Opinion ID: 3066130
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Lease Sale 193

Text: After completing a five-year leasing plan for the Chukchi Sea, BOEM decided to offer a large portion of the Sea for oil NATIVE VILLAGE OF POINT HOPE V. JEWELL 9 and gas leasing. The FEIS analyzed four alternatives for the lease sale: (1) a 34-million acre proposed lease option covering 6,156 blocks of the Chukchi Sea; (2) a no-lease option; (3) a proposed lease option excluding 1,765 blocks extending along a corridor about 60 miles from the Alaskan coast; and (4) a proposed lease option excluding 795 blocks extending along a corridor between 25 and 50 miles from the Alaskan coast. The National Marine Fisheries Service recommended that the Secretary of the Interior select the third alternative, under which development would be farther from the coast, based on its conclusion that numerous endangered and threatened species living close to shore would be adversely affected by oil development. The Secretary of the Interior accepted BOEM’s recommendation and selected the fourth alternative, under which development would be closer to the coast. The lease sale occurred on February 6, 2008. The federal government collected over $2.6 billion from the winning bidders. At the time of the lease sale, there were no active leases in the Sea.