The MMS has
initiated the first step for a potential lease sale offshore Virginia. The sale will be held no earlier than 2011. The MMS has published
a Call for Information and Interest/Nominations and Notice of Intent to
Prepare an EIS (Call/NOI) for Lease Sale 220 in the
Federal Register on November 13, 2008. The area covered by the
Call/NOI is about 2.9 million acres offshore Virginia in the Mid-Atlantic Planning Area,
and is at least 50 miles offshore.
The MMS estimates that this area may contain 130 million barrels of
oil and 1.14 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
This Call/NOI is
the first step in the information gathering, evaluation, and public
participation process. Lease Sale 220 offshore Virginia is scheduled for
2011 under the current Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leasing Program
2007-2012. The area was included in the 5-Year plan at the
request of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Comments are sought from all interested parties about particular
environmental, biological, archaeological, socioeconomic, and geological
(including natural hazard areas) conditions or potential conflicts, or
other information that might bear upon the potential leasing,
exploration, and development of the program area and vicinity. Comments are also sought on possible conflicts between future OCS oil
and gas activities that may result from the proposed sale and the
enforceable policies of an approved state coastal management plan.
Comments on the
call are due by January 13, 2008 (extended from December 29, 2008) to:
Minerals
Management Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Attention: Mr. Carrol Williams
1201 Elmwood Park
Boulevard Mail Stop 5422 New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394 |
Comments on the NOI are due by
January 13, 2008 (extended from December 29, 2008) to:
Minerals
Management Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Attention: Mr. Gary
Goeke 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard New Orleans, LA 70123-2394 |
You may
also submit comments via e-mail.
The MMS is sponsoring a
workshop
on the environmental research needs in support of potential Virginia
offshore oil and gas activities to be held December 3-4, 2008, in
Williamsburg, Virginia. The focus of the workshop will be on the
existing scientific knowledge base along the Virginia Coast and the
information gaps that need to be addressed should a lease sale for oil
and gas activities be held offshore Virginia.
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Last Updated:
12/29/2008,
10:21 AM