Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Alaska OCS Region, Beaufort Sea Oil and Gas Lease Sale 195, March 2005

Riepilogo

The Secretary's approved 5-Year OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2002-2007 provides for 3 sales: Sales 186, 195, and 202 to be held in the Beaufort Sea program area. The pre-sale process incorporated planning and analysis for all three sales. From the initial step in the process (the call for information and nominations (call)) through the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/ Consistency Determination (CD) step, the process covered the multiple sale proposals. However, there will be complete National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), OCS Lands Act, and Coastal Zone Management Act coverage for each sale, and each sale will be preceded by a proposed and final notice of sale. The environmental analysis and the CD for Sale 195 will focus primarily on new issues and/or changes in the State's federally-approved coastal management plan. The call and NOI to prepare an EIS for Sales 186, 195, and 202 was published in the Federal Register on September 19, 2001, at 66 FR 48268. The Beaufort Sea final EIS for Sales 186, 195, and 202 was released in February 2003 (OCS EIS/EA, MMS 2003-001). The first sale, Sale 186, was held on September 24, 2003. The MMS is now initiating a request fo