U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Region

Changes in Military Warning Areas

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) published in the August 14,1997, Federal Register, a Notice of changes in Military Warning Areas, which will affect existing and future leases in the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).  This action results from a recently issued document by the Department of Defense (DOD) that describes changes in Military Warning Areas in the Gulf of Mexico.  The MMS is giving notice of these changes to existing lessees and to potential bidders in OCS Lease Sale 168, Western Gulf of Mexico.  Sale 168 will be held August 27, 1997.

Three Military Warning Areas are currently established in the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area:  W-147, W-228, and W-602. W-147 is newly established by this July 17, 1997, issue of the DOD document; the Federal Aviation Administration controls this airspace (a portion of the W-147 warning area extends into the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area).  W-228 has long been in existence and the July 7, 1997, DOD document did not modify it; the Navy controls this airspace.  W-602 is also a long established area, but the DOD changed it significantly; the Navy also controls this airspace.  The W-602 area was reconfigured to include more lease blocks in the stipulations affecting existing and any new leases within the newly configured area.

This Federal Register Notice on this action will be posted on the MMS Website at http://www.mms.gov (see News Releases).  In addition, copies of the updated map of the Western Gulf showing the Warning Areas and lease blocks affected by the DOD change are available from the MMS’s Gulf of Mexico Regional Office, Public Information Unit, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123 (504) 736-2519; toll free (1-800-200-GULF).

MMS is the Federal Agency that manages the Nation’s oil, natural gas, and other mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf. MMS also collects, accounts for, and disburses about $4 billion yearly in revenues from offshore Federal mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases on Federal and Indian lands.

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MMS Internet website address: http://www.mms.gov/
24 hour Fax-on-Demand Service: (202) 219-1703