPA 233/ 

CPA 231 Supplemental EIS was 

completed in April 2013. The CPA 235, 

241, and 247 Final Supplemental EIS 

was completed in March 2014. The CPA 

241 and 247/EPA 226 Supplemental EIS 

will also update the environmental and 

socioeconomic analyses in the Outer 

Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing 

Program: 2012–2017; Final 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement (OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2012– 

030) (Five-Year Program EIS) and Gulf 

of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 

2014 and 2016; Eastern Planning Area 

Lease Sales 225 and 226, Final 

Environmental Impact Statement (OCS 

EIS/EA BOEM 2013–200) (EPA 225/226 

EIS). The Five-Year Program EIS was 

completed in July 2012. The EPA 225/ 

226 EIS was completed in October 2013. 

A Supplemental EIS is deemed 

appropriate to supplement the NEPA 

documents cited above for the proposed 

lease sales in order to consider new 

circumstances and information arising 

from, among other things, the 

Deepwater Horizon explosion, oil spill, 

and response. The CPA 241 and 247/

EPA 226 Supplemental EIS analysis will 

focus on updating the baseline 

conditions. 

The CPA 241 and 247/EPA 226 

Supplemental EIS analysis will focus on 

any new information on the potential 

environmental effects of oil and natural 

gas leasing, exploration, development, 

and production in the CPA and EPA 

identified through the Area 

Identification procedure as the proposed 

lease sale areas. In addition to the no 

action alternative (i.e., canceling a 

proposed lease sale), other alternatives 

may be considered for the proposed 

CPA and EPA lease sales, such as 

deferring certain areas from the 

proposed lease sale areas. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 

27, 2012, the Secretary of the Interior 

approved as final the Proposed Final 

OCS Oil & Gas Leasing Program: 2012– 

2017 (Five-Year Program). The FiveYear Program includes the two 

remaining CPA lease sales (Lease Sales 

241 and 247) and the remaining EPA 

lease sale (Lease Sale 226) that will be 

considered in the CPA 241 and 247/EPA 

226 Supplemental EIS. Proposed CPA 

Lease Sale 241 and EPA Lease Sale 226 

are tentatively scheduled to be held in 

2016, and proposed CPA Lease Sale 247 

is tentatively scheduled to be held in 

2017. The proposed CPA lease sale area 

encompasses about 63 million acres of 

the total CPA area of 66.45 million acres 

(excluding whole and partial blocks 

deferred by the Gulf of Mexico Energy 

Security Act of 2006 and blocks that are 

adjacent to or beyond the United States’ 

Exclusive Economic Zone in the area 

known as the northern portion of the 

Eastern Gap). The proposed EPA lease 

sale area covers approximately 657,905 

acres and includes those blocks 

previously included in the EPA Lease 

Sales 224 and 225 Area and a triangularshaped area south of this area bordered 

by the CPA boundary on the west and 

the Military Mission Line (86°41′ W. 

longitude) on the east. The area is south 

of eastern Alabama and western Florida; 

the nearest point of land is 125 miles 

(201 kilometers) northwest in Louisiana. 

This Federal Register notice is not an 

announcement to hold a proposed lease 

sale, but it is a continuation of 

information gathering and is published 

early in the environmental review 

process in furtherance of the goals of 

NEPA. The comments received during 

the scoping comment period will help 

form the content of the CPA 241 and 

247/EPA 226 Supplemental EIS and will 

be summarized in presale 

documentation prepared during the 

decisionmaking process for CPA Lease 

Sale 241 and EPA Lease Sale 226. If, 

after completion of the CPA 241 and 

247/EPA 226 Supplemental EIS, the 

Secretary of the Interior decides to hold 

the lease sales, then the lease sale areas 

identified in the final Notices of Sale 

may exclude or defer certain lease 

blocks from the area offered. However, 

for purposes of the CPA 241 and 247/ 

EPA 226 Supplemental EIS and to 

adequately assess the potential impacts 

of an areawide lease sale, BOEM is 

assuming that all unleased blocks may 

be offered in proposed CPA Lease Sale 

241 and EPA Lease Sale 226, and in the 

remaining proposed CPA Lease Sale 

247, which is tentatively scheduled to 

be held in 2017. 

In order to ensure a greater level of 

transparency during the Outer 

Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) 

stages and tiered NEPA processes of the 

Five-Year Program, BOEM established 

an alternative and mitigation tracking 

table, which is designed to track the 

receipt and treatment of alternative and 

mitigation suggestions. Section 4.3.2 of 

the Five-Year Program EIS presented a 

list of deferral and alternative requests 

that were received during the 

development of the Five-Year Program 

EIS, but they were determined to be 

more appropriately considered at 

subsequent OCSLA and NEPA stages. 

These deferral and alternative requests 

were previously addressed in the 2012– 

2017 WPA/CPA Multisale, EPA 225/226 

EIS, and other supplemental EIS 

documents for these planning areas and 

were deemed inappropriate for further 

analysis at the time. In this and future 

NEPA analyses, BOEM will continue to 

evaluate whether these or other deferral 

or alternative requests warrant 

additional consideration as appropriate. 

A key principle at each stage in the 

NEPA process is to identify how the 

recommendations for deferral and 

mitigation requests are being addressed 

and whether new information or 

circumstances favor new or different 

analytical approaches in response to 

these requests. 

Scoping Process: This NOI also serves 

to announce the scoping process for 

identifying issues for the CPA 241 and 

247/EPA 226 Supplemental EIS. 

Throughout the scoping process, 

Federal, State, Tribal, and local 

governments and the general public 

have the opportunity to help BOEM 

determine significant resources and 

issues, impacting factors, reasonable 

alternatives, and potential mitigation 

measures to be analyzed in the CPA 241 

and 247/EPA 226 Supplemental EIS. 

BOEM will also use the NEPA 

commenting process to initiate the 

Section 106 consultation process of the 

National Historic Preservation Act (16 

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35380 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 119 / Friday, June 20, 2014 / Notices 

U.S.C. 470f), as provided for in 36 CFR 

800.2(d)(3). 

Pursuant to the regulations 

implementing the procedural provisions 

of NEPA, BOEM will hold public 

scoping meetings in Louisiana, 

Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida on 

the CPA 241 and 247/EPA 226 

Supplemental EIS. The purpose of these 

meetings is to solicit comments on the 

scope of the CPA 241 and 247/EPA 226 

Supplemental EIS. BOEM’s scoping 

meetings will be held at the following 

places and times: 

• Panama City, Florida: Tuesday, July 8, 

2014, Hilton Garden Inn Panama City, 

1101 U.S. Highway 231, Panama City, 

Florida, 32405, two meetings, the first 

beginning at 1:00 p.m. CDT and the 

second beginning at 6:00 p.m. CDT; 

• Mobile, Alabama: Wednesday, July 9, 

2014, Hilton Garden Inn Mobile West, 

828 West I–65 Service Road South, 

Mobile, Alabama 36609, two 

meetings, the first beginning at 1:00 

p.m. CDT and the second beginning at 

6:00 p.m. CDT; 

• Gulfport, Mississippi: Thursday, July 

10, 2014, Courtyard Marriott, Gulfport 

Beachfront, 1600 East Beach 

Boulevard, Gulfport, Mississippi 

39501, two meetings, the first 

beginning at 1:00 p.m. CDT and the 

second beginning at 6:00 p.m. CDT; 

• New Orleans, Louisiana: Monday, 

July 14, 2014, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS 

Region, 1201 Elmwood Park 

Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 

70123, one meeting beginning at 1:00 

p.m. CDT; and 

• Larose, Louisiana: Monday, July 14, 

2014, Larose Regional Park and Civic 

Center, 307 E 5th Street, Larose, 

Louisiana 70373, one meeting 

beginning at 6:00 p.m. CDT. 

Cooperating Agency: BOEM invites 

other Federal, State, Tribal, and local 

governments to consider becoming 

cooperating agencies in the preparation 

of the CPA 241 and 247/EPA 226 

Supplemental EIS. We invite qualified 

government entities to inquire about 

cooperating agency status for the CPA 

241 and 247/EPA 226 Supplemental 

EIS. Following the guidelines from the 

Council on Environmental Quality 

(CEQ), qualified agencies and 

governments are those with 

‘‘jurisdiction by law or special 

expertise.’’ Potential cooperating 

agencies should consider their authority 

and capacity to assume the 

responsibilities of a cooperating agency, 

and remember that an agency’s role in 

the environmental analysis neither 

enlarges nor diminishes the final 

decisionmaking authority of any other 

agency involved in the NEPA process. 

Upon request, BOEM will provide 

potential cooperating agencies with a 

written summary of ground rules for 

cooperating agencies, including time 

schedules and critical action dates, 

milestones, responsibilities, scope and 

detail of cooperating agencies’ 

contributions, and availability of 

predecisional information. BOEM 

anticipates this summary will form the 

basis for a Memorandum of Agreement 

between BOEM and any cooperating 

agency. Agencies should also consider 

the ‘‘Factors for Determining 

Cooperating Agency Status’’ in 

Attachment 1 to CEQ’s January 30, 2002, 

Memorandum for the Heads of Federal 

Agencies: Cooperating Agencies in 

Implementing the Procedural 

Requirements of the National 

Environmental Policy Act. These 

documents are available at the following 

locations on the Internet: http://

ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/ 

cooperatingagenciesmemorandum.html; 

and http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/

cooperating/ 

cooperatingagencymemofactors.html. 

BOEM, as the lead agency, will not 

provide financial assistance to 

cooperating agencies. Even if an 

organization is not a cooperating 

agency, opportunities will exist to 

provide information and comments to 

BOEM during the normal public input 

stages of the NEPA/EIS process. For 

further information about cooperating 

agencies, please contact Mr. Gary D. 

Goeke at 504–736–3233. 

Comments: All interested parties, 

including Federal, State, Tribal, and 

local governments, and other interested 

parties, may submit written comments 

on the scope of the CPA 241 and 247/ 

EPA 226 Supplemental EIS, significant 

issues that should be addressed, 

alternatives that should be considered, 

potential mitigation measures, and the 

types of oil and gas activities of interest 

in the proposed CPA 241 and 247/EPA 

226 lease sale areas. 

Written scoping comments may be 

submitted in one of the following ways: 

1. In an envelope labeled ‘‘Scoping 

Comments for the CPA 241 and 247/

EPA 226 Supplemental EIS’’ and mailed 

(or hand delivered) to Mr. Gary D. 

Goeke, Chief, Environmental 

Assessment Section, Office of 

Environment (GM 623E), Bureau of 

Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of 

Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood 

Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 

70123–2394; 

2. Through the regulations.gov web 

portal: Navigate to http://

www.regulations.gov and search for ‘‘Oil 

and Gas Lease Sales: Gulf of Mexico, 

Outer Continental Shelf; Central 

Planning Area Lease Sales 241 and 247/ 

Eastern Planning Area Lease Sale 226’’. 

(Note: It is important to include the 

quotation marks in your search terms.) 

Click on the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ button to 

the right of the document link. Enter 

your information and comment, then 

click ‘‘Submit’’; or 

3. BOEM’s email address: cpa241- 

epa226@boem.gov. 

Petitions, although accepted, do not 

generally provide useful information to 

assist in the development of 

alternatives, resources, and issues to be 

analyzed, or impacting factors. BOEM 

does not consider anonymous 

comments; please include your name 

and address as part of your submittal. 

BOEM makes all comments, including 

the names and addresses of 

respondents, available for public review 

during regular business hours. 

Individual respondents may request that 

BOEM withhold their names and/or 

addresses from the public record; 

however, BOEM cannot guarantee that 

we will be able to do so. If you wish 

your name and/or address to be 

withheld, you must state your 

preference prominently at the beginning 

of your comment. All submissions from 

organizations or businesses and from 

individuals identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses will be 

made available for public inspection in 

their entirety. 

DATES: Comments should be submitted 

by July 21, 2014 to the address specified 

above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on the CPA 241 and 247/

EPA 226 Supplemental EIS, the 

submission of comments, or BOEM’s 

policies associated with this notice, 

please contact Mr. Gary D. Goeke, Chief, 

Environmental Assessment Section, 

Office of Environment (GM 623E), 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 

Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 

Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, 

Louisiana 70123–2394, telephone 504– 

736–3233. 

Authority: This NOI is published pursuant 

to the regulations (40 CFR 1501.7) 

implementing the provisions of NEPA. 

Dated: May 30, 2014. 

Walter D. Cruickshank, 

Acting Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 2014–14104 Filed 6–19–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P 

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