The NewsRoom
Release: #3557
Date: September 26, 2006

Minerals Management Service Announces Public Hearings on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for 2007-2012 OCS
Oil and Gas Leasing Program

19 meetings in 5 States Scheduled

WASHINGTON – The Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) will hold public hearings in September, October and November of 2006  to solicit comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Proposed 5-Year Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2007-2012.

Statements on the DEIS, both oral and written, will be recorded at the venues listed below. Speakers may register to testify at each hearing, or may pre-register in advance by notifying the respective hearing contacts listed below. Time limits may be set on oral testimony to allow time for all speakers to participate.

MMS released the proposed plan for the 2007-2012 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leasing program and the associated DEIS for comment on August 25, 2006. The DEIS is open for comment until November 22, 2006, and is available for review on the MMS website at: http://www.mms.gov/5-year/.

DATES LOCATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEARINGS:

Sept. 25, 2006    Unalaska City Council Chambers, Unalaska, Alaska, 6:30 p.m.
                         POC:  Mr. Albert Barros, (907) 334-5209.

Sept. 26, 2006    Cold Bay Community Center, Cold Bay, Alaska, 7:00 p.m.
                         POC:  Mr. Albert Barros, (907) 334-5209.

Sept. 27, 2006    Allan Nelson Community Building, Nelson Lagoon, Alaska, 4:30 p.m.
                         POC:  Mr. Albert Barros, (907) 334-5209.

Sept. 28, 2006    Centerpoint Building, 1^st Floor Conference Room, 3801
                         Centerpoint Drive, Anchorage, Alaska, 5:00 p.m.
                         POC: Mr. Fred King, (907) 334-5271.

Sept. 28, 2006    Sand Point City Council Chambers, Sand Point, Alaska, 7:00 p.m.
                         POC:  Mr. Albert Barros, (907) 334-5209.

Oct. 9, 2006       City of Goodnews Bay Council Chambers, Goodnews Bay, Alaska, 5:00 p.m.
                         Comments collected in a teleconference due to inclement weather.
                         POC:  Mr. Albert Barros, (907) 334-5209.

Oct. 10, 2006     Bristol Bay Borough Building, Naknek, Alaska, 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 11, 2006     Dillingham City Council Chambers, Dillingham, Alaska, 6:30 p.m.
                         POC:  Mr. Albert Barros, (907) 334-5209.

Oct. 30, 2006     Marriott Houston Intercontinental at George Bush Intercontinental Airport,
                         18700 John F. Kennedy Blvd., Houston, Texas, 1:00 p.m.
                         POC:  Mr. Dennis Chew, (504) 736-2793.

Oct. 31, 2006     Hampton Inn and Suites New Orleans-Elmwood, 5150 Mounes Street,
                         Harahan, Louisiana, 1:00 p.m.
                         POC:  Mr. Dennis Chew, (504) 736-2793.

Nov. 1, 2006       Riverview Plaza Hotel, 64 South Water Street, Mobile, Alabama, 1:00 p.m.
                         POC:  Mr. Dennis Chew, (504) 736-2793.

Nov. 8, 2006       Nuiqsut Community Center, Nuiqsut, Alaska, 7:00 p.m.
                         POC:  Mr. Albert Barros, (907) 334-5209.

Nov. 10, 2006     Kaktovik Community Center, Kaktovik, Alaska, 7:00 p.m.
                         POC:  Mr. Albert Barros, (907) 334-5209.

Nov. 13, 2006     Robert James Community Center, Wainwright, Alaska, 7:00 p.m.
                         POC:  Mr. Albert Barros, (907) 334-5209.

Nov. 14, 2006     Radisson Hotel, 700 Monticello Avenue, Norfolk, Virginia, 1:00 p.m.
                         POC:  Mr. Dennis Chew, (504) 736-2793.

Nov. 14, 2006     Point Lay Community Center, Point Lay, Alaska, 7:00 p.m.
                         POC:  Mr. Albert Barros, (907) 334-5209.

Nov. 15, 2006     Marriott Bay Point Resort, 4000 Marriott Drive, Panama City Beach, Florida, 1:00 p.m.
                         POC:  Mr. Dennis Chew, (504) 736-2793.

Nov. 15, 2006     Kalgi Center, Point Hope, Alaska, 7:00 p.m.
                         POC:  Mr. Albert Barros, (907) 334-5209.

Nov. 16, 2006     Inupiat Heritage Center, Barrow, Alaska, 7:00 p.m.
                         POC:  Mr. Albert Barros, (907) 334-5209.

The Proposed 5-Year Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2007-2012 includes a total of 21 OCS lease sales in seven of the 26 OCS planning areas – four areas off Alaska, two areas in the Gulf of Mexico, and one area in the Atlantic. Current presidential withdrawals or congressional moratoria have placed more than 85 percent of the OCS around the lower 48 states off limits to energy development, including all areas off Virginia. The proposed plan includes three sales in restricted areas – two in the North Aleutian Basin of Alaska in 2010 and 2012, and one in the Mid-Atlantic in 2011. These proposed lease sales would only be held if the President chooses to modify the withdrawal in both areas and Congress discontinues the annual appropriations moratorium in the Mid-Atlantic.

The proposed plan is the second draft of a new leasing plan to succeed the current program that expires on June 30, 2007. MMS is accepting comments on the proposed plan through November 24, 2006. The 2007-2012 OCS oil and gas leasing program will be the seventh prepared since Congress passed the OCS Lands Act in 1978, which requires the Secretary of the Interior to prepare and maintain five-year programs for offshore oil and natural gas leasing. The current leasing program runs through June 30, 2007. MMS plans to issue the proposed final program and final EIS for the 2007 – 2012 leasing plan in the spring of 2007. Information on both the DEIS and proposed leasing program as well as further information on how to provide written comments on both is available at: http://www.mms.gov/5-year/.

Relevant Web Site:
   MMS Main Website

Media Contact:
   Gary Strasburg  202-208-3985
   Nicolette Nye     703-787-1011

MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for America
U.S. Department of the Interior
 

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