18930 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 65 / Friday, April 4, 2014 / Notices 

Canyon, AZ 86023, or by telephone at 

(928) 638–7759. 

Authority: The authority for publishing 

this notice is contained in 40 CFR 1506.6. 

The responsible official for this Notice 

of Intent is the Regional Director, 

Intermountain Region, NPS, 12795 West 

Alameda Parkway, Lakewood, Colorado 

80228. 

Dated: February 4, 2014. 

Sue E. Masica, 

Regional Director, Intermountain Region. 

[FR Doc. 2014–07349 Filed 4–3–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312–CB–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[MMAA104000] 

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Gulf of 

Mexico (GOM), Oil and Gas Lease 

Sales, Western Planning Area (WPA) 

Lease Sales 246 and 248 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM), Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare 

a Supplemental Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) and an Announcement 

of Scoping Meetings and Comment 

Period for Proposed Gulf of Mexico OCS 

Oil and Gas Western Planning Area 

Lease Sales 246 and 248. 

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 Western 

Planning Area (WPA) Lease Sales 246 

and 248 in the Gulf of Mexico (WPA 

246/248 Supplemental EIS). The WPA 

246/248 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: 2014– 

2016; Western Planning Area Lease 

Sales 238, 246, and 248, Final 

Supplemental Environmental Impact 

Statement (OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2014– 

009) (WPA 238/246/248 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 WPA 238/246/248 

Supplemental EIS was completed in 

March 2014. 

The WPA 246/248 Supplemental EIS 

will supplement the NEPA documents 

cited above for WPA lease sales in order 

to consider new circumstances and 

information arising from, among other 

things, the Deepwater Horizon 

explosion, oil spill, and response. The 

WPA 246/248 Supplemental EIS 

analysis will focus on updating the 

baseline conditions and potential 

environmental effects of oil and natural 

gas leasing, exploration, development, 

and production in the WPA. 

The WPA 246/248 Supplemental EIS 

analysis will also focus on the potential 

environmental effects of oil and natural 

gas leasing, exploration, development, 

and production in the WPA identified 

through the Area Identification 

procedure as the proposed lease sale 

area. In addition to the no action 

alternative (i.e., canceling a proposed 

lease sale), other alternatives may be 

considered for the proposed WPA lease 

sales, such as deferring certain areas 

from the proposed lease sale area. 

DATES: Comments should be submitted 

by May 5, 2014 to the address specified 

in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on the WPA 246/248 

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, 

LA 70123–2394, telephone (504) 736– 

3233. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 

27, 2012, the Secretary of the Interior 

approved the OCS Oil & Gas Leasing 

Program: 2012–2017 (2012–2017 FiveYear Program). This Supplemental EIS 

will consider the two remaining WPA 

sales for this 2012–2017 Five-Year 

Program. Proposed WPA Lease Sales 

246 and 248 are tentatively scheduled to 

be held in 2015 and 2016, respectively. 

The proposed WPA lease sale area 

encompasses virtually all of the WPA’s 

28.58 million acres, with the exception 

of whole and partial blocks within the 

boundary of the Flower Garden Banks 

National Marine Sanctuary. 

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 WPA 246/248 

Supplemental EIS and will be 

summarized in presale documentation 

prepared during the decision making 

process for proposed WPA Lease Sale 

246. If, after completion of the WPA 

246/248 Supplemental EIS, the 

Secretary of the Interior decides to hold 

a lease sale, then the lease sale area 

identified in the final Notice of Sale 

may exclude or defer certain lease 

blocks from the area offered. However, 

for purposes of the WPA 246/248 

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 WPA Lease Sales 246 and 

248. 

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 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas 

Leasing Program: 2012–2017; Final 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement (the Five-Year Program EIS) 

(http://www.boem.gov/5-Year/2012- 

2017/PEIS.aspx) presented a list of 

deferral and alternative requests that 

were received during the development 

of the Five-Year Program EIS, but were 

determined to be more appropriately 

considered at subsequent OCSLA and 

NEPA stages. The 2012–2017 WPA/CPA 

Multisale EIS addressed these deferral 

and alternative requests, but they were 

ultimately deemed inappropriate for 

further analysis as separate alternatives 

or deferrals from those already included 

and considered in the 2012–2017 WPA/ 

CPA Multisale EIS. In this and future 

NEPA analyses, BOEM will continue to 

evaluate whether these or other deferral 

or alternative requests warrant 

additional consideration as appropriate. 

(Please refer to Chapter 2.2.1.2 of the 

2012–2017 WPA/CPA Multisale EIS for 

a complete discussion; http://

www.boem.gov/EnvironmentalStewardship/EnvironmentalAssessment/NEPA/BOEM-2012-019_

v1.aspx.) 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 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 65 / Friday, April 4, 2014 / Notices 18931 

circumstances favor new or different 

analytical approaches in response to 

these requests. 

Additionally, BOEM has created a 

tailored map of the potentially affected 

area through the Multipurpose Marine 

Cadastre (MMC) Web site (http://

boem.gov/Oil-and-Gas-Energy-Program/

Leasing/Five-Year-Program/Lease-SaleSchedule/Interactive-Maps.aspx). The 

MMC is an integrated marine 

information system that provides a 

comprehensive look at geospatial data 

and ongoing activities and studies 

occurring in the area being considered. 

This Web site provides the ability to 

view multiple data layers of existing 

geospatial data. 

Scoping Process: This NOI also serves 

to announce the scoping process for 

identifying issues for the WPA 246/248 

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 

mitigating measures to be analyzed in 

the WPA 246/248 Supplemental EIS, 

and to provide additional information. 

BOEM will also use the NEPA 

commenting process to initiate the 

section 106 consultation process of the 

National Historic Preservation Act (16 

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 Texas and 

Louisiana on the WPA 246/248 

Supplemental EIS. The purpose of these 

meetings is to solicit comments on the 

scope of the WPA 246/248 

Supplemental EIS. BOEM’s scoping 

meetings will be held at the following 

places and times: 

• Corpus Christi, Texas: Tuesday, 

April 22, 2014, Springhill Suites, 4331 

South Padre Island Drive, Corpus 

Christi, Texas 78411, one meeting 

beginning at 1:00 p.m. CDT; and, 

• New Orleans, Louisiana: Thursday, 

April 24, 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. 

Cooperating Agency: BOEM invites 

other Federal, State, Tribal, and local 

governments to consider becoming 

cooperating agencies in the preparation 

of the WPA 246/248 Supplemental EIS. 

We invite qualified government entities 

to inquire about cooperating agency 

status for the WPA 246/248 

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 should remember that an agency’s 

role in the environmental analysis 

neither enlarges nor diminishes the final 

decision making 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 

location on the Internet: http://

energy.gov/sites/prod/files/nepapub/

nepa_documents/RedDont/G-CEQCoopAgenciesImplem.pdf. 

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 

organizations and members of the 

public, may submit written comments 

on the scope of the WPA 246/248 

Supplemental EIS, significant issues 

that should be addressed, alternatives 

that should be considered, potential 

mitigating measures, and the types of oil 

and gas activities of interest in the 

proposed WPA lease sale area. 

Written scoping comments may be 

submitted in one of the following ways: 

1. In an envelope labeled ‘‘Scoping 

Comments for the WPA 246/248 

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; Western 

Planning Area Lease Sales 246 and 

248.’’ (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: wpa246@

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. 

Authority: This NOI is published pursuant 

to the regulations (40 CFR 1501.7) 

implementing the provisions of NEPA. 

Dated: March 28, 2014. 

Tommy P. Beaudreau, 

Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 2014–07514 Filed 4–3–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P 

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