Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas information program; Gulf of Mexico index (January 1977 - June 1979)

The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, as amended in 1978 (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), grants to the Secretary of the Interior the authority to issue leases for minerals on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). It provides the authority and guidelines which the Secretary utilizes fo7 expeditious exploration and development of the OCS while ensuring timely access to information by affected states and local governments in order that appropriate planning will anticipate and ameliorate impacts from such OCS activities.