Abstract
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE) of the U.S. Department of the Interior (Department), formerly the Minerals Management Service, has jurisdiction over leasing and development of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) submerged lands for mineral development. The BOEMRE Pacific OCS Region is a significant source of oil and gas for the nation. To perform periodic and project reviews of oil and gas production activities on existing leases in California, the BOEMRE Pacific Region has relied on environmental documentation prepared for previous lease sales, platform and pipeline construction, undeveloped leases, and other documents and reports. The basis for much of this documentation comes from a summary of knowledge prepared for the predecessor agency MMS in 1993, covering available information for key environmental topics through 1992. The BOEMRE needs to update this summary of knowledge to include information for subjects where significant new information has become available since 1992.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 amended Section 8 of the OCS Lands Act (OCSLA) (43 USC 1337) to give the Secretary of the Interior authority to issue a lease, easement, or right-of-way on the OCS for activities that are not otherwise authorized by the OCSLA, including activities that produce or support production, transportation, or transmission of energy from sources other than oil and gas. This includes wind, wave, and current technologies. The BOEMRE Pacific Region prepared a previous summary of knowledge for areas beyond existing leases in Southern California in 1977. The BOEMRE needs to update its summary of knowledge for areas of the OCS suitable for the development of alternative energy. This would include significant new information for the Pacific Coast from Grays Harbor, Washington to San Francisco Bay, California.