BOEM NTL No. 2020-N03

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF OCEAN ENERGY MANAGEMENT
GULF OF MEXICO AND ALASKA REGIONAL OFFICES
BOEM NTL No. 2020-N03

Effective Date: October 1, 2020
Expiration Date: September 30, 2022

NOTICE TO LESSEES AND OPERATORS OF FEDERAL OIL AND GAS, AND SULPHUR
LEASES ON THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF
2021 OCS Emissions Inventory
Western Gulf of Mexico and Adjacent to the North Slope Borough of the State of Alaska
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is reissuing and updating this Notice to
Lessees and Operators (NTL) to comply with Executive Order (E.O.) 13891 of October 9, 2019,
Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents, and the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum, M-20-02, implementing the E.O.
This NTL supersedes NTL No. 2016-N03 (dated November 1, 2016). It describes when and how
to report 2021 emissions data to BOEM.
Introduction
BOEM is issuing this NTL to instruct lessees and operators about the activity information and
related emissions source data they should collect and submit for use in the 2021 Outer Continental
Shelf (OCS) Emissions Inventory and to inform them about where they can find instructions for
submitting the activity and emissions reports necessary for compliance with BOEM’s regulations
at 30 CFR 550.303(k) and 550.304(g).
Background
The BOEM Gulf of Mexico OCS Regional Office (GOMR) prepared Gulfwide Emissions
Inventories in 2000, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2017, to monitor emissions from OCS facilities
in accordance with 30 CFR 550.303(k) and 550.304(g). The 2017 inventory collected
information about OCS facilities in the Alaska OCS Region offshore of the North Slope Borough
of Alaska in addition to the GOMR, and BOEM plans to prepare a 2021 OCS Emissions
Inventory that will include facilities in both the GOMR and offshore Alaska’s North Slope
Borough.
BOEM needs this information to evaluate the effectiveness of its regulations under § 5(a)(8) of
the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. § 1334(a)(8) and to support BOEM’s
environmental analyses and coordination with other agencies. The 1990 Clean Air Act
Amendments (Pub. L. No. 101-549, Nov. 15, 1990) require states to prepare air emission
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inventories every three years, beginning in 1996. BOEM has assisted states and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) with meeting this requirement by collecting and
compiling emissions from OCS sources and will be continuing assistance for the 2021 inventory.
These emission inventories support the coordination between DOI and the USEPA called for in §
328(b) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. § 7627(b)) with respect to regulation of OCS emissions
in areas under DOI air quality jurisdiction and emissions in adjacent onshore areas.
Collecting and Reporting Information
BOEM requests information about 2021 emissions from OCS facilities located west of 87°
30' West longitude in the Gulf of Mexico Central and Western Planning areas and offshore
the North Slope Borough of Alaska, which includes the Chukchi and Beaufort Sea Planning
Areas and a portion of the Hope Basin Planning Area. Lessees and operators with facilities
(as defined in 30 CFR 550.302) in these areas are to collect and report activity information,
including facility, equipment, and fuel usage, and report emissions data covering the period
January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021.
The collection and submission of this OCS activity and emissions data are to be done using a
new web-based emissions reporting tool, OCS Air Quality System (AQS), which replaces the
Gulfwide Offshore Activity Data System (GOADS) used for air emissions collection in 2017
and prior. The tool will capture activity data and calculate a 2021 inventory of emissions
data. The activity and emissions information needed is more specifically delineated and
described in the OCS AQS User’s Guide.
Operators and lessees are not required to report emissions from sources that do not constitute
a “facility” as defined in 30 CFR 550.302. Supply or crew transport vessels are not facilities
as defined in the regulation, and drilling rigs or vessels such as mobile offshore drilling units
are required to report emissions only when they are connected either to the seabed or to a
facility. Additional instructions on what constitutes a facility for the purposes of meeting the
requirements of 30 CFR 550.302 are covered in the AQS User’s Guide.
On October 1, 2020, BOEM will place the following information on its website at
https://www.boem.gov/2021-Emissions-Inventory:
(1) A copy of this NTL; 1
(2) A link to the web-based emissions reporting tool, OCS AQS, which will be used
to collect and report your OCS activity and emissions data;
(3) The OCS AQS User’s Guide, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), and submittal
information; and
(4) Technical Support/Updates.
Submit all calendar year 2021 activity and emissions data to BOEM through OCS AQS by
April 22, 2022. This notice applies to all facilities located on the OCS in areas under DOI
jurisdiction for air quality.
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This Notice will also be available at: https://www.boem.gov/guidance

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Authority
BOEM’s authority for requiring emissions monitoring and reporting is based on section
5(a)(8) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. § 1334(a)(8), (the geographical
extent of which was modified by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (P.L. 112-74)),
and BOEM’s regulations at 30 CFR 550.303(k) and 550.304(g).
Guidance Document Statement
BOEM issues NTLs as guidance documents in accordance with 30 CFR 550.103 to clarify and
provide more detail about certain BOEM regulatory requirements and to outline the
recommended information to be provided in various submittals.
Except to the extent that provisions of this NTL derive from requirements established by statute,
regulation or by a provision in the lease, they do not have the force and effect of law and are not
meant to bind the public in any way. This NTL is intended only to provide clarity to the public
regarding existing requirements under the law.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Statement
This NTL provides clarification, description, and interpretation of requirements contained in
30 CFR Part 550, Subpart C. An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of
information unless it displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. OMB has approved
the information collection requirement in these regulations under OMB control number 10100057. This NTL does not impose additional information collection requirements subject to
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
Contact
If you have any questions concerning this Notice, please contact Ms. Holli (Ensz) Wecht of
BOEM’s Office of Environmental Programs by telephone at (703) 787-1629, or by email at
[email protected].

Digitally signed by WALTER

WALTER
CRUICKSHANK
Date: 2020.09.30 13:39:32
CRUICKSHANK
-04'00'
_______________________________

Walter D. Cruickshank
Acting Director
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

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