Notice2023-18345
Gulf of Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf, Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 25, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentOcean Energy Management Bureau
Abstract
BOEM announces the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) for Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261 (GOM Lease Sale 261). This ROD identifies the selected alternative for GOM Lease Sale 261, which is analyzed in the Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales 259 and 261: Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (GOM Lease Sales 259 and 261 Supplemental EIS).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 164 (Friday, August 25, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 164 (Friday, August 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58310-58311]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18345]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
[Docket No. BOEM-2023-0045]
Gulf of Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf, Oil and Gas Lease Sale
261
AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability of a record of decision.
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SUMMARY: BOEM announces the availability of the Record of Decision
(ROD) for Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and
Gas Lease Sale 261 (GOM Lease Sale 261). This ROD identifies the
selected alternative for GOM Lease Sale 261, which is analyzed in the
Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales 259 and 261: Final
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (GOM Lease Sales 259 and
261 Supplemental EIS).
ADDRESSES: The ROD and associated information are available on BOEM's
website at <a href="https://www.boem.gov/oil-gas-energy/leasing/lease-sale-261">https://www.boem.gov/oil-gas-energy/leasing/lease-sale-261</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Helen Rucker, Supervisor,
Environmental Assessment Section Unit 1, Office of Environment, BOEM
New Orleans Office, by telephone at 504-736-2421, or by email at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9af2fff6fff4b4e8eff9f1ffe8daf8f5fff7b4fdf5ec"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="80e8e5ece5eeaef2f5e3ebe5f2c0e2efe5edaee7eff6">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BOEM must hold GOM Lease Sale 261 on or
before September 30, 2023, pursuant to section 50264(e) of the
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA, Pub. L. 117-169), which was
signed into law on August 16, 2022. However, the IRA does not affect
BOEM's discretion regarding other aspects of its normal leasing
process, including decisions regarding the scope of the lease sale and
the terms of the resulting leases. GOM Lease Sale 261 will provide
qualified bidders the opportunity to bid on unleased blocks in the Gulf
of Mexico OCS in order to explore for, develop, and produce oil and
natural gas. BOEM evaluated five alternatives in the GOM Lease Sales
259 and 261 Supplemental EIS, which BOEM completed as part of its
normal leasing process to inform the decision-maker on possible lease
sale impacts, mitigations, and other action alternatives.
The ROD for Lease Sale 261 is the second ROD that relies on the
analysis in the GOM Lease Sales 259 and 261 Supplemental EIS. BOEM
reviewed new and relevant information since the GOM Lease Sales 259 and
261 Supplemental EIS was issued and verified that the GOM Lease Sales
259 and 261 Supplemental EIS adequately addresses the potential
environmental effects of the proposed lease sale. There are no new
circumstances, information, or changes in the proposed lease sale or
its potential impacts that require supplementation of the GOM Lease
Sales 259 and 261 Supplemental EIS.
After careful consideration, the U.S. Department of the Interior
(Interior) decided to offer for lease a subset of the OCS blocks
analyzed as Alternative D in the GOM Lease Sales 259 and 261
Supplemental EIS.
Therefore, BOEM will hold GOM Lease Sale 261 as a GOM regionwide
lease sale encompassing all three planning areas, i.e., the Western
Planning Area, Central Planning Area, and a small portion of the
Eastern Planning Area, with the following exclusions: (1) whole and
portions of blocks made unavailable for leasing by Presidential
withdrawal in the September 8, 2020, Memorandum on the Withdrawal of
Certain Areas of the United States Outer Continental Shelf from Leasing
Disposition; (2) blocks that are adjacent to or beyond the United
States Exclusive Economic Zone in the area known as the northern
portion of the Eastern Gap; (3) whole and partial blocks within the
boundary of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary as of the
July 14, 2008, Memorandum on Modification of the Withdrawal of Areas of
the United States Outer Continental Shelf from Leasing Disposition; (4)
whole and partial blocks that were previously subject to the
Topographic Features Stipulation; (5) whole and partial blocks that
were previously subject to the Live Bottom (Pinnacle Trend)
Stipulation; (6) whole and partial blocks that were previously subject
to the Blocks South of Baldwin County, Alabama, Stipulation; (7) whole
blocks that contain banks that are adjacent to blocks previously
included in the Topographic Features Stipulation (currently Garden
Banks 181); (8) whole and partial blocks identified as either Wind
Energy Area Options (Areas A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, L, and N) or
final Wind Energy Areas (Areas I and M); \1\ (9) depth-restricted,
segregated block portions (Block 299, Main Pass Area, South and East
Addition); (10) whole and partial BOEM-designated Significant Sediment
Resource Area blocks; and (11) whole and partial blocks between the
100-meter and 400-meter isobaths across the northern GOM on the OCS,
eastward from the Mexican border with Texas and westward from the
eastern edge of the Central Planning Area.
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\1\ <a href="https://www.boem.gov/sites/default/files/documents//Draft%20Area%20ID%20Memo%20GOM%20508.pdf">https://www.boem.gov/sites/default/files/documents//Draft%20Area%20ID%20Memo%20GOM%20508.pdf</a>.
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The excluded blocks are identified by their block number in the
Final Notice of Sale for GOM Lease Sale 261. The lease sale area
encompasses approximately 12,395 OCS blocks covering approximately 67.3
million acres. The unleased OCS blocks that BOEM will offer for lease
are listed in the document entitled ``Lease Sale Area,'' which is
included in the Final Notice of Sale package for GOM Lease Sale 261
available on BOEM's website. See ADDRESSES caption above.
As part of the decision to hold GOM Lease Sale 261, BOEM adopted
all practicable means to avoid or minimize environmental harm at the
lease sale stage. In addition, any subsequent post-lease activities
(e.g., exploration and development plans), which may be expected as a
result of GOM Lease Sale 261, will undergo additional environmental
review and may include additional project-specific mitigation measures
applied as conditions of individual plan approvals. The various
mitigation measures adopted for the lease sale, and those that may be
applied during post-lease reviews, are summarized below.
Lease Stipulations--Because the OCS blocks that otherwise were
previously subject to the Topographic Features Stipulation; Live Bottom
(Pinnacle Trend) Stipulation; and Blocks South of Baldwin County,
Alabama, Stipulation have all been removed from leasing under the
chosen alternative, these stipulations will not be applied to any
leases issued as a result of GOM Lease Sale 261. Eight lease
stipulations have been adopted as lease terms where applicable, and
they will be enforceable as part of the leases issued. The GOM Lease
Sale 259 and 261 Supplemental EIS describes these lease stipulations,
which are included in the Final Notice of Sale Package. These lease
stipulations include the following: Military Areas; Evacuation;
Coordination; Protected Species; United Nations Convention on the Law
of the Sea Royalty Payment; Agreement between the United States of
[[Page 58311]]
America and the United Mexican States Concerning Transboundary
Hydrocarbon Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico; Restrictions Due to
Rights-of-Use and Easements for Floating Production Facilities; and
Royalties on All Produced Gas. The Final Notice of Sale package
includes a document describing these stipulations in detail. See
ADDRESSES caption above.
Post-Lease Measures--Appendix B of the Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and
Gas Lease Sales: 2017-2022; Gulf of Mexico Lease Sales 249, 250, 251,
252, 253, 254, 256, 257, 259, and 261--Final Multisale Environmental
Impact Statement provides a list and description of standard post-lease
conditions of approval that BOEM or the Bureau of Safety and
Environmental Enforcement may require as a result of their plan and
permit reviews for oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico OCS
region.
The decision to hold GOM Lease Sale 261 meets the purpose of and
need for the proposed action, as identified in the GOM Lease Sales 259
and 261 Supplemental EIS, and provides for orderly resource development
with protection of human, marine, and coastal environments while also
ensuring that the public receives a fair market value for these
resources and that free-market competition is maintained.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (National Environmental Policy
Act) and 40 CFR parts 1505 and 1506.
Elizabeth A. Klein,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[FR Doc. 2023-18345 Filed 8-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4340-98-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on August 25, 2023.
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