[Federal Register: June 21, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 120)]
[Notices]
[Page 33268-33269]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21jn01-61]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) and Locations and Dates of Public Hearings for
Delineation Drilling Activities in Federal Waters Offshore Santa
Barbara County, CA
AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability of the draft EIS and announcement of
locations and dates of public hearings.
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SUMMARY: The MMS announces the availability of the draft EIS on
Delineation Drilling Activities in Federal Waters Offshore Santa
Barbara County, California. This draft EIS evaluates the potential
environmental impacts associated with drilling 4 or 5 separate Federal
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas delineation wells on existing
OCS leases located offshore southern California. Delineation is a type
of exploration drilling activity that involves drilling a well to
gather additional information about the nature and extent of the
hydrocarbon reservoirs in areas where a discovery has already been
made.
DATES: Comments on the draft EIS will be accepted until August 13,
2001.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions concerning the draft EIS
should be directed to Mr. Maurice Hill, Minerals Management Service,
Office of Environmental Evaluation, Pacific OCS Region, 770 Paseo
Camarillo, Camarillo, California 93010-6064. He may be reached by
telephone at (805) 389-7815.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of this document is to provide
information for Federal, State, and local agencies, and the public to
evaluate the effects of the proposed delineation
[[Page 33269]]
projects and the cumulative effects of past, present, and reasonably
foreseeable actions. The proposed action discussed in this draft EIS is
the sequential drilling of 4 or 5 delineation wells on four separate
OCS units using a semi-submersible drilling vessel, commonly referred
to as a mobile offshore drilling unit. A unit is a number of leases
grouped together to prevent waste, conserve natural resources, and
protect Federal royalty interests. Each of the four subject units has
been previously explored under Exploration Plans (EP) approved by the
MMS and found consistent with the California Coastal Management Plan by
the California Coastal Commission. Operators are expected to submit to
the MMS revisions to 4 to 5 existing EP's in September 2001. The
operators of these units, Nuevo Energy Company, Aera Energy LLC, and
Samedan Oil Corporation, propose to drill delineation wells to complete
their data on reservoir configuration and characteristics. It would
take 68 to 92 days to drill and test each well. The first well would
commence drilling in May 2002 and the last well in May 2003. The data
received from these wells would assist the operators in determining how
to develop and produce the oil and gas reserves underlying these and
possibly adjacent units.
The Notice of Intent to prepare this EIS (Federal Register, Vol.
65, No. 226, pages 70361-70362, November 22, 2000) referred to
``exploratory drilling activities.'' We have renamed the document to
more specifically reflect the fact that ``delineation drilling
activities'' are the focus of the draft EIS. As discussed above, and
defined in the Notice of Intent, delineation is a type of exploration
drilling activity that involves drilling a well to gather additional
information about the nature and extent of the hydrocarbon reservoirs
in areas where a discovery has already been made.
EIS Availability: The draft EIS is available on our web site at
www.mms.gov/omm/pacific. In addition, you may obtain single copies of
the draft EIS by writing the Minerals Management Service, Pacific OCS
Region, Attention: Delineation Drilling Activities Draft EIS, 770 Paseo
Camarillo, Camarillo, California 93010-6064, or by calling Janice Hall
at 1-800-672-2627. Please indicate whether you would like to receive a
paper copy of the draft EIS or a CD-ROM. To avoid excess printing and
mailing costs, we will not accept e-mail requests for hard copies or
CD-ROM's.
The draft EIS will also be available at the following California
libraries:
Camarillo Public Library, 3100 Ponderosa Drive, Camarillo;
Cambria Library, 900 Main Street, Cambria;
Carpinteria Public Library, 5141 Carpinteria Avenue, Carpinteria;
Goleta Public Library, 500 N. Fairview, Goleta;
Davidson Library, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa
Barbara;
Robert F. Kennedy Library, Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo;
Santa Barbara Central Public Library, 40 E. Anapamu, Santa Barbara;
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Library, 2559 Puesta Del Sol
Road, Santa Barbara;
U.S. National Park Service Library, Channel Islands National Park, 1901
Spinnaker Drive, Ventura;
Ventura College Library, 4667 Telephone Road, Ventura.
Public Hearings: The MMS will hold two public hearings to receive
comments on the draft EIS. The hearings present one of the
opportunities to provide us with information that will help in the
evaluation of the potential effects of the proposed action. The second
is direct mail or email comments on the document.
Hearings will be held in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria on the
following dates and times: July 10, 2001, 1-5 p.m. and 6-9 p.m., Fess
Parker Doubletree Hotel, 633 East Cabrillo Boulevard, Santa Barbara;
and July 12, 2001, 1-5 p.m. and 6-9 p.m., Ethel Pope Auditorium, 901 S.
Broadway Street Santa Maria.
If you wish to testify at a hearing, you may register at the
hearing site from noon to 8:30 p.m. Speakers will be limited to 3
minutes and will speak in the order of their registration. Elected
officials will be given preference.
Written statements submitted at a hearing will be considered part
of the hearing record. If you are unable to attend the hearing, or
prefer to provide written comments separately, you may submit your
comments until Monday, August 13, 2001, the closing date for public
comments. Send written comments to the Minerals Management Service,
Pacific OCS Region, Attention: Delineation Drilling Activities Draft
EIS, 770 Paseo Camarillo, Camarillo, California 93010-6064. Written
comments may be provided by e-mail to Delineation Drilling@mms.gov.
Please provide your name and address when commenting by mail or e-mail.
Dated: June 18, 2001.
Carolita U. Kallaur,
Associate Director for Offshore Minerals Management.
[FR Doc. 01-15639 Filed 6-20-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P