The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has published its Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Cook Inlet Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sale 244. After the public hearings and written comments on the Draft EIS have been reviewed and considered, a Final EIS will be prepared.
The proposed action addressed in this Draft EIS is to conduct an oil and gas lease sale on portions of the Cook Inlet Outer Continental Shelf Planning Area. Lease Sale 244 would provide qualified bidders the opportunity to bid on OCS blocks in Cook Inlet to gain conditional rights to explore, develop, and produce oil and natural gas.
The Draft EIS analyzes the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts of the proposed lease sale on the physical, biological, and human environments in the Cook Inlet area. The EIS describes a hypothetical scenario of exploration, development, production, and decommissioning activities that could result from the proposed lease sale, and analyzes the potential impacts of those activities on the environment.
Comment details, public hearing dates, and additional information are here.
