DOI issues Draft Supplemental EIS for Gulf of Mexico Lease Sales

On October 6, 2022, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) announced it had prepared a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) for two offshore oil and gas lease sales it is required to hold under section 50264 of the IRA. The Draft Supplemental EIS covers “lease sale 259” and “lease sale 261,” both of which would make offshore areas in the Gulf of Mexico available for oil and gas development. The Draft Supplemental EIS notes that “BOEM has no discretion on whether to hold these sales” because they were mandated by the IRA. Nevertheless, BOEM prepared the Draft Supplemental EIS “to follow its normal leasing process to the fullest extent possible” and “analyze[] the potential impacts of a proposed action on the marine, coastal, and human environments […] This Supplemental EIS’s analysis focuses on identifying the baseline conditions and potential environmental effects of oil and natural gas leasing, exploration, development, and production in the GOM. This Supplemental EIS will also assist decisionmakers in making informed, future decisions regarding the approval of operations, as well as leasing.”