Public Involvement
- Public involvement is an important component of evaluating impacts of proposed actions. BOEM consults, coordinates, and collaborates with governmental entities and stakeholders to gather information for decision-makers on ways to make informed decisions and minimize impacts of activities on the OCS. BOEM encourages the public to participate in the decision-making process by
- Attending a public meeting to engage with subject matter experts at BOEM to help them better understand places and resources that are important• Learning more about BOEM’s environmental assessments
- Submitting comments on environmental documents
BOEM is especially interested in collecting input through the NEPA process and hosts public meetings when preparing environmental assessments for decisions such as the National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program and lease sales. Public comments help BOEM better understand the environment and potential impacts of proposed activities, comments associated with specific decisions or projects (such as the National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program) can be found at regulations.gov.
Providing Comments
One well-supported comment is often more influential than a thousand form letters. Your input provides a clearer, more focused approach and helps determine what is important to consider. When crafting a comment, it may be helpful to consider these questions:
- How will you or the environment be affected?
- Are there any other environmental resources and impacting factors BOEM should consider?
- What measures would you propose to reduce or eliminate impacts?
- What resources, literature, GIS/maps, or other data should BOEM consider?
