Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 19 / Thursday, January 29, 2015 / Notices 4939 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

National Park Service 

[NPS–SER–CONG–17094; PPSECONGS0/

PPMPSPD1Z.YM00000] 

Establishment of a New Fee Area at 

Congaree National Park 

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Congaree National Park in 

South Carolina plans to collect 

expanded amenity recreation fees at the 

Longleaf Campground and Bluff 

Campground beginning in early 2015. 

Revenue will be used to cover the cost 

of collections at the campground and for 

deferred maintenance in the park. 

DATES: We will begin collecting fees on 

July 28, 2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Lauren Gurniewicz, Chief of 

Interpretation, Congaree National Park, 

100 National Park Road, Hopkins, SC 

29061; telephone (803) 647–3969; or by 

email at lauren_gurniewicz@nps.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice is to comply with Section 804 of 

the Federal Lands Recration 

Enhancement Act of 2004 (Pub.L. 108– 

447). The act requires agencies to give 

the public 6 months advance notice of 

the establishment of a new recreation 

fee area. 

Rates at Longleaf Campground will be 

$10 per night for an individual tent only 

site with no hook-ups; $20 per night for 

a group tent only site with no hook-ups. 

Rates at Bluff Campground will be $5 

per night for an individual tent only site 

with no hook-ups. These fees were 

determined through a comparability 

study of similar sites in the area at 

Federal, state, and private recreation 

areas and will only be charged at the 

Longleaf and Bluff campgrounds. In 

accordance with NPS public 

involvement guidelines, the park 

engaged numerous individuals, 

organizations, and local, state, and 

Federal government representatives 

while planning for the implementation 

of this fee. 

Dated: November 21, 2014. 

Lena McDowall, 

Associate Director, Business Services. 

[FR Doc. 2015–01678 Filed 1–28–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–JD–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[BOEM–2014–0085; MMAA104000] 

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), 2017– 

2022 Oil and Gas Leasing Program 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM), Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare 

a Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) and Notice of Scoping. 

SUMMARY: Consistent with the 

regulations implementing the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as 

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

is announcing its intent to prepare an 

EIS to inform the decisions that will be 

taken during the preparation and 

implementation of the 2017–2022 Oil 

and Gas Leasing Program (2017–2022 

Program). Section 18 of the Outer 

Continental Shelf (OCS) Lands Act (43 

U.S.C. 1344) requires the development 

of an OCS oil and gas leasing program 

every five years. The 2017–2022 

Program must address the size, timing 

and location of the lease sales to be held 

under it. Section 18 also requires a 

multi-step process of consultation and 

analysis that must be completed before 

the Secretary of the Interior may 

approve a new Program. BOEM initiated 

the 2017–2022 Program process by 

issuing a request for information and 

comments (RFI) in June 2014. The 

remaining process required by section 

18 of the OCS Lands Act includes 

development of a Draft Proposed 

Program (DPP), a Proposed Program, a 

Proposed Final Program (PFP), and 

Secretarial approval of the 2017–2022 

Program. 

The EIS is developed in concert with 

the 2017–2022 Program documents. The 

EIS will analyze the potential direct, 

indirect, and cumulative impacts of 

possible OCS oil and gas activities that 

could result from lease sales 

contemplated under the 2017–2022 

Program. The scope of the EIS will be 

based on the DPP after consideration of 

public input received during the 

scoping period for the EIS. The DPP 

includes potential lease sales in the Gulf 

of Mexico (Western, Central, and a small 

portion of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico 

Planning Areas not subject to 

Congressional moratorium), Atlantic 

(Mid and South Atlantic Planning 

Areas), and Alaska (Cook Inlet, Chukchi, 

and Beaufort Planning Areas) (for 

details, see the DPP at http://www.boem.

gov/Five-Year-Program/). 

This notice starts the formal scoping 

process for the EIS under 40 CFR 1501.7 

of the Council on Environmental 

Quality (CEQ) regulations and solicits 

input from the public regarding 

alternatives to the proposed action, 

impacting factors, environmental 

resources and issues of concern in the 

DPP area, and possible mitigating 

measures that should be evaluated in 

the EIS. The purpose of scoping is to 

determine the appropriate content for a 

focused and balanced programmatic 

environmental analysis by (a) ensuring 

significant issues are identified early 

and properly studied during 

development of the Programmatic EIS; 

(b) identifying alternatives, mitigation 

measures, and analytic tools; and (c) 

identifying insignificant issues and 

narrowing the scope of the EIS. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This NOI 

informs the public about the start of the 

EIS preparation process and continues 

information gathering to be done 

through formal scoping. This NOI is 

published early in the environmental 

review process in furtherance of the 

goals of NEPA. The comments received 

during public scoping will help frame 

and inform the content of the EIS. 

Alternatives may be developed based on 

scoping comments. In addition to the 

No Action alternative required by CEQ 

regulations (i.e., not adopting a new oil 

and gas leasing program), other 

alternatives will be considered in the 

EIS. 

On June 16, 2014, BOEM published a 

RFI concerning the preparation of the 

2017–2022 Program. Based on the input 

received in response to the RFI, BOEM 

is releasing the DPP concurrently with 

this NOI. The Draft EIS will be released 

in about one year from the date of the 

NOI to coincide with the release of the 

Proposed Program. Stakeholders are 

encouraged to go to 

www.boemoceaninfo.com for additional 

information about the EIS and the 2017– 

2022 Program. 

Scoping Process: BOEM is aware of 

many of the key issues, concerns, and 

potential conflicts to be considered in 

the EIS for the 2017–2022 Program. 

Some of these concerns were reflected 

in responses to the RFI. Additional 

national and regional issues and 

concerns may be identified and 

addressed as a result of input received 

during the scoping period initiated by 

this NOI. Therefore, BOEM invites the 

public to submit comments during the 

EIS scoping process to assist BOEM in 

drafting the EIS. We recommend that 

you provide scientific information, 

technical data, or anecdotal evidence, 

etc., to support your comments. 

Specifically, BOEM seeks focused input, 

including input in geospatial format as 

we intend to use geospatial information 

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4940 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 19 / Thursday, January 29, 2015 / Notices 

as much as possible in the EIS analyses. 

BOEM requests that to the extent 

possible, geospatial information be 

provided in .kml, .kmz, or other ESRIcompatible geographic information 

system format, or through a clearlydrawn image on a map with 

coordinates. To support this spatially 

focused scoping process, BOEM invites 

the public to access our interactive EIS 

geospatial portal (https://

www.csawebmap.com/boemoceaninfo/), 

a Web site that allows the user to view 

maps, visualize available data, and 

identify specific areas of concern. You 

can then submit any resulting product 

through www.regulations.gov as an 

attachment to your comments. We ask 

that you provide a rationale for any 

alternatives and demarcate any 

recommended inclusions, exclusions, or 

deferrals as clearly as possible. The 

more specific your comments and 

information are (e.g. geographic areas, 

timing, known scientific information, 

etc.), the more they will assist BOEM to 

frame the scope of the EIS. 

BOEM will also be providing 

information and the opportunity for 

public comment at scoping meetings in 

locations near the BOEM planning areas 

included in the DPP. BOEM’s scoping 

meetings will be held using an open 

house format in larger cities, including 

Anchorage, AK, and a facilitated group 

format in all other Alaska locations. The 

open house format allows members of 

the public to come to a meeting any 

time during meeting hours at their 

convenience to view information, 

discuss the Programmatic EIS and 

scoping process with BOEM staff, and 

provide scoping input. In the facilitated 

group format, each attendee in a group 

will have opportunity to express input 

while a BOEM facilitator moderates and 

helps to focus input. The following 

scoping meetings are planned for the 

Programmatic EIS. 

• Washington, DC 

Æ February 9, 2015; Embassy Suites 

Washington DC Convention Center, 

900 10th Street NW., Washington, 

DC; 2:00–7:00 p.m.; valet parking at 

no charge to meeting attendees 

• Alaska 

Æ February 9, 2015; Westmark Hotel 

and Conference Center, 813 Noble 

Street, Fairbanks, Alaska; 7:00– 

10:00 p.m. 

Æ February 11, 2015, Ninilchik 

School, 15735 Sterling Highway, 

Ninilchik, Alaska; 7:00–10:00 p.m. 

Æ February 12, 2015, Kenai Peninsula 

Borough Assembly Chambers, 144 

North Binkley Street, Soldotna, 

Alaska; 7:00–10:00 p.m. 

Æ February 16, 2015; Kisik 

Community Center, 2230 2nd 

Avenue, Nuiqsut, Alaska; 7:00– 

10:00 p.m. 

Æ February 17, 2015; Inupiat Heritage 

Center, 5421 North Star Street, 

Barrow, Alaska; 7:00–10:00 p.m. 

Æ February 18, 2015; Kaktovik 

Community Center, 2051 Barter 

Avenue, Kaktovik, Alaska; 7:00– 

10:00 p.m. 

Æ February 19, 2015; R. James 

Community Center, Wainwright, 

Alaska; 7:00–10:00 p.m. 

Æ February 23, 2015; Northwest 

Arctic Borough Assembly 

Chambers, 163 Lagoon Street, 

Kotzebue, Alaska; 7:00–10:00 p.m. 

Æ February 24, 2015; Kali School, 

1029 Qasigiakik Street, Point Lay, 

Alaska; 7:00–10:00 p.m. 

Æ February 25, 2015; City Qalgi 

Center, City of Point Hope, Alaska; 

7:00–10:00 p.m. 

Æ March 2, 2015; Anchorage Marriott 

Downtown, 820 West 7th Avenue, 

Anchorage, Alaska; 3:00–7:00 p.m. 

• Atlantic 

Æ February 11, 2015; Sheraton 

Norfolk Waterside, 777 Waterside 

Drive, Norfolk, Virginia; 3:00–7:00 

p.m.; validated participant parking 

at hotel 

Æ February 17, 2015; Blockade 

Runner, 275 Waynick Boulevard, 

Wilmington, North Carolina; 3:00– 

7:00 p.m.; free parking 

Æ February 19, 2015; Hyatt Regency 

Jacksonville Riverfront, 225 East 

Coastline Drive, Jacksonville, 

Florida; 3:00–7:00 p.m.; validated 

participant parking at hotel 

Æ March 9, 2015; Loews Annapolis, 

126 West Street, Annapolis, 

Maryland; 3:00–7:00 p.m.; validated 

participant parking at hotel 

Æ March 11, 2015; Wyndham Garden 

Mount Pleasant/Charleston 1330 

Stuart Engals Boulevard, Mount 

Pleasant, SC; 3:00–7:00 p.m.; free 

parking 

• Gulf of Mexico 

Æ February 23, 2015; Houston 

Marriott West Loop Hotel, 1750 W. 

Loop South Freeway, Houston, 

Texas; 3:00–7:00 p.m.; $5 parking at 

hotel 

Æ February 25, 2015; University of 

New Orleans, Lindy C. Boggs 

International Conference Center, 

2045 Lakeshore Drive, Suite 248, 

New Orleans, Louisiana; 3:00–7:00 

p.m.; free parking 

Æ February 26, 2015; Mobile Marriott 

Hotel, 3101 Airport Boulevard, 

Mobile, Alabama; 3:00–7:00 p.m.; 

free parking 

Cooperating Agencies: BOEM invites 

other Federal agencies and state, tribal, 

and local governments to consider 

becoming cooperating agencies in the 

preparation of the EIS. Pursuant to CEQ 

regulations and guidelines, qualified 

agencies and governments are those 

with ‘‘jurisdiction by law or special 

expertise.’’ Potential cooperating 

agencies and governments should 

consider their authority and capacity to 

assume the responsibilities of a 

cooperating agency and remember that 

an agency’s role as a cooperating agency 

in the environmental analysis neither 

enlarges nor diminishes their authority 

in the NEPA process. BOEM will 

provide potential cooperating agencies 

with a written summary of expectations 

for cooperating agencies, including 

schedules, milestones, responsibilities, 

scope and expected detail of 

cooperating agencies’ contributions, and 

availability of predecisional 

information. BOEM anticipates this 

summary will form the basis for a 

Cooperating Agency Agreement between 

BOEM and any cooperating agency. 

Agencies should also consider the 

‘‘Factors for Determining Cooperating 

Agency Status’’ in 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. This 

document is available on the Web site, 

www.boemoceaninfo.com. BOEM, as 

lead agency, does not plan to 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 process. 

For further information about 

cooperating agencies, please contact Mr. 

Geoffrey L. Wikel at (703) 787–1283. 

Public Comment: All interested 

parties, including Federal, state, tribal, 

and local governments, and others, may 

submit written comments on the scope 

of the 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 (for example, gas in 

shallow water) in OCS Planning Areas 

included in the DPP. 

Written scoping comments may be 

submitted in one of the following ways: 

1. Mailed in an envelope labeled 

‘‘Scoping Comments for the 2017–2022 

Proposed Oil and Gas Leasing Program 

Programmatic EIS’’ and mailed (or hand 

delivered) to Mr. Geoffrey L. Wikel, 

Acting Chief, Division of Environmental 

Assessment, Office of Environmental 

Program (HM 3107), Bureau of Ocean 

Energy Management, 381 Elden St. 

Herndon, VA 20170–4817, telephone 

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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 19 / Thursday, January 29, 2015 / Notices 4941 

(703) 787–1283. Written scoping 

comments may also be hand delivered 

at a scoping meeting to the BOEM 

official in charge. 

2. Through the Regulations.gov web 

portal: Navigate to http://

www.regulations.gov and under the 

Search tab, in the space provided, type 

in Docket ID: BOEM–2014–0085 to 

submit comments and to view other 

comments already submitted. 

Information on using 

www.regulations.gov, including 

instructions for accessing documents, 

submitting comments, and viewing the 

docket after the close of the comment 

period, is available through the links 

under the box entitled ‘‘Are you new to 

this site?’’ 

3. The Programmatic EIS Web site, 

www.boemoceaninfo.com, contains 

program related information, other 

links, and a geospatial portal you can 

use to make maps that can then be 

attached to comments submitted via 

www.regulations.gov or by mail. 

Scientific papers, data, and maps can 

accompany comments as attachments. 

Comments that provide scientific 

information, geospatial or other data, or 

anecdotal evidence, etc., to support your 

input are most useful. 

It is BOEM practice to make 

comments, including names and 

addresses of respondents available for 

public review. BOEM does not consider 

anonymous comments. Please include 

your name and address as part of your 

submittal. Individual respondents may 

request that BOEM withhold their 

names and/or addresses from the public 

record, but BOEM cannot guarantee that 

it 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 March 30, 2015 to the 

address specified above. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on the 2017–2022 EIS, the 

submission of comments, or BOEM’s 

policies associated with this notice, 

please contact Mr. Geoffrey L. Wikel, 

Acting Chief, Division of Environmental 

Assessment, Office of Environmental 

Program, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (HM 3107), 381 Elden 

Street, Herndon, VA 20170–4817, 

telephone (703) 787–1283. 

Authority: This NOI to prepare the 2017– 

2022 EIS is published pursuant to the 

regulations (40 CFR 1501.7) implementing 

the provisions of NEPA. 

Dated: January 7, 2015. 

Abigail Ross Hopper, 

Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 2015–01756 Filed 1–28–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[Docket No. BOEM–2014–0096; MAA104000] 

Notice of Availability (NOA) of and 

Request for Comments on the Draft 

Proposed Outer Continental Shelf 

(OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program 

for 2017–2022 (DPP) 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM), Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability and 

request for comments. 

SUMMARY: BOEM is announcing the 

availability of and requests comments 

on the Draft Proposed Outer Continental 

Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing 

Program for 2017–2022 (DPP). This draft 

proposal is for the 2017–2022 OCS Oil 

and Gas Leasing Program that will 

succeed the current 2012–2017 Program. 

The DPP provides the basis for gathering 

information and conducting analyses to 

inform the Secretary of the Interior 

(Secretary) on which areas to include for 

further leasing consideration in the 

2017–2022 Program. 

Section 18 of the OCS Lands Act (43 

U.S.C. 1344) specifies a multi-step 

process of consultation and analysis that 

must be completed before the Secretary 

may approve a new Five-Year Program. 

The required steps following this notice 

include the development of a Proposed 

Program (PP), Proposed Final Program 

(PFP), and Secretarial approval. In 

conjunction with this notice, BOEM is 

publishing a Notice of Intent (NOI) to 

prepare a Programmatic Environmental 

Impact Statement (PEIS) for the 2017– 

2022 Program, pursuant to the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 

DATES: Please submit comments and 

information to BOEM no later than 

March 30, 2015. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Kelly Hammerle, Five-Year Program 

Manager, at (703) 787–1613. 

Public Comment Procedure 

BOEM will accept comments in one of 

two formats: Federal internet 

commenting system or regular mail. 

BOEM’s preference is to receive 

comments via the internet commenting 

system. Comments should be submitted 

using only one of these formats, and 

include full names and addresses of the 

individual submitting the comment(s). 

Comments submitted by other means 

may not be considered. BOEM will not 

consider anonymous comments. BOEM 

will make available for public 

inspection all comments submitted by 

organizations and businesses, or by 

individuals identifying themselves as 

representatives of organizations or 

businesses, subject to the limitations 

described in this Notice with respect to 

personal information and proprietary/

privileged/confidential information. 

BOEM’s practice is to make 

comments, including the names and 

addresses of individuals, available for 

public review. An individual 

commenter may ask that BOEM 

withhold from the public record his or 

her name, home address, or both, and 

BOEM will honor such a request to the 

extent allowable by law. If individuals 

submit comments and desire 

withholding of such information, they 

must so state prominently at the 

beginning of their submission. 

In order to ensure security and 

confidentiality of proprietary 

information to the maximum extent 

possible, BOEM requests that 

proprietary information only be sent by 

mail. In addition to prominently stating 

that proprietary information is 

contained in a comment at the 

beginning of the submission, comments 

should be sent in a plain outer envelope 

with an inner envelope stating that 

proprietary information is contained 

within. 

Commenting via Internet 

Internet comments should be 

submitted via the Federal eRulemaking 

Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. 

BOEM requests that commenters follow 

these instructions to submit their 

comments via this Web site: 

(1) In the search tab on the main page, 

search for BOEM–2014–0096. 

(2) Locate the document, then click 

the ‘‘Submit a Comment’’ link either on 

the Search Results page or the 

Document Details page. This will 

display the Web comment form. 

(3) Enter the submitter information 

and type the comment on the Web form. 

Attach any additional files (up to 

10MB). (Please do not provide 

proprietary or confidential comments 

via the Internet.) 

(4) After typing the comment, click 

the ‘‘Preview Comment’’ link to review. 

Once satisfied with the comment, click 

the ‘‘Submit’’ button to send the 

comment. 

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