STEPS-Continued 5. Public hearings.-No earlier than 30 days after publication of the draft environmental statement, a public hearing is held in the vicinity of the proposed sale. Notice of the hearings is published in the Federal Register, and a news release is issued. Environmental organizations, the academic community, Government representatives, industry, and the general public are invited to testify orally or in writing. 6. Final statement.-A final environmental impact statement is prepared. This document provides a basis for deciding whether or not to hold a sale, to delete particular tracts, or to place restrictions on specific tracts. The final statement is made available to the public, with notice of availability published in the Federal Register and disseminated by news release. At this point the EPA may file a protest with CEQ if it feels that aspects of the final EIS are deficient. 7. Decision by the secretary.-A "Program Decision Option Document," prepared by BLM, outlines the various options available to the Secretary. The Secretary of the Interior decides whether the proposed sale will be held, based on all pertinent information available. If the decision is that a sale will be held, determinations are made concerning which tracts will be offered, and what the lease terms will be. 8. Notice of sale.-If a decision is made to hold a sale, a notice is published in the Federal Register stating the date, place, and time that bids are to be opened, the tracts to be included in the sale, the terms under which the sale will be held, and any special stipulations that may be imposed on particular tracts. TIME INVOLVED Continued The public hearings are held usually, over a 2 to 4 day period. A period of at least 45 days is then provided during which all comments can be received and studied. Preparation of the final environmental statement may take from 2 to 4 months. During the preparation and review of the environmental statements, geologists, geophysicists, and engineers prepare detailed estimates of the value of each tract being considered for sale. The Secretary of the Interior makes his decision no earlier than 30 days after the submission of the final environmental statement to the Council on Environmental Quality, and as much as 4 months after. The notice of sale is published at least 30 days in advance. Notice may be given later concerning all the particulars. STEPS 9. Lease sale. Typically, leases are sold on the basis of a cash bonus with a one-sixth fixed royalty. The sale is publicly opened with a reading of all sealed bids. After the public reading, the bids are checked for technical and legal adequacy, and sufficient bonus, 20 percent of which must accompany the bid. The Federal government reserves the right to reject any or all bids. Acceptance or rejection of bids is not made until after the post-sale evaluation. Leases are awarded to acceptable high bidders. 10. Oil and gas lease contract.An oil and gas mineral lease grants the right to the lessee to conduct necessary operations to search for, discover, and produce petroleum from OCS submerged lands in accordance with environmental and safety regulations. The Federal government reserves such rights as: leasing of other minerals, royalty in the amount or value of production, and the right to extract helium from all gas produced. 11. Exploratory drilling plan.— After securing the necessary permits from the Corps and EPA, the company submits an exploratory drilling plan to USGS. After preparing an environmental assessment the permit to drill is issued by USGS. Under the CZM Act, States with approved management plans have to certify that exploratory drilling plans are consistent with their management programs. 12. Development plan.-Development plans are first submitted to the Governor of the affected States. States with approved management plans will again have to certify consistency. The plan is TIME INVOLVED A period of no more than 30 days is involved between the lease sale and an issuance of a lease to a successful bidder. During this time the USGS makes its recommendations on the acceptance or rejection of the highest bid. An oil and gas lease covers a compact area not exceeding 5,760 acres, and the primary term is 5 years, continuing thereafter as long as oil and gas may be produced in paying qualities or approved workover operations are conducted. The securing of initial permits may take up to 6 months. Submission of the exploratory drilling plan by a company may take up to 3 months. Preparation of an environmental assessment of the plan may take from 1 to 12 months, and within 1 week of that assessment a permit good for 6 months is issued. A permit for each well is required. State objections could add 9 months to the time required for permits. The Governor has up to 60 days to review and respond to the development plan. State objections could add 9 months to the time required for permits. Governmental review and approval STEPS-Continued then reviewed by Interior, where a new EIS is required. After approval a permit to install a platform is issued. Additional permits from the Corps, EPA and Coast Guard are required. 13. Permitting of development activities.-Drilling permits are issued by USGS for each well. The pipeline permit request is reviewed by several agencies. Pipeline corridor routes are reviewed. Pipepermit is issued. TIME INVOLVED Continued Industry construction and installation of platform takes from one to several years depending on a number of variables. Drilling permits are issued within 1 week to 1 month by USGS. Since it is a new process, no estimates for pipeline permitting are available. 14. Commercial production be- Continued regulatory requiregins. ments must be met, including monthly reports to USGS, approval for well modification or abandonment by USGS, inspection of pipelines by the Office of Pipeline Safety, and compliance with OSHA and other regulations. IV. RECENT OCS DEVELOPMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES The United States Outer Continental Shelf The total area of the Outer Continental Shelf is approximately onethird the size of the United States. However, only a small fraction (14.4 million acres or about 3 percent of the U.S. continental margin) has been leased for oil and gas development. Practically all of the Federal OCS lease tracts which have been sold since 1954 are in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas. 185 tracts (988,170 acres) have been leased off Southern California, particularly in the Santa Barbara Channel area. With the exception of certain portions of the Gulf of Mexico shelf off the shores of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, three other segments of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf comprise so-called "frontier" areas where no previous federal oil and gas leasing had occurred. These areas are: the Alaskan continental shelf, consisting of the Gulf of Alaska, the Bering Sea, the Chukchi Sea, the Beaufort Sea, and Prudhoe Bay; the Southern California basins, as well as offshore Oregon and Washington; and the Atlantic shelf, including the Georges Bank off New England, the Baltimore Canyon Trough (off New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland), the Southeast Georgia Embayment from South Carolina to Florida, and the Blake Plateau off northern Florida and Georgia. Figure 1 presents an overall view of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. More detailed maps of OCS areas under consideration for leasing are shown in figures 2, 3, 4 and 5.25 |