The Department of the Interior is seeking public comment regarding a proposed five-year program for offshore oil and gas leasing.
The public input is part of a three-step planning process that will help determine the number of sales that will take place from 2023 to 2028, according to a July 1 news release. The first step was the 2018 publication of the draft proposed program.
“Today, based on my team’s work and my direction, the Department of the Interior is inviting the public to comment on a proposed offshore leasing program that will chart our course forward over the next five years," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in the release. "This is the second step in a three-step planning process to determine whether or how many offshore oil and gas lease sales to hold over the next five years.
Upon receiving the public’s opinions, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will prepare a finalized proposed program, the release reported. There is a 60-day wait period before the program can be approved.
"The proposed plan puts forward several options from no lease sales up to 11 lease sales over the next five years," Haaland added, according to the release. "Like the current program finalized in 2016, it removes from consideration the federal waters off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts while inviting public comment on 10 potential sales in the Gulf of Mexico and one in the Cook Inlet off south-central Alaska. A proposed program is not a decision to issue specific leases or to authorize any drilling or development."
These potential lease sales could be further refined and targeted, based on public input and analysis, the release reported. The final program also may include fewer potential lease sales, including no lease sales.
More than 2 million comments were obtained for the 2018 proposed program with input coming from a variety of stakeholders including environmental advocacy groups, Tribal governments, advocacy groups, energy and non-energy industries and local, state and federal agencies, Offshore Energy reported July 4.
"From day one, President Biden and I have made clear our commitment to transition to a clean energy economy," Haaland said in the release. "Today, we put forward an opportunity for the American people to consider and provide input on the future of offshore oil and gas leaking. The time for the public to weigh in on our future is now."
