[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 130 (Friday, July 8, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40859-40863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14524]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

[BOEM-2022-0031]


Notice of Availability of the 2023-2028 National Outer 
Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Program and Draft 
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 Proposed Program for the 2023-2028 National Outer Continental 
Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (2023-2028 Program, National OCS 
Program, or Program), as well as the Draft Programmatic Environmental 
Impact Statement for the 2023-2028 Program (Draft Programmatic EIS).

DATES: Comments should be submitted by October 6, 2022 to the address 
specified in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. Dates of virtual 
public meetings to be held between now and October 6, 2022 will be 
posted on https://www.BOEM.gov/National-OCS-Program.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the Proposed Program or Draft Programmatic EIS 
may be submitted in one of the following ways:
    1. 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-2022-0031 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

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under the box entitled, ``Are you new to this site?''
    2. Mailed in an envelope labeled ``Comments for the 2023-2028 
National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Program'' and mailed or sent 
by delivery service to Ms. Kelly Hammerle, Chief, National OCS 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the 2023-2028 
Program process or BOEM's policies associated with this notice, please 
contact Ms. Kelly Hammerle, Chief, National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing 
Program Development and Coordination Branch at (703) 787-1613. For 
information on the 2023-2028 Draft Programmatic EIS, submission of 
comments related to potential environmental impacts, or Cooperating 
Agency status, please contact Jennifer Bosyk, Chief, Branch of 
Environmental Coordination, at (703) 787-1834.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BOEM is responsible for administering the 
leasing program for oil and gas resources on the Outer Continental 
Shelf (OCS) and advising the Secretary of the Interior on the National 
OCS Program. The three analytical phases required to develop a new 
National OCS Program are the (1) Draft Proposed Program (DPP); (2) 
Proposed Program; and (3) Proposed Final Program (PFP). The 2023-2028 
Program (originally proposed as the Draft 2019-2024 Program), once 
approved, will follow the 2017-2022 Program. The Proposed Program is 
the second in a series of three proposals made by the Secretary, 
pursuant to section 18 of the OCS Lands Act, before final action may be 
taken to approve the 2023-2028 National OCS Program.
    The DPP was published on January 9, 2018, with a 60-day comment 
period and proposed a lease sale schedule of 47 lease sales in all four 
OCS regions. It included 25 of the 26 OCS planning areas and proposed 
19 lease sales in the Alaska Region (three in the Chukchi Sea, three in 
the Beaufort Sea, two in Cook Inlet, and one sale each in the 11 other 
available planning areas in Alaska), seven lease sales in the Pacific 
Region (two each for Northern California, Central California, and 
Southern California, and one for Washington/Oregon), 12 lease sales in 
the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Region (ten regionwide lease sales for the 
portions of the Central, Western, and Eastern GOM planning areas that 
are not currently under moratorium, and two sales for the remaining 
portions of the Central and Eastern GOM planning areas after the 
Congressional moratorium against leasing was set to expire), and nine 
lease sales in the Atlantic Region (three sales each for the Mid- and 
South Atlantic, two for the North Atlantic, and one for the Straits of 
Florida). The Proposed Program analysis and the companion Draft 
Programmatic EIS analyze the full lease sale schedule presented in the 
DPP for the purpose of informing the Secretary prior to advancing the 
Proposed Program.
    Following the January 2018 publication of the DPP, BOEM received 
more than 2 million comments from stakeholders, including governors, 
Federal agencies, state agencies, local agencies, energy and non-energy 
industries, Tribal governments, non-governmental organizations, 
including environmental advocacy groups, and the general public (see 
Appendix A of the Proposed Program document for more information).
    After careful consideration of the OCS Lands Act Section 18(a) 
factors, as well as input from governors and the public, this Proposed 
Program offers up to ten potential sales in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) 
Region Program Area 1 (which contains the Western GOM Planning Area, 
most of the Central GOM Planning Area, and a small portion of the 
Eastern GOM Planning Area), and one potential lease sale in the 
northern portion of the Cook Inlet Planning Area offshore Alaska. Two 
Subarea Options have been identified that will be analyzed in the PFP 
and Final Programmatic EIS: a 15-mile no leasing buffer offshore 
Baldwin County, Alabama, and a targeted leasing approach in the GOM 
Program Area 1. There are no potential lease sales scheduled for 
planning areas in the Pacific Region, Atlantic Region, GOM Program Area 
2 (which contains most of the Eastern GOM Planning Area), or Alaska 
Region (other than Cook Inlet). During the development of the National 
OCS Program, once a defined area is included in the National OCS 
Program, it becomes known as a program area. Program areas are 
therefore the portions of the original 26 OCS planning areas that 
remain under consideration for leasing during the National OCS Program 
development process.
    The schedule shown in Table 1 reflects the potential lease sales 
for the 2023-2028 Proposed Program. Figures 1 and 2 depict the program 
areas included in the 2023-2028 Proposed Program.
    The size, timing, location, and number of potential lease sales in 
this Proposed Program will be robustly analyzed in the PFP and Final 
Programmatic EIS and may be further narrowed or excluded. The Secretary 
is requesting public and stakeholder input on the Proposed Program to 
inform the PFP and Final Programmatic EIS analyses.
    BOEM also seeks feedback and input on additional data sources, 
reasonable assumptions and methodological approaches which could help 
BOEM quantitatively and/or qualitatively estimate how demand for OCS 
oil and gas and energy market substitutions might differ in the future 
under various climate pathways that would be required to reach net zero 
domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as President Biden and the 
parties to the Paris Agreement have staked out as objectives.
    Chapter 5 of the Proposed Program describes BOEM's current approach 
to analyzing net benefits. Section 5.3.4 provides a qualitative 
description of the likely impacts and changes to the net benefits that 
could result under a hypothetical net-zero scenario. BOEM seeks input 
and feedback on this approach as it continues to refine its analysis 
going forward.
    This Proposed Program will be analyzed to inform the Secretary's 
PFP, which will be published with a Final Programmatic EIS and be 
provided to the President and Congress. Upon consideration of the PFP 
and Final Programmatic EIS, and comments received as part of the 
National OCS Program development process, the Secretary will approve a 
2023-2028 Program, determining the program areas to be potentially 
leased in the 2023-2028 timeframe.

                             Table 1--2023-2028 Proposed Program Lease Sale Schedule
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                     Count                         Sale No.          Year          OCS region and program area
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1.............................................             262            2023  Gulf of Mexico: GOM Program Area
                                                                                 1.
2.............................................             263            2024  Gulf of Mexico: GOM Program Area
                                                                                 1.
3.............................................             264            2024  Gulf of Mexico: GOM Program Area
                                                                                 1.

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4.............................................             265            2025  Gulf of Mexico: GOM Program Area
                                                                                 1.
5.............................................             266            2025  Gulf of Mexico: GOM Program Area
                                                                                 1.
6.............................................             267            2026  Alaska: Cook Inlet Program Area.
7.............................................             268            2026  Gulf of Mexico: GOM Program Area
                                                                                 1.
8.............................................             269            2026  Gulf of Mexico: GOM Program Area
                                                                                 1.
9.............................................             270            2027  Gulf of Mexico: GOM Program Area
                                                                                 1.
10............................................             271            2027  Gulf of Mexico: GOM Program Area
                                                                                 1.
11............................................             272            2028  Gulf of Mexico: GOM Program Area
                                                                                 1.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Proposed Program is the proposed action evaluated in the Draft 
Programmatic EIS. BOEM has elected to prepare the Draft Programmatic 
EIS to help address certain environmental components outlined in 
Section 18 of the OCS Lands Act. The National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration and the National Park Service are Cooperating Agencies 
on the Draft Programmatic EIS. BOEM analyzed several environmentally 
important areas in the Draft Programmatic EIS for possible exclusion 
from the 2023-2028 Program and is soliciting public comment on these or 
other areas that should be considered for exclusion.
    Please go to https://www.boem.gov/National-OCS-Oil-and-Gas-Leasing-Program-for-2023-2028/ for additional information about the Draft 
Programmatic EIS and the National OCS Program for 2023-2028.
    Public Comment: All interested parties, including Federal, state, 
Tribal, and local governments, oil and gas producers, and others, can 
submit written comments on the Proposed Program and the Draft 
Programmatic EIS, including any significant issues that should be 
addressed in the PFP and Final Programmatic EIS. Comments that provide 
scientific information, geospatial or other data, or other 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 OCS 
Lands Act 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 the portions of the document that are proprietary and 
those that are not. Exemption 4 of FOIA applies to trade secrets and 
commercial or financial information that you submit that is privileged 
or confidential. Section 18 of the OCS Lands Act also 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)).
    Please be aware that BOEM's practice is to make all other 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. Even if BOEM 
withholds your information in the context of this Program development 
process, your submission is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 
(FOIA), and if your submission is requested under the FOIA, your 
information will only be withheld if a determination is made that one 
of the FOIA's exemptions to disclosure applies. Such a determination 
will be made in accordance with the Department's FOIA regulations and 
applicable law.
    In order for BOEM to consider withholding from disclosure your 
personal identifying information, you must identify, in a cover letter, 
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 virtual public meetings 
to provide information and the opportunity for public comment on the 
Proposed Program and the Draft Programmatic EIS. BOEM's public meetings 
will be held online using an open house format, with several 
information stations, hosted by BOEM subject matter experts, each of 
which will focus on different aspects of BOEM's Proposed Program and 
Draft Programmatic EIS analysis. The virtual open house format allows 
members of the public to view information, discuss the 2023-2028 
National OCS Program and the Draft Programmatic EIS with BOEM staff, 
and to receive instructions about how to provide comments on the 
documents.
    Virtual public meetings will be scheduled between now and October 
6, 2022. Specific dates and times, will be posted on https://
www.boem.gov/National-OCS-Program.
    Authority: This Notice of Availability for the 2023-2028 Proposed 
Program is published in accordance with Section 18 of the OCS Lands Act 
and its implementing regulations (30 CFR part 556 subpart B). This 
Notice of Availability for the 2023-2028 Draft Programmatic EIS is 
published pursuant to the regulations (40 CFR 1506.6 and 43 CFR 46.435) 
implementing the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act.

Amanda Lefton,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
BILLING CODE 4340-98-P

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[FR Doc. 2022-14524 Filed 7-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4340-98-C