Five-Year Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program
The Five-Year Program for oil and gas development establishes a schedule of oil and gas lease sales proposed for planning areas of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The Program specifies the size, timing, and location of potential leasing activity that the Secretary of the Interior determines will best meet national energy needs. Read More...
As required by the OCS Lands Act, a new Program—to cover the years 2017-2022—is under development.
The first step in the development process, a Request for Information (RFI), was published in the Federal Register on June 16, 2014, with a 45-day comment period that was extended by 15 days and closed on August 15, 2014.
The Draft Proposed Program (DPP) was the first proposal in the staged preparation process of the new Program. The DPP was published on January 29, 2015, with a 60-day comment period that closed on March 30, 2015.
On March 15, 2016, the second proposal, the Proposed Program (PP), was published with a 90-day comment period that closed on June 1, 2016.
On November 18, 2016, the final proposal, the Proposed Final Program (PFP), was published. The PFP schedules 11 potential lease sales in two program areas in all or parts of 4 OCS planning areas: 10 sales in the combined Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Program Area, and one sale in the Cook Inlet Program Area offshore Alaska. No lease sales are scheduled for the Pacific or Atlantic OCS.
The implementation of the 2017-2022 Program could have economic, social, or environmental impacts. To evaluate these potential impacts, BOEM has prepared an environmental analysis following the process prescribed by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) includes an analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the activities that could result from activities associated with the schedule of lease sales under the 2017-2022 Program (referred to as the Proposed Action in the Programmatic EIS). It also considers a reasonable range of alternatives to the proposed lease sale schedule and identifies potential opportunities for mitigation, both of which could reduce or eliminate potential impacts from the Proposed Action.
BOEM received numerous comments on the Draft Programmatic EIS. These comments and responses are available in the Final Programmatic EIS. More information on the Final Programmatic EIS is available at
www.BOEMOceanInfo.com
On August 27, 2012, Secretary Ken Salazar gave final approval to the schedule of lease sales set out in the Proposed Final Program (PFP). The 2012-2017 Program was effective on August 27, 2012, and will expire on August 26, 2017. The PFP was the last of three documents that DOI will issue in connection with establishing the new Five-Year Program.
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