Contact: Tracey Moriarty
703-787-1571
On January 4, 2018 the Department of Interior announced publication of a Draft Proposed Program (DPP) in support of the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (National OCS Program), as well as a Notice of Intent (NOI) to develop a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS).
In order to obtain public input for these two documents, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will be traveling to 23 cities to host a series of public meetings. The meetings will feature information stations hosted by BOEM experts, who will be available to discuss the National OCS Program and DPP, as well as potential environmental issues. In addition to information stations, attendees will be able to provide hand-written or electronic comments for BOEM's consideration.
BOEM has also launched a virtual meeting room on the BOEM website to allow those who are unable to attend a meeting access to the same information and a means to participate in the commenting process. Citizens can provide comments by visiting www.regulations.gov or www.boem.gov/comment.
The entire list of public meetings are available at boem.gov/National-Program-Participate and the virtual meeting room is available at boem.gov/virtual.
After considering information provided by the public, BOEM will prepare a Proposed Program, which will be published for a 90-day public comment period, to be followed by a Proposed Final Program (PFP).
BOEM will publish a draft PEIS for public comment concurrently with the Proposed Progam and a final PEIS concurrently with the PFP.
The draft PEIS and the final PEIS will examine the potential environmental impacts of the program options and alternatives and will be available to the Secretary of the Interior prior to him making decisions on Proposed Program and the Proposed Final Program.