67800 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2023 / Notices 

[FR Doc. 2023–21678 Filed 9–29–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–C 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[Docket No. BOEM–2023–0013] 

Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf 

Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of delay of sale. 

SUMMARY: With this notice, the Bureau 

of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is 

announcing the rescheduling of Gulf of 

Mexico Lease Sale 261. Instead of 

holding the sale on September 27, 2023, 

as originally planned, BOEM will open 

and publicly announce bids received for 

blocks offered in the sale on November 

8, 2023, in accordance with the order 

issued by the United States Court of 

Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on 

September 25, 2023. Additional 

information regarding the sale and a 

new Final Notice of Sale (NOS) package 

will be available on BOEM’s website at 

least 30 days prior to the sale date at 

https://www.boem.gov/oil-gas-energy/ 

leasing/lease-sale-261. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

New Orleans Office Lease Sale 

Coordinator, Greg Purvis, at 

BOEMGOMRLeaseSales@boem.gov or 

504–736–1729. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 

25, 2023, BOEM published in the 

Federal Register the Final NOS for 

Lease Sale 261. See 88 FR 58310. In that 

Final NOS, BOEM announced that the 

sale would be held on September 27, 

2023. Two lawsuits then challenged the 

Final NOS in the U.S. District Court for 

the Western District of Louisiana, and 

plaintiffs in those cases sought 

preliminary injunctions to force BOEM 

to (1) include lease blocks previously 

excluded to protect the Rice’s whale and 

(2) remove provisions in Stipulation No. 

4, ‘‘Protected Species’’ that BOEM had 

added to protect the Rice’s whale from 

certain oil and gas activities while 

BOEM engaged in a reinitiated 

consultation under the Endangered 

Species Act. On September 21, 2023, six 

days before the planned sale, the district 

court issued a preliminary injunction 

(Case No. 2:23–CV–01157) requiring 

BOEM to include the previously 

excluded blocks and modify the 

stipulation by removing the new Rice’s 

whale protections. The court also 

ordered BOEM to hold the sale on or 

before September 30, 2023. On 

September 22, 2023, the government 

filed an emergency motion in the U.S. 

Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 

requesting an extension of time to allow 

BOEM to take the administrative steps 

necessary to hold the modified sale and 

provide the statutorily required notice 

to the public of the revised sale terms. 

On September 25, 2023, the Fifth Circuit 

issued an order (Case No. 23–30666) 

directing BOEM to hold Lease Sale 261 

as required by the district court, but 

permitting BOEM until November 8, 

2023, to hold the sale. The Fifth 

Circuit’s order stated that no further 

extensions will be granted. 

BOEM is returning all bids submitted 

by bidders under the previously issued 

Final NOS and is rescheduling Lease 

Sale 261 for November 8, 2023. Bidders 

wishing to participate in Lease Sale 261 


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Figure 1: Proposed Final Program Map - Gulf of Mexico Program Area 

c:::J Planning Areas 

• GOM Program Area 

BOEM 

~=~ 

2024-2029 National Outer Continental Shelf 

Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final ProgramArea 
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2023 / Notices 67801 

must re-submit bids in accordance with 

the terms and conditions contained in 

the revised Final NOS which, in 

accordance with the Outer Continental 

Shelf Lands Act, BOEM will publish at 

least 30 days prior to the sale date. 

BOEM intends to publish the revised 

Final NOS in the Federal Register and 

on its website. The public and 

interested bidders are advised that a 

lapse in appropriations may preclude 

BOEM from publishing the Final NOS 

in the Federal Register. In the event of 

a partial or full government shutdown, 

BOEM will still publish the Final NOS 

package (e.g., Final Notice of Sale, Lease 

Stipulations, and Information to 

Lessees) on its website at least 30 days 

prior to the sale date, and that notice 

will serve as the official notice of the 

sale. 

Authority: 43 U.S.C. 1337; 30 CFR 

part 556. 

Elizabeth Klein, 

Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 2023–21714 Filed 9–29–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4340–98–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[Docket Number: BOEM–2023–0053] 

Call for Information and Nominations 

for Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf 

of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Oil 

and Gas Lease Sales for 2024–2029 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management, Interior 

ACTION: Call for information and 

nominations, request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM) issues this Call for 

Information and Nominations (Call) 

covering proposed Gulf of Mexico 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). 

Those sales are described in the 2024– 

2029 National Outer Continental Shelf 

(OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program 

(2024–2029 National OCS Program), 

which BOEM announced on September 

29, 2023. This Call solicits industry 

nominations of acreage for possible 

inclusion in future sales and requests 

information from the public on the Call 

Area for lease sale planning. 

Specifically, BOEM seeks information 

on geological conditions, archaeological 

sites, potential use conflicts, areas of 

special concern, and other 

socioeconomic, biological, and 

environmental information. This Call is 

not a final decision to lease and does 

not prejudge any future secretarial 

decisions concerning leasing in the Gulf 

of Mexico. 

DATES: All nominations and comments 

must be received by BOEM or 

postmarked no later than November 1, 

2023. 

ADDRESSES: 

Public Comment 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–2023– 

0053’’ and then click ‘‘search.’’ Follow 

the instructions to submit public 

comments and to view supporting and 

related materials available for this 

notice. 

2. U.S. Postal Service or other delivery 

service to the following address: Chief of 

Leasing and Financial Responsibility 

Section, BOEM, Gulf of Mexico OCS 

Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, 

Mail Stop GM 266A, New Orleans, 

Louisiana 70123–2394, telephone (504) 

736–7502. Send your comments in an 

envelope clearly labeled ‘‘Comments on 

the Call for Information and 

Nominations for 2024–2029 Gulf of 

Mexico Lease Sales.’’ 

3. Email: BOEMGOMRLeaseSales@

boem.gov 

Nominations and Indications of 

Interest 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: Chief of 

Leasing and Financial Responsibility 

Section, BOEM, Gulf of Mexico OCS 

Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Blvd., Mail 

Stop GM 266A, New Orleans, LA 

70123–2394, telephone (504) 736–7502. 

Consistent with subsection 6 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 2024–2029 Gulf of 

Mexico Lease Sales.’’ Do not send 

nominations, indications of interest, or 

other proprietary information through 

the Federal eRulemaking Portal or to the 

email address provided above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Bridgette Duplantis, Chief of Leasing 

and Financial Responsibility Section, 

BOEM, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 

1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, Mail 

Stop GM 266A, New Orleans, Louisiana 

70123–2394, telephone (504) 736–7502, 

email: BOEMGOMRLeaseSales@

boem.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

2024–2029 National OCS Program 

Development: Information on the 

development of the 2024–2029 National 

OCS Program and its programmatic 

environmental impact statement (PEIS) 

is available on BOEM’s website at: 

https://www.boem.gov/National-OCSProgram/. 

Environmental Review Process: BOEM 

intends to prepare a PEIS, in accordance 

with the National Environmental Policy 

Act (NEPA), analyzing a representative 

Gulf of Mexico proposed lease sale and 

reasonable alternatives. The PEIS will 

be supplemented as necessary for 

individual decisions on all future Gulf 

of Mexico lease sales included in the 

2024–2029 National OCS Program. 

The PEIS will evaluate the potential 

effects that oil and gas activities 

resulting from a lease sale could have on 

the human, marine, and coastal 

environments. The PEIS may propose 

measures and lease stipulations to 

mitigate adverse impacts for the 

alternatives being analyzed. 

Consultations will be conducted, as 

appropriate. Consultation with Tribal 

Nations, States, and Federal agencies 

address BOEM obligations under the 

Coastal Zone Management Act, 

Endangered Species Act, the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act, section 106 of the 

National Historic Preservation Act, and 

Executive Order 13175, ‘‘Consultation 

and Coordination with Indian Tribal 

Governments.’’ The results of these 

consultations assist the Secretary in 

leasing decisions. 

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 

recommend an area 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 Notice of Sale (PNOS): If 

BOEM proceeds with the leasing 

process after Area Identification and 

environmental analysis, it will publish 

a Notice of Availability of a PNOS in the 

Federal Register. BOEM also will send 

the PNOS to the Governors of affected 

States for comment and 


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