>
> Proposed Western Planning Area Lease Sales 229, 233, 238, 246, and 248 and
> Proposed Central Planning Area Lease Sales 227, 231, 235, 241, and 247
>
> The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announces the availability of the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for 10 proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas lease sales in the Western Planning Area (WPA) and Central Planning Area (CPA) of the Gulf of Mexico. These proposed lease sales are scheduled for 2012-2017 in the proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program: 2012-2017. The BOEM is proposing to offer for oil and gas leasing approximately 21.2 million acres in the WPA, excluding whole and partial blocks within the boundary of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and whole and partial blocks that lie within the former Western Gap and are within 1.4 nautical miles north of the continental shelf boundary between the U.S. and Mexico. The BOEM is also proposing to offer for oil and gas leasing approximately 38.6 million acres in the CPA, excluding blocks that were previously included within the Eastern Planning Area and are within 100 miles (161 kilometers) of the Florida coast blocks east of the Military Mission line (86 degrees, 41 minutes West longitude) under an existing moratorium until 2022, as a result of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (December 20, 2006) blocks that are beyond the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone in the area known as the northern portion of the Eastern Gap and whole and partial blocks that lie within the former Western Gap and are within 1.4 nautical miles north of the continental shelf boundary between the U.S. and Mexico.
>
The BOEM published in the February 9, 2011, Federal Register, a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an EIS. The NOI sought input on the scope of the EIS, which covered oil and gas lease sales tentatively scheduled in 2012-2017 in the WPA and CPA offshore the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The BOEM published in the December 30, 2011, Federal Register, a NOA of a Draft EIS for five proposed annual areawide lease sales scheduled for the WPA and five proposed annual areawide lease sales scheduled for the CPA. The proposed WPA lease sales are Lease Sale 229 in 2012, Lease Sale 233 in 2013, Lease Sale 238 in 2014, Lease Sale 246 in 2015, and Lease Sale 248 in 2016 the proposed CPA lease sales are Lease Sale 227 in 2013, Lease Sale 231 in 2014, Lease Sale 235 in 2015, Lease Sale 241 in 2016, and Lease Sale 247 in 2017. This Draft Multisale EIS also analyzes relevant new information regarding the Deepwater Horizon event.
>
The BOEM will hold public meetings to obtain comments regarding the Draft Multisale EIS. The meetings are scheduled as follows:

> • Houston, Texas: January 10, 2012, Houston Airport Marriott at George Bush Intercontinental, 18700 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77032, beginning at 1:00 p.m. CDT

> • New Orleans, Louisiana: January 11, 2012, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123, beginning at 1:00 p.m. CDT and

> • Mobile, Alabama: January 12, 2012, Five Rivers—Alabama’s Delta Resource Center, 30945 Five Rivers Boulevard, Spanish Fort, Alabama, beginning at 1:00 p.m. CST.
>
Federal, State, and local government agencies and other interested parties are requested to send their comments on the Draft Multisale EIS no later than February 15, 2012, in one of the following two ways:

> 1. In an envelope labeled “Comments on the Multisale Draft EIS” to Mr. Gary D. Goeke, Chief, Regional Assessment Section, Office of Environment (MS 5410), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394 and

> 2. BOEM email address: MultisaleEIS@BOEM.gov.

> Because this Draft Multisale EIS is over 2,000 pages, BOEM will be distributing a very limited number of paper copies. In keeping with the Department of the Interior’s mission of protection of natural resources, and to limit costs while ensuring availability of the document to the public, BOEM will primarily distribute digital copies of the EIS on compact discs. However, if you require a paper copy, BOEM will provide one upon request.

> 1. You may obtain a copy of this Draft Multisale EIS (either on CD-ROM or a printed version) from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394, Attention: Public Information Office (MS 5034), 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, Room 250, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394 (1 800-200-GULF).

> 2. You may download or view the Draft Multisale EIS on > BOEM’s website at > http://www.boem.gov/Environmental-Stewardship/Environmental-Assessment/NEPA/nepaprocess.aspx.

> If you have any questions, please call Mr. Gary D. Goeke at (504) 736-3233.
Special thanks to Richard Charter

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/01/02

Published on Monday, January 2, 2012 by The Hill (Washington, DC)
by Andrew Restuccia

With President Obama’s decision on the Keystone XL pipeline looming, the White House and Republicans will spend the next several weeks trying to win the messaging war over the controversial project.

The stakes are high for both sides. Obama risks backlash from key union supporters if he rejects the project, but faces the ire of environmental groups if he approves it. [ Will Wysong)] By arguing that the GOP-backed measure will force the administration to reject Keystone on a technicality, the White House can avoid having to weigh in on the substantive issues raised by the pipeline — including whether it will boost the economy or harm the environment. (photo: Will Wysong)

Republicans, meanwhile, stand to score a political victory if Obama green lights the pipeline. But their successful effort to force a decision could backfire if the president rejects the pipeline and pins blame on the GOP for rushing the review.

TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline would carry oil sands crude from Alberta, Canada, to refineries along the Gulf coast. The proposed project, which has been under federal review for years, has set off a firestorm in Washington, with supporters arguing the pipeline will boost the ailing economy and opponents raising concerns about oil spills and greenhouse gas emissions from oil-sands production.

Both sides are mobilizing to win the messaging war. White House and Obama administration officials have said they will have little choice but to reject the pipeline under the 60-day timeline that was outlined in the payroll tax package that passed in December.

By arguing that the GOP-backed measure will force the administration to reject Keystone on a technicality, the White House can avoid having to weigh in on the substantive issues raised by the pipeline — including whether it will boost the economy or harm the environment.

Obama sought in November to delay a final verdict on the pipeline by calling for review of alternative routes around the environmentally sensitive Sand Hills region of Nebraska. The move delayed a decision on the project until 2013 to give the administration time to conduct additional review of the new route.

The State Department, which is leading a multi-agency review of the proposed pipeline, has said the administration will have no choice but to reject Keystone because the expedited timeline pushed by Republicans will not leave enough time to conduct the review.

Other administration and White House officials have echoed that line. White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said earlier this month on Twitter that the GOP-backed Keystone provision “simply shortens the review process in a way that virtually guarantees that the pipeline will NOT be approved.”

Environmental groups echoed the administration’s comments this week, arguing that Republicans have sealed Keystone’s demise.

“The president is going to have no choice but to reject the pipeline,” said Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, director of international programs at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “I don’t see any wiggle room.”

Proponents of the project are pushing back. Marty Durbin, a lobbyist at the American Petroleum Institute, said the measure in the tax package allows for rerouting the pipeline around the environmentally sensitive Sand Hills region of Nebraska, a requirement the Obama administration has said is essential for approval of the project.

“It gives them the time they need, however much time they need, to review what’s going on in Nebraska,” Durbin said.

Under the Keystone measure, if Obama approves the pipeline, the final permit must require the rerouting, along with necessary review of the new route by the state of Nebraska. But it specifically bars additional federal environmental review of the project, as the State Department has proposed.

Supporters of the pipeline are upping the pressure on Obama to quickly approve the project, arguing there will be political consequences if he rejects it.

“In our view it’s a slam dunk decision because it benefits the country in terms of jobs and national security,” Durbin said. “I think there will be a potential backlash if he rejects the project.”

Matt Letourneau, spokesman for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, said Obama needs to make a decision on the merits.

“Right now, the issue in front of the president is whether the pipeline is in the national interest or not, and that’s where we think the discussion should be,” Letourneau said. “Using some other issue as a reason to avoid making that decision, to us, is not sound policy.”