U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Office of Public Affairs

SPECIAL INFORMATION

Notice of Availability of the Environmental Assessment for
Proposed Western Planning Area Lease Sale 192

(OCS EIS/EA MMS 2004-007)

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) for proposed Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Western Planning Area (WPA) Lease Sale 192.  Proposed WPA Lease Sale 192 is the third WPA lease sale scheduled in the OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program:  2002-2007 (5-Year Program).  In this EA, MMS reexamined the potential environmental effects of the proposed action and its alternatives.  This reexamination was based on any new information regarding potential impacts and issues that were not available at the time the Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2003-2007, Central Planning Area Sales 185, 190, 194, 198, and 201, and Western Planning Area Sales 187, 192, 196, and 200, Final Environmental Impact Statement, Volumes I and II (multisale EIS) was completed in November 2002.  This EA is tiered from the multisale EIS.

The multisale EIS analyzed the effects of a typical WPA lease sale by presenting a set of ranges for resource estimates, project exploration and development activities, and impact-producing factors for any of the proposed WPA lease sales.  The level of activities projected for proposed Lease Sale 192 falls within these ranges.  No new significant impacts were identified for proposed Lease Sale 192 that were not already assessed in the multisale EIS.  As a result, MMS determined that a supplemental EIS was not required and prepared a Finding of No New Significant Impact.

To obtain a copy of this EA, you may contact the Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, Attention:  Public Information Office (MS 5034), 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, Room 114, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394 (1-800-200-GULF).  You may also view this EA on the MMS website at http://www.gomr.mms.gov.

The Minerals Management Service is the federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the nation’s oil, natural gas, and other mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf in Federal offshore waters.  The agency also collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral revenues from Federal and American Indian lands.  MMS disbursed more than $8 billion in FY 2003 and more than $135 billion since the agency was created in 1982.  Nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund annually for the acquisition and development of state and Federal park and recreation lands.