The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management released a draft supplemental environmental impact statement for proposed 2018 Gulf of Mexico lease sales that includes a proposal to have a single region-wide sale. The draft contains analyses of potential environmental impacts that could result from having a region-wide lease sale in the gulf, including preliminary results of new air quality modeling, BOEM said on Mar. 30.
In a region-wide sale, it said it would offer all available blocks in the western, central, and eastern gulf planning areas, except for entire or portions of blocks deferred by the 2006 Gulf of Mexico Security Act, which are adjacent to or beyond the US Exclusive Economic Zone in the northern portion of the Eastern Gap, and whole and partial blocks within the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary’s current boundary.
Such a sale would cover about 95 million acres, BOEM said.
Comments will be accepted through May 15. The new air quality modeling’s preliminary results have not been subjected to scientific review.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].