Outer Continental Shelf operations: Alaska OCS Region, Beaufort Sea— Oil and gas lease sales,

[Federal Register: September 7, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 172)]

[Notices]

[Page 48666-48670]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr07se99-95]

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

Outer Continental Shelf, Alaska OCS Region, Beaufort Sea, Oil and Gas Lease Sale 176

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.

ACTION: Call for Information and Nominations.

In accordance with the Final Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program 1997 to 2002, the Minerals Management Service (MMS), Alaska OCS Region, is proceeding with the Call for Information and Nominations (Call) for Beaufort Sea Sale 176.

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Purpose of Call

The purpose of the Call is to gather information for proposed OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sale 176. This proposed sale, located in the Beaufort Sea Planning Area, is tentatively scheduled for early 2002. The Call marks the beginning of the decision process for this sale. Sale 176, if held, will be the eighth oil and gas lease sale in the Beaufort Sea Planning Area. The terms of the stipulations and Information to Lessees clauses used for the most recent sale, Sale 170 (August 5, 1998), will be used as a starting point in the planning process for Sale 176.

Comments, information and nominations are sought from all interested parties. This early planning and consultation step is important for ensuring that all interests and concerns are communicated to the Department of the Interior for future decisions in the formulation of this proposal and the leasing process in general. We are seeking information from you on how we should design the area to offer. The MMS is directing its focus on resolving issues early in the planning process by working with stakeholders individually and collectively, beginning with publication of the Call.

As a part of that effort, MMS intends to carry forward the cooperative relationship established for Sale 170 through the Alaska Offshore Advisory Committee. Committee membership for Sale 170 consisted of representatives of the State of Alaska, North Slope Borough, Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, North Slope Villages, the oil and gas industry, and the environmental community. It is expected that each of these stakeholders will again be represented on the Committee for Sale 176.

Description of Area

The area of this Call, located offshore the State of Alaska in the Beaufort Sea Planning Area as identified on the attached map, extends offshore from about 3 to approximately 60 nautical miles, in water depths from approximately 25 feet to 200 feet. A small portion of the outer limits of the sale area north of Harrison Bay drops to approximately 3,000 feet. The area available for nominations and comments consists of approximately 1,898 whole and partial blocks (about 9.9 million acres). A large scale map of the Beaufort Sea Planning Area (hereinafter referred to as the Call map) showing boundaries of the area on a block-by-block basis is available by written request to the Attention of the Records Manager at the address given below, or by telephone request at (907) 271-6621. Copies of Official Protraction Diagrams (OPDs) are also available for $2 each.

Alaska OSC Region, Minerals Management Service, 949 East 36th Avenue, Room 308, Anchorage, Alaska, 99508-4302, http://www.mms.gov/alaska

Environmental Information

The MMS has acquired a substantial amount of information, including that gained through the use of traditional knowledge, on the issues and concerns related to oil and gas leasing in the Beaufort Sea.

An extensive environmental, social, and economic studies program has been underway in this area since 1975. The emphasis has been on geologic mapping, environmental characterization of biologically sensitive habitats, endangered whales and marine mammals, physical oceanography, ocean-circulation modeling, and ecological and sociocultural effects of oil and gas activities.

Information on the studies program, completed studies, and a program status report for continuing studies in this area may be obtained from the Chief, Environmental Studies Section, Alaska OCS Region, by telephone request at (907) 271-6577, or by written request at the address stated under Description of Area. A request may also be made via the Alaska Region website at www.mms.gov/alaska/ref/pubindex/ pubsindex.htm.

Instructions on Call

If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments by any one of several methods. You may mail comments to Alaska OCS Region, Minerals Management Service, 949 East 36th Avenue, Room 308, Anchorage, Alaska 99508-4302. You may also comment via the Internet to http:// www.mms.gov/alaska. Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII file avoiding the use of special characters and any form of encryption. Please also include ``Attn: [RIN number (if applicable)] and your name and return address in you Internet message. If you do not receive a confirmation from the system that we have received your Internet message, contact us directly at (907) 271-6621. Finally, you may hand- deliver comments to Alaska OCS Region, Minerals Management Service, 949 East 36th Avenue, Room 308, Anchorage, Alaska 99508-4302. Our practice is to make comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular business, hours. Individual respondents may request that we withholding their home address from the rulemaking record, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in which we would withhold from the rulemaking record a respondent's identity, as allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comment. However, we will not consider anonymous comments. We will make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.

The MMS is requesting comments from all interested parties on all aspects of the Sale 176 proposal including comments on:

Geology Environment Biological resources Archaeological resources Social and economic conditions Potential conflicts

or other information that might bear upon potential leasing and development in the Call area.

  1. Oil and Gas Interest Areas

    Specific nominations are being sought regarding the oil and gas industry area(s) of interest. The MMS is soliciting nominations of blocks that are of significant industry interest for exploration and development. Nominations should focus only on those blocks of significant interest, thereby eliminating early in the process those blocks of low interest where there may be high environmental, subsistence or other resource values.

    Nominations must be depicted on the Call map by outlining the area(s) of interest along block lines. Nominators are asked to submit a list of whole and partial blocks nominated (by OPD and block number) to facilitate correct interpretation of their nominations on the Call map. Although the identities of those submitting nominations become a matter of public record, the individual nominations are proprietary information.

    Nominators also are requested to rank blocks nominated according to priority of interest (e.g., priority 1 (high), or 2 (medium). Blocks nominated that do not indicate priorities will be considered priority 3 (low). Nominators must be specific in indicating blocks by priority and be prepared to discuss their range of interest and activity regarding the nominated area(s). The telephone

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    number and name of a person to contact in the nominator's organization for additional information should be included in the response. This person will be contacted to set up a mutually agreeable time and place for a meeting with the Alaska OCS Regional Office to present their views regarding the company's nominations.

    The MMS is particularly interested in industry views on tailoring the area being offered to include only those blocks close to existing of foreseeable infrastructure. A discussion of the merits or demerits of this approach will assist MMS in developing a proposal that would promote the development of smaller fields in the area of existing infrastructure while preserving opportunities for industry to explore for reasonably developable prospects. Areas not near existing infrastructure, but within the Call area, should be included in nominations if there is compelling evidence that a field of sufficient size to warrant a stand-along operation may exist.

  2. Timing of the Sale Process

    The following is a tentative schedule, allowing for a sale date of early 2002. Approximate dates for actions, decisions and consultation points are:

    Milestones

    Dates

    Comments Due on the Call.................. Oct. 1999. Area Identification and Notice of Intent Dec. 1999. to Prepare an EIS. Scoping Meetings.......................... Jan. 2000. Draft EIS filedwith EPA.................. Oct. 2000. Hearings on Draft EIS Held................ Nov. 2000. Comments Due on Draft EIS................. Jan. 2001. Consistency Determination................. July 2001. Final EIS Filedwith EPA and Proposed July 2001. Notice of Sale available. Governor's Comments Due on Proposed Notice Sept. 2001. of Sale. Final Notice of Sale Published............ Nov. 2001. Sale...................................... Jan. 2002.

  3. Relation to Coastal Management Plans

    Comments also are sought on potential conflicts with approved local coastal management plans (CMP) that may result from the proposed sale and future OCS oil and gas activities. These comments should identify specific CMP policies of concern, the nature of the conflicts foreseen, and steps that MMS could take to avoid or mitigate the potential conflicts. Comments may be in terms of broad areas or restricted to particular blocks of concern. Commenters are requested to list block numbers or outline the subject area on the large-scale Call map.

  4. The General Process

    Suggestions on ways that may improve the planning and decision process for oil and gas lease sales in general are encouraged. These comments need not be restricted to the individual sale process. Comments on the entire process, including formulation of the 5-year program, the environmental analysis, and the conduct of the sales, will be useful to MMS in our ongoing effort to improve the process.

    Response Date

    Nominations and comments must be received no later than 45 days following publication of this document in the Federal Register in envelopes labeled ``Nominations for Proposed Beaufort Sea Lease Sale 176,'' or ``Comments on the Call for Information and Nominations for Proposed Beaufort Sea Lease Sale 176,'' as appropriate. The original Call map with indications of interest and/or comments must be submitted to the Regional Supervisor, Leasing and Environment, Alaska OCS Region, Minerals Management Service, 949 East 36th Avenue, Room 308, Anchorage, Alaska, 99508-4302.

    Use of Information From Call

    Information submitted in response to this Call will be used for several purposes. Responses will be used to:

    Help identify areas of potential oil and gas development Identify environmental effects and potential gas conflicts Assist in the scoping process for the EIS Develop possible alternatives to the proposed action Develop lease terms and conditions/mitigating measures Identity potential conflicts between oil and gas activities and the Alaska CMP

    This Call does indicate a decision to lease. If a decision is made to go forward with an oil and gas lease sale, the final delineation of the area for possible leasing and the terms and conditions of the sale will be made at a later date. Decisions will be made in compliance with all applicable laws including requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), as amended, and with established departmental procedures.

    Dated; August 30, 1999. W.C. Rosenbusch, Director, Minerals Management Service.

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    [FR Doc. 99-23124Filed9-3-99; 8:45 am]

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