Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Central Planning Area, Oil and Gas Lease Sale 194 (2005)

Streszczenie

The MMS is beginning preparation of an environmental assessment (EA) for proposed Lease Sale 194 (scheduled for March 2005) in the Central Planning Area (CPA) of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The preparation of this EA is the first step in the decision process for Lease Sale 194. The proposal and alternatives for Lease Sale 194 were identified by the MMS Director in January 2002 following the Call for Information and Nominations/Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and were analyzed in the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Proposed Central Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales 185, 190, 194, 198, and 201, and Proposed Western Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales 187, 192, 196, and 200 (Final EIS). A CPA proposed action analyzed in the Final EIS was the offering of all available unleased acreage in the CPA. Three alternatives were analyzed: exclude blocks within 15 miles of Baldwin County, Alabama, coast; exclude blocks near biologically sensitive topographic features; and cancel the lease sale. The analysis in the EA will reexamine the potential environmental effects of the proposed action and its alternatives based on any new informatio