-- The U.S. Interior Department will extend by 15 days a public comment period on a proposal to allow oil and natural gas drilling off of Virginia's coasts, rejecting a two-month extension sought by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.
The department's Minerals Management Service issued a notice in today's Federal Register extending the comment period from Dec. 29, 2008, to Jan. 13, 2009. The agency cited the holidays as its reason for extending the period.
Kaine sent a Dec. 19 letter to Minerals Management Service Director Randall Luthi asking for the comment period to be extended to Feb. 28. Kaine said the request was to give the incoming Obama administration time to consider its options on offshore drilling.
Under the federal government's current proposal, lease sales could begin for tracts off Virginia's coast by the end of 2011.
-- Bloomberg News
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