MMS Press Release -MMS Asks for Public Input on Beaufort Sea Oil and Gas Sale

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

FOR RELEASE:

Release # 3018

December 18, 2003

CONTACT:

Robin Lee Cacy
907-271-6070
1-800-764-2627
akwebmaster@mms.gov

Seeking public input on a proposed oil and gas lease sale in the Beaufort Sea in Alaska, the Minerals Management Service issued an official Request for Information this week. The MMS is looking for public comments on noteworthy items that may have come to light since it completed its multi-sale Environmental Impact Statement last February.

The multi-sale EIS covers three sales in the Beaufort Sea. The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lease Sale 195 is the second of the three sales scheduled in the MMS 5-year program for the Beaufort Sea area. The first sale, sale 186, was held in September 2003. Sale 195 is proposed for March 2005.

The Request for Information is the first step in a 15-month process. MMS will prepare an environmental assessment for the proposed sale to address any new information or concerns which may have developed since the multi-sale EIS was published. Upon its completion, MMS will release the environmental assessment for public comment in August 2004. A Proposed Notice of Sale, which outlines the proposed sale area, mitigating measures, and stipulations, is scheduled to be released in October 2004. A Final Notice of Sale, which outlines the final terms of the sale, will be released in February 2005

Copies of this Request are available from the Minerals Management Service, Alaska OCS Region, 949 East 36^th Avenue and on the internet.

Federal Register Notice of Beaufort Sea Request for Information (Note: This is a .pdf file.)

MMS 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 onshore and Indian leases. These revenues totaled nearly $6 billion in 2002 and nearly $127 billion since the agency was created in 1982. Annually, nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the acquisition and development of state and federal park and recreation lands.