Notice2023-21678
Notice of Availability of the 2024-2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
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
October 2, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentOcean Energy Management Bureau
Abstract
BOEM is announcing the availability of the Proposed Final Program (PFP) for the 2024-2029 National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program (2024-2029 Program, National OCS Program, or Program), as well as the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the 2024-2029 Program (Final Programmatic EIS).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 189 (Monday, October 2, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 189 (Monday, October 2, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67798-67800]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-21678]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Notice of Availability of the 2024-2029 National Outer
Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program and Final
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: BOEM is announcing the availability of the Proposed Final
Program (PFP) for the 2024-2029 National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)
Oil and Gas Leasing Program (2024-2029 Program, National OCS Program,
or Program), as well as the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement for the 2024-2029 Program (Final Programmatic EIS).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the 2024-2029
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 or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ca81afa6a6b3e482aba7a7afb8a6af8aa8a5afa7e4ada5bc"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="bcf7d9d0d0c592f4ddd1d1d9ced0d9fcded3d9d192dbd3ca">[email protected]</span></a>. For information on the 2024-2029 Final
Programmatic EIS, please contact Jennifer Bosyk, Chief, Branch of
Environmental Coordination, at (703) 787-1834 or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ffb59a919196999a8dd1bd908c8694bf9d909a92d1989089"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="39735c5757505f5c4b177b564a4052795b565c54175e564f">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BOEM is responsible for administering the
leasing program for oil and gas resources on the OCS and advising the
Secretary of the Interior on the National OCS Program. The PFP is the
last 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 2024-2029 National OCS Program. The three analytical phases
used to develop a new National OCS Program are the (1) Draft Proposed
Program (DPP); (2) Proposed Program; and (3) PFP.
The first proposal, the DPP, was published on July 3, 2017 (82 FR
30886), and was followed by a 60-day comment period. The second
proposal, the Proposed Program, was published
[[Page 67799]]
on January 8, 2018 (83 FR 829). A notice of availability announcing the
Proposed Program was published in the Federal Register on July 8, 2022,
initiating a 90-day public comment period (87 FR 40859). Following
publication of the Proposed Program, BOEM received more than 760,000
comments from interested parties including governors, Federal agencies,
State agencies, local agencies, energy and non-energy industries,
Tribal governments, non-governmental organizations, and the general
public (see Appendix A of the PFP 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, the
Secretary's final proposal, the PFP, includes three potential lease
sales in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Program Area (which contains the
Western GOM Planning Area and the portions of the Central and Eastern
GOM planning areas not currently under Presidential withdrawal--see
Figure 1). An option for a potential lease sale in the northern portion
of the Cook Inlet Planning Area was identified in the Proposed Program
and analyzed as part of the PFP. Based on careful consideration of
section 18 requirements and factors, no Cook Inlet sale is included in
the PFP.
In the PFP, the Secretary has decided to require that all leases
issued under the 2024-2029 Program will include, as lease stipulations,
programmatic mitigation measures to protect topographic features and
pinnacle trends. Applying these stipulations at the National OCS
Program development stage is consistent with current practice and
continues the effective protection of these biologically sensitive
areas, should they be offered in the three potential lease sales
scheduled under this PFP.
The schedule shown in Table 1 reflects the potential lease sales
for the 2024-2029 PFP. Figure 1 depicts the program area included in
the 2024-2029 PFP.
Table 1--2024-2029 Proposed Program Lease Sale Schedule
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Count Sale No. Year OCS region and program area
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1..................................... 262 2025 Gulf of Mexico: GOM Program Area.
2..................................... 263 2027 Gulf of Mexico: GOM Program Area.
3..................................... 264 2029 Gulf of Mexico: GOM Program Area.
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The Secretary's final proposal, as described in the PFP, is the
proposed action evaluated in the Final Programmatic EIS. BOEM has
elected to prepare the Programmatic EIS to help describe and analyze
the potential environmental impacts that could result from leasing,
exploration, production, and decommissioning associated with lease
sales under the National OCS Program for 2024-2029. The National
Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Park Service are
Cooperating Agencies on the Final Programmatic EIS.
Please go to <a href="https://www.boem.gov/oil-gas-energy/national-program/">https://www.boem.gov/oil-gas-energy/national-program/</a>
for additional information about the Final Programmatic EIS and the
National OCS Program for 2024-2029.
Next Steps in the Process: BOEM will submit the PFP and Final
Programmatic EIS to the President and Congress at least 60 days prior
to Secretarial approval of the 2024-2029 Program.
Authority: This Notice of Availability for the 2024-2029 PFP 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 2024-2029 Final Programmatic EIS is published
pursuant to the regulation (40 CFR 1506.20 and 43 CFR 46.415)
implementing the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act.
Elizabeth Klein,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P
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[FR Doc. 2023-21678 Filed 9-29-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-C
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