[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 5 (Monday, January 8, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 829-834]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00083]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

[BOEM-2017-0074; MMAA104000]


Notice of Availability of the 2019-2024 Draft Proposed Outer 
Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program and Notice of Intent To 
Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: BOEM is announcing the availability of, and requests comments 
on, the Draft Proposed Program (DPP) for the 2019-2024 Outer 
Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (2019-2024 Program or 
Program). BOEM is also announcing its decision to prepare a 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the 2019-2024 Program 
(Programmatic EIS) and the initiation of the formal scoping process.

DATES: Comments should be submitted by March 9, 2018 to the address 
specified in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. Dates of public 
meetings to be held between now and March 9, 2018, will be posted on 
https://www.BOEM.gov/National-OCS-Program.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the DPP or Programmatic EIS may be submitted in 
one of the following ways:
    1. Mailed in an envelope labeled ``Comments for the 2019-2024 Draft 
Proposed National Oil and Gas Leasing Program'' and mailed (or hand 
delivered) to Ms. Kelly Hammerle, Chief, National Oil and Gas Leasing 
Program Development and Coordination Branch, Leasing Division, Office 
of Strategic Resources, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (VAM-LD), 
45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, VA 20166-9216, telephone (703) 787-1613. 
Written comments may also be hand delivered at a public 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-2017-0074 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?''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the 2019-2024 
Program process or BOEM's policies associated with this notice, please 
contact Ms. Kelly Hammerle, Chief, National Oil and Gas Leasing Program 
Development and Coordination Branch at (703) 787-1613. For information 
on the 2019-2024 Programmatic EIS, submission of comments related to 
potential environmental impacts, or Cooperating Agency status, please 
contact Dr. Jill Lewandowski, Chief, Division of Environmental 
Assessment, at (703) 787-1703.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 28, 2017, Presidential Executive 
Order 13795: Implementing an America First Offshore Energy Strategy 
(E.O. 13795), directed the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to 
give full consideration to revising the schedule of proposed oil and 
gas lease sales adopted in the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil 
and Gas Leasing Program, which was approved on January 17, 2017. The 
Secretary issued Secretarial Order 3350 on May 1, 2017, which further 
directed BOEM to develop a new National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and 
Gas Leasing Program. As directed by the Secretary, BOEM initiated the 
development of the 2019-2024 Program by issuing a request for 
information and comments (RFI) on July 3, 2017 (82 FR 30886). The 
Program development process required by section 18 of the Outer 
Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), 43 U.S.C. 1344, and its 
implementing regulations, includes the development of a DPP, a Proposed 
Program, a Proposed Final Program (PFP), and Secretarial approval of 
the 2019-2024 Program.
    This notice serves as the NOA for the DPP and the NOI for the 
preparation of a Programmatic EIS. The DPP includes the section 18 
analysis for the OCS areas of potential interest to the Secretary and 
his initial proposed schedule of lease sales for the 2019-2024 Program. 
The

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DPP provides the basis for gathering information and conducting 
analyses to inform the Secretary on which areas to include for further 
leasing consideration in the 2019-2024 Program.
    The DPP for the 2019-2024 Program would make more than 98 percent 
of the OCS resources available to consider for oil and gas leasing 
during the 2019-2024 period. Including at this stage nearly the entire 
OCS for potential oil and gas discovery is consistent with advancing 
the goal of moving the United States from simply aspiring to energy 
independence to attaining energy dominance. This DPP would allow for 
unprecedented increases in access to America's extensive offshore oil 
and gas resources, a critical component of the Nation's energy 
portfolio, and emphasizes the importance of producing American energy 
in America.
    The DPP will enable the Secretary to receive information necessary 
to conduct a thorough consideration of the Section 18(a)(2) factors in 
order to perform the balancing analysis required by Section 18(a)(3) of 
the OCS Lands Act. Including areas in the 2019-2024 Program will 
incentivize industry to employ their world-class geological and 
technical expertise to assess and evaluate America's potential offshore 
oil and gas resources. By not prematurely restricting or narrowing OCS 
areas under consideration, this DPP will allow industry the opportunity 
to further inform the Secretary of their interest in leasing frontier 
areas and to collect data in areas that have not been explored in 
decades, if ever. This will, in turn, further our understanding of the 
resources available on the OCS to meet national energy needs. The 
Secretary's approach to the DPP lease sale schedule does not 
prematurely foreclose exploration planning, but fosters it, to allow 
for potential for the discovery of oil and gas on the OCS.
    Allowing for the potential discovery of new oil and gas reserves on 
the OCS is consistent with the Administration's America-First Energy 
Strategy, which seeks to achieve energy security and resilience by 
reducing U.S. reliance on imported energy. Additionally, OCS oil and 
gas production benefits the United States by helping to reinvigorate 
American manufacturing and job growth, and contributes to the gross 
domestic product. Many of the jobs in the oil and gas industry earn a 
significant wage premium; these employees have more purchasing power 
and can consume more goods and services, increasing their standard of 
living, and contributing more to the economy.
    Grounded in the above principles, and after careful consideration 
of public input and the OCS Lands Act Section 18(a)(2) factors, the DPP 
proposes a lease sale schedule of 47 lease sales in all four OCS 
regions and includes 25 of the 26 planning areas: 19 lease sales in the 
Alaska Region (3 in the Chukchi Sea, 3 in the Beaufort Sea, 2 in Cook 
Inlet, and 1 sale each in the 11 other available planning areas in 
Alaska), 7 lease sales in the Pacific Region (2 each for Northern 
California, Central California, and Southern California, and 1 for 
Washington/Oregon), 12 lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Region 
(10 regionwide lease sales for the portions of the Central, Western, 
and Eastern GOM planning areas that are not currently under moratorium, 
and 2 sales for the portions of the Central and Eastern GOM planning 
areas that will no longer be under moratorium in 2022), and 9 lease 
sales in the Atlantic Region (3 sales each for the Mid- and South 
Atlantic, 2 for the North Atlantic, and 1 for the Straits of Florida).
    The DPP does not include a sale in the North Aleutian Basin 
Planning Area. This area was withdrawn on December 16, 2014, from 
consideration for any oil and gas leasing for a time period without 
specific expiration.

                          Table 1--2019-2024 Draft Proposed Program Lease Sale Schedule
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         Sale year              OCS Region                               Program area
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1. 2019....................  Alaska.........  Beaufort Sea.
2. 2020....................  Alaska.........  Chukchi Sea.
3. 2020....................  Pacific........  Southern California.
4. 2020....................  Gulf of Mexico.  Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico.*
5. 2020....................  Gulf of Mexico.  Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico.*
6. 2020....................  Atlantic.......  South Atlantic.
7. 2020....................  Atlantic.......  Mid-Atlantic.
8. 2021....................  Alaska.........  Beaufort Sea.
9. 2021....................  Alaska.........  Cook Inlet.
10. 2021...................  Pacific........  Washington/Oregon.
11. 2021...................  Pacific........  Northern California.
12. 2021...................  Pacific........  Central California.
13. 2021...................  Atlantic.......  North Atlantic.
14. 2021...................  Gulf of Mexico.  Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico.*
15. 2021...................  Gulf of Mexico.  Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico.*
16. 2022...................  Alaska.........  Chukchi Sea.
17. 2022...................  Pacific........  Southern California.
18. 2022...................  Atlantic.......  Mid-Atlantic.
19. 2022...................  Atlantic.......  South Atlantic.
20. 2022...................  Gulf of Mexico.  Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico.*
21. 2022...................  Gulf of Mexico.  Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico.*
22. 2023...................  Alaska.........  Beaufort Sea.
23. 2023...................  Alaska.........  Cook Inlet.
24. 2023...................  Alaska.........  Hope Basin.
25. 2023...................  Alaska.........  Norton Basin.
26. 2023...................  Alaska.........  St. Matthew-Hall.
27. 2023...................  Alaska.........  Navarin Basin.
28. 2023...................  Alaska.........  Aleutian Basin.
29. 2023...................  Alaska.........  St. George Basin.
30. 2023...................  Alaska.........  Bowers Basin.
31. 2023...................  Alaska.........  Aleutian Arc.
32. 2023...................  Alaska.........  Shumagin.
33. 2023...................  Alaska.........  Kodiak.
34. 2023...................  Alaska.........  Gulf of Alaska.

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35. 2023...................  Pacific........  Central California.
36. 2023...................  Pacific........  Northern California.
37. 2023...................  Gulf of Mexico.  Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico.*
38. 2023...................  Gulf of Mexico.  Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico.*
39. 2023...................  Gulf of Mexico.  Eastern and Central Gulf of Mexico.**
40. 2023...................  Atlantic.......  Straits of Florida.
41. 2023...................  Atlantic.......  North Atlantic.
42. 2024...................  Alaska.........  Chukchi Sea.
43. 2024...................  Gulf of Mexico.  Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico.*
44. 2024...................  Gulf of Mexico.  Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico.*
45. 2024...................  Gulf of Mexico.  Eastern and Central Gulf of Mexico.**
46. 2024...................  Atlantic.......  South Atlantic.
47. 2024...................  Atlantic.......  Mid-Atlantic.
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* All available areas, not including those subject to the GOMESA moratorium through June 30, 2022.
** Those areas available following the expiration of the GOMESA moratorium.

    Including 25 of the 26 planning areas in the DPP allows for maximum 
flexibility in the future stages of the process, as well as the 
opportunity to seek additional input and further coordinate with key 
stakeholders on those areas. The Secretary is committed to enhancing 
coordination and collaboration with other governmental entities to 
discover solutions to multiple use challenges so that oil and gas 
resources can be extracted, critical military and other ocean uses can 
continue, and our sensitive physical and biological resources can be 
protected. The Secretary's goal is to increase access to America's 
energy resources and to provide environmental stewardship based upon 
the most up to date environmental information and analysis.
    The DPP serves as the basis for the proposed action to be evaluated 
in the Programmatic EIS. This NOI starts the formal scoping process for 
the Programmatic EIS under 40 CFR 1501.7 of the Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
regulations and solicits input from the public regarding alternatives, 
impacting factors, and environmental resources and issues of concern in 
the DPP areas that should be evaluated in the Programmatic EIS. The 
purpose of scoping for the Programmatic EIS is to determine the 
appropriate content and scope for a focused and balanced programmatic 
environmental analysis by ensuring significant issues are identified 
early and properly studied during development of the Programmatic EIS. 
BOEM expects to consider environmentally sensitive areas in the 
Programmatic EIS that could be considered for exclusion as part of the 
Section 18 winnowing process.
    Please go to https://www.boem.gov/National-OCS-Oil-and-Gas-Leasing-Program-for-2019-2024/ for additional information about the 
Programmatic EIS and the 2019-2024 Program.
    Public Comment: All interested parties, including Federal, state, 
tribal, and local governments and others, can submit written comments 
on the DPP and the scope of the Programmatic EIS, significant issues 
that should be addressed, and the types of oil and gas activities of 
interest in OCS planning areas included in the DPP (e.g., gas in 
shallow water and industry interest in leasing and/or exploring 
planning areas not included in previous National OCS Programs). 
Comments on individual lease sale EIS documents should be submitted 
separately through the unique docket for each sale. Comments that 
provide scientific information, geospatial or other data, or anecdotal 
evidence to support your input are most useful and such information can 
be provided as attachments to comments.
    BOEM will protect privileged or proprietary information that you 
submit in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and 
OCSLA requirements. To avoid inadvertent release of such information, 
interested parties should mark all documents and every page containing 
such information with ``Confidential--Contains Proprietary 
Information.'' To the extent a document contains a mix of proprietary 
and nonproprietary information, interested parties should mark clearly 
which portion of the document is proprietary and which is not. 
Exemption 4 of FOIA applies to trade secrets and commercial or 
financial information that you submit that is privileged or 
confidential. The OCSLA states that the ``Secretary shall maintain the 
confidentiality of all privileged or proprietary data or information 
for such period of time as is provided for in this subchapter, 
established by regulation, or agreed to by the parties'' (43 U.S.C. 
1344(g)). BOEM considers each interested party's nominations of 
specific blocks to be proprietary, and therefore BOEM will not release 
information that identifies any particular nomination, so as not to 
compromise the competitive position of any participants in the process 
of indicating interest.
    However, please be aware that BOEM's practice is to make all other 
public comments, including the names and addresses of individuals, 
available for public inspection. Before including your address, phone 
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, please be advised that your entire comment, including 
your personal identifying information, may be made publicly available 
at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold from 
public review your personal identifying information, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so. In order for BOEM to consider 
withholding from disclosure your personal identifying information, you 
must identify any information contained in the submittal of your 
comments that, if released, would constitute a clearly unwarranted 
invasion of your personal privacy. You must also briefly describe any 
possible harmful consequence(s) of the disclosure of information, such 
as embarrassment, injury or other harm. Note that BOEM will make 
available for public inspection, in their entirety, all comments 
submitted by organizations and businesses, or by individuals 
identifying themselves as representatives of organizations or 
businesses.
    Public Meetings: BOEM will hold a series of public meetings to 
provide information and the opportunity for public comment on the 2019-
2024 Program and the Programmatic EIS. BOEM's public meetings will be 
held

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using an open house format. The open house format allows members of the 
public to come to a meeting any time during meeting hours to view 
information, provide comments, and discuss the 2019-2024 Program and 
the Programmatic EIS with BOEM staff.
    Public meetings will be held between now and March 9, 2018 to 
receive scoping comments on the Programmatic EIS. Meetings are being 
planned for, but are not necessarily limited to the following cities:

<bullet> Washington, DC;
<bullet> Augusta, ME;
<bullet> Concord, NH;
<bullet> Boston, MA;
<bullet> Providence, RI;
<bullet> Hartford, CT;
<bullet> Albany, NY;
<bullet> Trenton, NJ;
<bullet> Dover, DE;
<bullet> Annapolis, MD;
<bullet> Richmond, VA;
<bullet> Raleigh, NC;
<bullet> Columbia, SC;
<bullet> Atlanta, GA;
<bullet> Tallahassee, FL;
<bullet> Montgomery, AL;
<bullet> Jackson, MS;
<bullet> Baton Rouge, LA;
<bullet> Austin, TX;
<bullet> Sacramento, CA;
<bullet> Salem, OR;
<bullet> Olympia, WA;
<bullet> Anchorage, AK.

    Specific dates, times, and venues will be posted on https://
www.boem.gov/National-OCS-Program.
    Cooperating Agencies: BOEM invites other Federal agencies and 
state, tribal, and local governments to consider becoming cooperating 
agencies in the preparation of the Programmatic 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 its 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 website, https://ceq.doe.gov/guidance/guidance.html. 
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.

    Authority:  This NOA for the DPP for the 2019-2024 Program is 
published in accordance with section 18 of OCSLA and its 
implementing regulations (30 CFR part 556). This NOI to prepare the 
2019-2024 Programmatic EIS is published pursuant to the regulations 
(40 CFR 1501.7 and 43 CFR 46.235) implementing the provisions of 
NEPA.

    Dated: December 11, 2018.
Walter Cruickshank,
Acting Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
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[FR Doc. 2018-00083 Filed 1-5-18; 8:45 am]
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