The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for two upcoming Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas lease sales, Lease Sale 259 and Lease Sale 261, to comply with the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

On Oct. 6, 2022, BOEM issued a Draft Supplemental EIS, and received feedback from the public during a 45-day comment period. During the comment period, BOEM held two virtual meetings to provide information about the Draft Supplemental EIS and to collect public comments. This resulted in BOEM receiving nearly 76,000 public comments on the Draft Supplemental EIS.

This Final Supplemental EIS analyzes the potential impacts of the proposed actions on the marine, coastal, and human environments. This Final Supplemental EIS was prepared using the best information that was publicly available at the time the document was prepared. This Supplemental EIS’s analysis focuses on identifying and disclosing the baseline conditions and potential environmental effects of oil and natural gas leasing, exploration, development, and production in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). This Supplemental EIS will also inform the lease sale processes for GOM oil and gas Lease Sales 259 and 261, which BOEM is required to hold by the end of March and September 2023, respectively, as directed in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. While BOEM has no discretion on whether to hold these lease sales, BOEM is preparing this Supplemental EIS to follow its normal leasing process to the fullest extent possible.

The Inflation Reduction Act mandates Lease Sale 259 to be held no later than March 31, 2023, and Lease Sale 261 to be held no later than Sept. 30, 2023.

The Notice of Availability will publish in the Federal Register on Jan. 13, 2023. 

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