GX Technology Corp. OCS Seismic Survey – BOEM G&G Permit #E14-003 Mid-Atlantic, South-Atlantic and Straits of Florida OCS Planning Areas

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GX Technology Corp. OCS Seismic Survey – BOEM G&G Permit #E14-003
Mid-Atlantic, South-Atlantic and Straits of Florida OCS Planning Areas

This serves as notification from the State of Georgia Coastal Management Program (GCMP), in accordance with 16 U.S. C §1456 and 15 C.F.R. 930.42, of receipt of a Federal Consistency Certification from GX Technology Corporation (GTX) as part of their application for a BOEM (Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management) G&G (geological and geophysical) exploration for mineral resources on the OCS (outer continental shelf) in the Mid-Atlantic, South-Atlantic and Straits of Florida Planning Areas. Click here for the Federal Consistency Certification and BOEM G&G Application.

The proposed activity includes conducting 2-D seismic surveys with one 72.1 meter (m) vessel traveling at 4 knots, and towing a 36-air chamber array with a single hydrophone streamer up to 12 km long that discharges 6420 in3 of compressed air every 20-24 seconds through approximately (~) 13,556 kilometers (km) of the Atlantic Ocean offshore of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The survey is composed of 5 widely-spaced transect lines roughly parallel to the coast and 16 widely-spaced transect lines in the onshore-offshore direction from Delaware to Key West that are from 20 km to over 600 km from shore. Most of the survey (~8,517 km) will take place in water depths of over 1,000 m, with a small portion (~1,607 km) taking place in water depths of under 100 m. The total linear distance of survey lines within 75 miles of the coast of Georgia is ~177 km (~110 miles) and no surveying will be conducted with 35 miles of Georgia’s shore. The surveying conducted on the OCS adjacent to Georgia will take approximately 24 hours to complete.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Coastal Management (OCM) has determined that this proposed activity may have reasonably foreseeable impacts to sea turtles, a Georgia coastal resource, and/or commercial or recreational fisheries, a Georgia coastal use. Comments specific to commercial or recreational fisheries and/or sea turtles, managed under one or more of the 5 GCMP enforceable policies applicable to this project (O.C.G.A. 12-5-320 et seq.; O.C.G.A. 27-3-130 et seq.; O.C.G.A. 27-1-1 et seq.; O.C.G.A. 12-8-20 et seq.; and 12-9-1 et seq.) should be submitted in writing to Kelie Moore, Federal Consistency Coordinator, Department of Natural Resources, One Conservation Way, Brunswick, Georgia 31520 or Kelie.Moore@GaDNR.org and must be received by the close of business March 16, 2015.

Summaries of the Enforceable Policies of the GCMP are located in Chapter 5 at www.coastalgadnr.org/cm/about/pdoc. The entire code sections may be found at http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode/default.asp.