[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 157 (Thursday, August 14, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43547-43548]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-21578]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Changes in Military Warning Areas for the Western Gulf of Mexico
ACTION: Notice of changes in Military Warning Areas for the Western
Gulf of Mexico.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Defense (DOD) has recently issued a document
describing changes in Military Warning Areas in the Gulf of Mexico. The
MMS is giving notice of these changes to existing lessees and to
potential bidders in Outer Continental Shelf Lease Sale 168, Western
Gulf of Mexico.
CONTACT: Charles Hill, Gulf of Mexico Regional Office (504) 736-2795.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is giving notice to lessees
and to potential bidders in Sale 168, Western Gulf of Mexico, of the
existence of Military Warning Areas. The Department of Defense (DOD)
established these Warning Areas in the Flight Information Publication
``Area Planning--Special Use Airspace--North and South America'' (NIMA
reference number PLANXAP1A). This document is published by the National
Imagery and Mapping Agency, 3200 South Second Street, St. Louis,
Missouri 63118-3399. The DOD published the most recent version of this
document on July 17, 1997; the next issue is expected to be published
on June 18, 1998. The DOD will reissue it from time to time in the
future.
Three Warning Areas currently are established in the Western Gulf
of Mexico Planning Area: W-147, W-228, and W-602. W-147 is newly
established by this July 17, 1997, issue of the document; the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) controls this airspace (a portion of this
warning area extends into the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area). W-
228 has long been in existence and the July 7, 1997, document did not
change it; the Navy controls this airspace. W-602 is also a long-
established area, but the DOD changed it significantly; the Navy also
controls this airspace.
Certain restrictions on flights and radio communications in the
Warning Areas will require close coordination between lessees (and
their operators and agents) and the appropriate military commander or
the FAA in charge of the specific Warning Area. It is the
responsibility of lessees to establish and maintain contact and
coordination with the military commander(s) or the FAA in any Warning
Area in which operations or flights would be expected in the course of
occupying and developing any leases; this could include flights through
a Warning Area traveling to a leased block which is not in a Warning
Area.
Lessees should establish and maintain contact and coordination with
the appropriate military commander(s) or the FAA whether or not there
is a military stipulation in their lease(s).
II. Oil and Gas Lease Sale 168
Potential bidders in Oil and Gas Lease Sale 168 in the Western Gulf
of Mexico (to be held in New Orleans on August 27, 1997) should note
that in the July 17, 1997, document DOD changed the area of W-602.
Therefore, the map referred to in Stipulation No. 2--Military Areas,
paragraph 13 of the Final Notice of Sale for Oil and Gas Lease Sale 168
(62 FR 39863-39871), is outdated. MMS is advising potential bidders of
the newly configured W-602. The blocks in W-602 are listed in Appendix
1 of this notice, and a revised map showing the Warning Areas is
available as noted below. The area to
[[Page 43548]]
which the stipulation for leases in W-228 applies has not been changed.
The FAA controls the new W-147; lessees and operators should coordinate
operations in W-147 with the FAA.
III. Addresses and Contacts
A list of the Warning Areas in the Western Gulf of Mexico planning
area follows, indicating the military commander or FAA office with
operational responsibilities in each Warning Area. A map of the Western
Gulf showing the Warning Areas and lease blocks is available from the
MMS Gulf of Mexico Regional Office Public Information Unit, 1201
Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394; or call
(504) 736-2519 or (800) 200-GULF.
Contacts for Oil and Gas Activities Within the Gulf of Mexico, Western
Gulf of Mexico
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Warning areas Command headquarters
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W-147......................... Federal Aviation Administration, Houston
Air Route Traffic Control (ARTC)
Center, 16600 John F. Kennedy
Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77032,
Telephone: (281) 230-5536/5630.
W-228......................... Chief, Naval Air Training, Naval Air
Station, Office No. 206, Corpus
Christi, Texas 78419-5100, Telephone:
(512) 939-3862/2621.
W-602......................... Strategic Command Wing 1, Fleet Area
Reconnaissance 4, Operations
Department, Tinker Air Force Base,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73145-8704,
Telephone: (405) 739-5700/4527.
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Thomas A. Readinger,
Acting Associate Director for Offshore Minerals Management.
Appendix 1--Blocks Within Military Warning Area W-602; Leases From Sale
168 on These Blocks Will Include Stipulation 2
Garden Banks
749............................................ 837-838 925-926
793............................................ 881-882 969-971
Keathley Canyon
1-3............................................ 353-358 705-714
45-48.......................................... 397-403 749-758
89-92.......................................... 441-447 793-801
133-136........................................ 485-492 837-844
177-181........................................ 529-536 881-887
221-225........................................ 573-580 925-930
265-270........................................ 617-625 969-973
309-314........................................ 661-669
East Breaks
388-390........................................ 598-612 807-833
430-435........................................ 640-657 849-877
472-479........................................ 682-701 892-921
514-523........................................ 724-745 935-965
556-568........................................ 765-789 979-1009
Alaminos Canyon
10-41.......................................... 358-393 706-745
54-85.......................................... 402-437 750-789
97-129......................................... 445-481 793-833
141-173........................................ 489-525 837-877
184-217........................................ 532-569 881-921
228-261........................................ 576-613 925-965
271-305........................................ 619-657 992-1009
315-349........................................ 663-701
Port Isabel
924
968
[FR Doc. 97-21578 Filed 8-13-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P