The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals ManagementService (MMS) served official notice Tuesday of its intentions tohold lease sale 181 for 5.949 million acres in the eastern Gulf ofMexico. The MMS issued a Call for Interest and Information and aNotice of Intent (NOI), which gives interested parties 60 days tocomment on the proposed sale. The MMS tentatively scheduled thesale for December 2001. An MMS spokesperson said no minimum bid hasbeen set.

In its present form, the plan offers 1,033 blocks for lease,which represent the eastern-most region available during the1997-2002 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas five-yearLeasing Program. The blocks are located 15 miles offshore Alabamaand 100 miles offshore Florida. Carol Fagot, an MMS spokeswoman,said Florida’s government, notoriously protective of its coasts,has given the sale its support. “As long as it was 100 miles offtheir coasts, they were happy,” she said. This area is made morevaluable by President Clinton’s June 1998 announcement saying noother eastern Gulf acreage will be leased until 2012.

With the NOI and the Call, the MMS starts a three-year planningprocess for the sale. It said the Call helps determine which areaswill be offered for lease and the NOI helps it formulate theEnvironmental Impact Statement (EIS), which must be finished beforethe three-year process is over. Along with writing the EIS, the MMSwill hold public hearings, analyze comments, and work out detailsin the three-year span. Fagot said the Secretary of the Interiorcould cancel the sale at any time. ” This is the fundamental stageof information gathering. Right now, we’re just trying to judgeinterest. Who knows? If nobody responds to the notice, the salemight be canceled anyway.”

Fagot added one major change from the plan could be apostponement of the sale date to coincide with a lease offer forcentral Gulf territory in March 2002. “Its one thing that is beingbounced around right now. The good thing is that with thesenotices, we’ll be able to find out what the public thinks about theidea.”

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