On Thursday, March 30, 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the availability of the Gulf of Mexico OCS Lease Sale: Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 2018 (Draft EIS). The Draft EIS addresses a region-wide lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico and contains analyses of the potential environmental impact of such a sale. In addition, the Draft EIS sets forth the preliminary results of the new air-quality modelling.

BOEM is interested in receiving comments regarding the Draft EIS. To that end, BOEM has set up public meetings in various locations along the Gulf Coast in an effort to solicit comments from the oil and gas industry, as well as the public. Those meetings will be three hours long (4:00 – 7:00 p.m. CDT) in the following locations:

• New Orleans – Tuesday, April 25
  Wyndham Garden New Orleans Airport / 6401 Veterans Memorial Blvd. / Metairie, LA
• Houston – Thursday, April 27
  Houston Marriott North / 255 North Sam Houston Pkwy. East / Houston, TX
• Pensacola – Monday, May 1
  Hilton Garden Pensacola Airport / 1144 Airport Blvd. / Pensacola, FL
• Mobile – Tuesday, May 2
  The Admiral Hotel Mobile, Curio Collection by Hilton / 251 Government St. / Mobile, AL
• Gulfport – Wednesday, May 3
  Courtyard Marriott, Gulfport Beachfront MS Hotel / 1600 East Beach Blvd. / Gulfport, MS

All comments shall be submitted no later than Monday, May 15. If you are unable to attend a meeting, you can mail your comments to BOEM’s office in Elmwood, Louisiana (Address to use: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Blvd, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394) OR submit your comments by clicking here and selecting “Comment Now!”

The Draft EIS is available here. The proposed region-wide lease sale is currently scheduled for August 16 in New Orleans. The region-wide lease sale area covers about 95 million acres in the Western Planning Area, the Central Planning Area and the Eastern Planning Area of the Gulf of Mexico.