The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has announced the availability of a draft supplemental environmental impact statement for the remaining proposed Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas lease sales in the Western Planning Area (WPA) of the Gulf of Mexico. Proposed WPA Lease Sales 246 and 248 are tentatively scheduled to be held in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
As part of its Proposed Final Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas Leasing Program: 2012-2017, BOEM proposes to offer for oil and gas leasing approximately 21 million acres in the WPA, with the exception of whole and partial blocks within the boundary of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.
As part of the process, meetings will be held to solicit public input on the Draft SEIS. One will be held Thursday, September 25, 2014, at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regional Office, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70123, beginning at 1:00 p.m. CDT.
Written comments no later than October 22, 2014, via email to wpa246@boem.gov, or mailed or hand delivered in an envelope labeled “Comments on the WPA 246 and 248 Draft Supplemental EIS” to Mr. Gary D. Goeke, Chief, Environmental Assessment Section, Office of Environment (GM 623E), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394.
Written comments may also be submitted via the regulations.gov web portal. Navigate to http://www.regulations.gov and search for “Oil and Gas Lease Sales: Gulf of Mexico, Outer Continental Shelf; Western Planning Area Lease Sales 246 and 248”. (Note: It is important to include the quotation marks in your search terms.) Click on the “Comment Now!” button to the right of the document link. Enter your information and comment; then click “Submit”.
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