Chukchi Sea Planning Area Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193 and Seismic Surveying Activities in the Chukchi Sea

Resumo

The purpose of the proposed Federal action addressed in this DEIS (OCS EIS/EA MMS 2006-060) is to offer for lease areas in the Chukchi Sea Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) that might contain economically recoverable oil and gas resources. This lease sale would provide qualified bidders the opportunity to bid on certain blocks in the Chukchi Sea OCS to gain conditional rights to explore, develop, and produce oil and natural gas. This DEIS is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis to enable the Minerals Management Service (MMS) to make informed decisions on the configuration of the lease sale and the applicable mitigation measures. In the DEIS, the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts of the sale, including estimated exploration and development and production activities related to the sale, on the physical, biological, and human environments in the Chukchi Sea area are analyzed. The DEIS also provides NEPA evaluation for exploration activities in the Chukchi Sea, including seismic survey geophysical permitting (30 CFR 251), ancillary activities (30 CFR 250.207), and exploration plans (30 CFR 250.214). In addition, the DEIS will provide NEPA doc