Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 85 / Wednesday, May 1, 1996 / Notices 19317

PAAS uses four forms to record solid

minerals data. Two forms are necessary

to establish a reference data base. Form

MMS–4050, Mine Information Form

(MIF), is filed as the first step in

reporting solid mineral data to PAAS. It

is prepared by BLM or MMS when a

mine is first approved, or to change

previously reported data from each

mine that includes Federal or Indian

leases. Form MMS–4051–S, Facility and

Measurement Information Form (FMIF)

identifies the scales and meters that

measure production at each mine or

storage or secondary processing facility.

Two operations reports provide

information on production, sales

volumes, and inventories of mines and

processing facilities. Form MMS–4059,

Solid Minerals Operations Report

(SMOR) is submitted by all Federal and

Indian lease operators producing solid

minerals subject to royalties and has

two parts. Part A, Production and

Disposition of Raw Materials, is

submitted by operators of all producing

mines that include Federal or Indian

leases within the approved mine plan,

and is required only if production is

sold directly from the mine. Part B,

Mine Sales From a Facility, is submitted

only by those mine operators whose

production is sold after secondary

processing, or from remote storage.

Form MMS–4060, Solid Minerals

Facility Report (SMFR), is submitted to

MMS by operators of secondary

processing or remote storage facilities

that handle solid mineral production on

which royalties have not been

determined and also has two parts. Part

A, Process Operations, identifies the

operator and the facility, and for each

line item, the mine, type of product

received, and quantity and quality of

input and output of the processing

facility. Part B, Inventory, identifies for

each product and its source mine the

beginning inventory, raw materials

received, amount of production,

disposition, quantity sold or transferred,

the facility or measuring point to which

production is transferred, and ending

inventory.

The MMS has analyzed PAAS

requirements to ensure that the

information requested is the minimum

necessary and places the least possible

burden on industry. There are no

special reporting provisions for small

organizations. To reduce the reporting

burden, MMS provides toll-free

telephone assistance, distributes

information packages with copies of the

PAAS Reporter Handbook providing

step-by-step instructions in completing

required forms, and conducts training at

various sites around the country.

Dated: April 22, 1996.

Robert E. Brown,

Acting Associate Director for Royalty

Management.

[FR Doc. 96–10691 Filed 4–30–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P

Environmental Documents Prepared

for Proposed Annual Lease Sales in

the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico

in the New 5-Year Program (1997–2002)

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Proposal to prepare a single

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

for all of the proposed annual lease sales

in the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning

Area (CPA) and another for the Western

Gulf of Mexico Planning Area (WPA) in

the new 5-Year Program (1997–2002),

followed by an Environmental

Assessment (EA) prior to each sale.

SUMMARY: Since least sale proposals in

the CPA and WPA are very similar each

year, it is proposed that a single EIS be

prepared for all the sales (four or five)

on the 5-year schedule in each planning

area. Federal regulations allow for

several proposals to be analyzed in one

EIS (40 CFR 1502.4). The multisale EIS

would include an analysis of a single,

‘‘typical’’ sale and a cumulative analysis

that would include the effects of

holding all four or five sales as well as

the cumulative effects of the long-term

development of the planning area. The

multisale approach will apply only to

the CPA and WPA. In subsequent years,

an EA will be prepared to determine if

a Finding of No Significant Impact

(FONSI) should be prepared, or whether

a Supplemental EIS (SEIS) is warranted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, Minerals

Management Service, 1201 Elmwood

Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana

70123–2394, George Hampton,

Telephone (504) 736–2465.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1983

the planning areas in the Gulf of Mexico

were defined as Eastern, Central, and

Western, and the boundaries of those

areas were established. Since that time

a sale has been planned and held

annually in both the Central and

Western Planning Areas. The National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

document prepared for each of those

sales has been an EIS. When the EIS for

Sales 166 and 168 is filed in December

1996, 15 final EIS’s will have been

produced on annual areawide sales in

the CPA and WPA. A Draft EIS on the

5-year program was recently completed

and is available for comment.

Additionally, a Cumulative Effects

Report, which includes an assessment of

the cumulative effects from OCS

Program activities that occurred from

1987 through 1991 (MMS 95–0007) was

completed. Since the proposed action

for each sale is basically the same (offer

all available unleased blocks in each

planning area) and the level of expected

activity does not vary a great deal from

year-to-year, the level of potential

impacts remain within consistent

ranges. Therefore, the EIS’s prepared on

these sales are very similar.

The EIS will include an analysis of

the environmental effects of holding one

sale, a sale ‘‘typical’’ of any in the

planning area, that may be held in the

remainder of the 5-year program.

The assumptions upon which the

analysis is based would cover a range of

resources and activities that would

encompass any of the four follow-up

proposed actions. Later sales could then

be compared to the initial analysis in an

EA or SEIS.

The cumulative analysis, as identified

in NEPA 1508.25(a)(2), would be in two

parts. One part would be concentrated

on the five proposed actions,

emphasizing the cumulative aspect of

holding the current sale proposal and

four more annual sales. The second part

would be a full cumulative analysis of

all past, present, and reasonably

foreseeable future actions.

The MMS is requesting comments and

recommendations from interested

parties concerning the proposed

multisale EIS process.

The MMS will present the multisale

approach to all interested parties at a

public meeting in New Orleans. The

meeting is scheduled for the following

date, time, and location: May 22, 1996,

MMS, Gulf of Mexico Regional Office,

1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, Room

115, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1:00 to

3:00 p.m.

Dated: April 22, 1996.

Chris C. Oynes,

Regional Director, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region.

[FR Doc. 96–10718 Filed 4–30–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–M

Environmental Documents Prepared

for Proposed Oil and Gas Operations

on the Gulf of Mexico Outer

Continental Shelf (OCS)

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of the availability of

environmental documents prepared for

the OCS mineral proposals on the Gulf

of Mexico OCS.

SUMMARY: The Minerals Management

Service (MMS), in accordance with