The BLM supervised process leads to a Program Decision Option 

 Document; lease conditions; and a lease sale (Figure 6, Table 3). In 

 the post-leasing phase USGS monitors development through its Area Oil 

 and Gas Supervisors, who may issue "orders" and notices to lessees 

 affecting development and production operations for specific lease areas. 

 Also, the lease agreements may be tailored to specific circumstances and 

 may contain references to special development conditions called 

 "stipulations." 



In 1973 the government set as its target, six lease sales per year 

 and BLM published a proposed OCS Planning Schedule which is used to 

 determine the timing and initiation of individual sale procedures [41], 

 It is continually updated and revised within the Department of the 

 Interior as conditions change. 



We will look at four basic segments of the OCS leasing process: 

 (1) tract selection (Steps 2-4); (2) environmental impact assessment 

 (Step 6); (3) the Department of the Interior decision (Steps 5, and 

 7-10); and (4) post-sale management (Step 11). Environmental studies, 

 which begin as early as tract selection, parallel the leasing process 

 and satisfy two basic institutional objectives: (a) to provide informa- 

 tion about the OCS environment that will enable DOI to make management 

 decisions regarding OCS oil and gas development, and (b) to fill environ- 

 mental information needs of other management, regulatory and advisory 

 agencies [42]. 



l.'i LEASE TRACT SELECTION 



After setting general priorities for Outer Continental Shelf leasing, 

 the Federal government goes through a process to identify specific numbered 

 tracts, each about 2304 hectares (5690 acres), which will be offered for 

 exploration and development by industry (partial tracts may be offered). 

 The first stage in the process is called "tract selection." Tract 

 selection includes three steps: 



-- Preliminary tract evaluation; 



-- The "Call for Nominations"; 



-- The official designations of tracts to be offered 



for lease. - 



This segment of the process is managed by BLM. The USGS, NPS, and 

 FWS also have specific responsibilities for technical information assembled 

 in the preliminary evaluation along with other Federal agencies, the 

 states, and any others that may wish to comment (Table 4) [44]. 

 Procedures have changed considerabTy to accommodate accelerated Teasing. 

 Past experience offers less guidance than usual in this process, as what 

 was once a relatively leisurely process is becoming more formal and 

 rigorously defined. 



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