The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has made plans to issue and take comments on a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Lease Sale 258 in the Cook Inlet. BOEM’s website states that a Notice of Availability for the draft EIS will be published in the Federal Register on Friday, October 29, which will initiate a public comment period that will open through 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, December 13. During the comment period, any interested party may submit comment on the draft EIS through regulations.gov, the federal government’s official commenting portal.
In addition, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will host three virtual public hearings during the public comment period. They include:
- Tue, Nov. 16. 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
- Wed, Nov. 17. 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
- Thu, Nov. 18. 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
NOTE: Those times are Alaska Time.
During the public hearings, any interested party may submit testimony and have it become part of the public record.
The Proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2017-2022 included one lease sale in the Cook Inlet Planning Area, designated Cook Inlet OCS Oil & Gas Lease Sale 258. The area identified for the potential sale consists of 224 blocks toward the northern part of the inlet, and covers 1.09 acres of seafloor, stretching roughly from Kalgin Island in the north to Augustine Island in the south.
The Department of the Interior’s announcement summarized a brief submitted in response to a preliminary injunction by a Louisiana district court that prevented the pause in new federal oil and gas leasing set forth in Section 208 of Executive Order 14008, part of the Biden Administration’s goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council.
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