|
The
NewsRoom
Release: #3435
Date: December 30, 2005
MMS Seeks Comments on
Alternate Energy-Related Uses on the OCS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In an Advance Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking published today in the Federal Register,
the Minerals Management Service (MMS) requests comments on the
development of a regulatory program to implement
Section 388 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005
(50 KB PDF file) – Alternate
Energy-Related Uses on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).
Enacted August 8, 2005, the
Energy Policy Act
(2.525 KB PDF file) amended section 8 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA)
(43 U.S.C. 1337) to authorize the Department of the Interior to
grant leases, easements or rights-of-way on the OCS for the
development and support of energy resources from sources other than
oil and gas and to allow for alternate uses of existing facilities
on the OCS. The Act also directed DOI, specifically MMS, to develop
by mid-2006, a comprehensive program and regulations to implement
the new authority.
Today’s ANPR is the first step in the development
of this regulatory program. Objectives of the new regulatory program
are to provide access to the OCS in a way that balances competing
and complementary uses of offshore acreage; ensures consultation
with affected states and local governments; takes into account the
evolving nature of the energy industry; and provides a fair return
to the United States for access to the OCS.
MMS is requesting comments on the following five
major areas integral to the development of the new
Alternate Energy-Related Uses program:
 |
Access to OCS lands and resources |
|
|
Environmental information, management, and
compliance |
|
|
Operational activities |
|
|
Payments and revenues |
|
|
Coordination and consultation |
There is a 60 day comment period ending February
28, 2006. Comments may be submitted electronically through MMS’s
online commenting system, Public Connect, or through the
federal eRulemaking portal.
Specific directions for submission of comments as well as
alternative means of submission are detailed in the
ANPR
--Alternate Energy-Related Uses on the Outer Continental Shelf –
1010-AD30.
(4 pages)
MMS, an agency of the U.S. Department of the
Interior, manages offshore oil and gas exploration as well as
renewable and alternative energy sources such as wind, wave, and
solar on 1.76 billion acres of the OCS while protecting the human,
marine, and coastal environments. The OCS provides 30 percent of oil
and 21 percent of natural gas produced domestically, and sand used
for coastal restoration. MMS collects, accounts for, and disburses
mineral revenues from Federal and American Indian lands, and
contributes to the Land and Water Conservation Fund and other
special use funds, with Fiscal Year 2005 disbursements of
approximately $9.9 billion and more than $153 billion since 1982.
Relevant Web Site:
MMS Main Website
Media Contact:
Gary Strasburg (202)
208-3985
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for
America
U.S. Department of the Interior
Privacy |
Disclaimers |
Accessibility |
Topic Index | FOIA
|