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

Notice of Dates and Locations of Public Hearings
on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the
Proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program:  2002-2007

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) will hold public hearings on the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program:  2002-2007.  The proposed Program includes lease sales in the Western, Central, and Eastern Planning Areas of the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf.

The public hearings are scheduled as follows:

• Houston, Texas:  Monday, December 10, 2001, 1-3 p.m., Houston Airport Marriott, 18700 Kennedy Boulevard;
• New Orleans, Louisiana:  Tuesday, December 11, 2001, 1-3 p.m., Minerals Management Service, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard; and
• Mobile, Alabama:  Wednesday, December 12, 2001, 1-3 p.m. and 6:30-8:30 p.m., Adams Mark Hotel, 64 South Water Street.

The contact person for the hearings is Ms. Janet Diaz at telephone number (504) 736-2540.  Interested individuals, representatives of organizations, and public officials who wish to testify at the public hearings are requested to notify Ms. Diaz at least five days prior to the hearing.  If time is available during the hearing period, after the presentation of oral statements by those who have pre-registered, other individuals will be given an opportunity to be heard.  Time limitations may make it necessary to limit the length of each oral presentation to ten minutes or less.  An oral statement may be supplemented by a written statement, which should be submitted to the hearing officer at the time of the oral presentation.  Hearings will recess when all speakers have had an opportunity to testify.  If there are no additional speakers, the hearing will adjourn immediately after the recess.

The Agency is seeking comments from the public on the draft EIS and proposed Program.  The 90-day comment period closes on January 24, 2002.  The Agency will prepare a proposed final Program and final EIS to be issued in April 2002.  Sixty days after the proposed final Program is submitted to the President and Congress, the Secretary may approve the 5-year Program for 2002-2007 to take effect on July 1, 2002.

Written comments on the draft EIS should be mailed to the Minerals Management Service, 381 Elden Street, MS 4320, Herndon, Virginia  20170-4817, Attention:  Richard Wildermann.  The MMS will accept hand deliveries at the Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW, Room 4227, Washington, DC 20240.  Envelopes or packages should be identified as "Comments on the 2002-2007 OCS Oil and Gas Program Draft EIS."  The MMS will also accept comments submitted by e-mail to MMS5-year.eis@mms.gov.

MMS is the federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the nation's oil, natural gas and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf in federal offshore waters.  The agency also collects, accounts for and disburses mineral revenues from federal and Indian leases.  These disbursements totaled nearly $8 billion last year and more than $110 billion since the agency was created in 1982.  Annually, nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the acquisition and development of state and federal park and recreation lands.

-MMS-GOM-
MMS's Website Address: http://www.mms.gov