This data set contains BOEM Planning Area outlines in ESRI shapefile format for the BOEM Gulf of Mexico Region. The old Gulf of Mexico Planning Area outlines were changed as of 2008. The divisions between these new Planning Areas for the Eastern, Central, and Western Gulf of Mexico are based on the OCS Administrative Boundaries between TX and LA and FL and AL. Except for a portion of the line between the Eastern and Central Planning Area the boundaries follow the block grid, depending on whether the block is mostly on one side of the Administrative Boundary, or the other. Legal definitions for all the OCS BOEM Planning Areas may be found at the following site:

http://www.boem.gov/Oil-and-Gas-Energy-Program/Mapping-and-Data/Index.aspx

The Straits of Florida Planning Area (Atlantic Region) is essentially unchanged. The Submerged Lands Act (Fed/State) boundary, along with the Continental Shelf Boundary (CSB), the Limit of Protraction, and the boundary between the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Regions were used to complete the polygons for the Planning Areas. Because GIS projection and topology functions can change or generalize coordinates, and because shapefiles cannot represent true arcs, these GIS files are considered to be approximate and are NOT an OFFICIAL record for the exact block coordinates or areas. The Official Protraction Diagrams (OPDs) and Supplemental Official Block Diagrams (SOBDs) serve as the legal definition for BOEM offshore boundary coordinates and area descriptions. If any discrepancies are found between these feature classes and the OPDs and SOBDs, it is the OPD and SOBD diagrams which take precedence. Also note that the BOEM cadastre is developed on a UTM projection, and most Planning Areas span multiple UTM ZONES. This means that area values computed from these shapefiles will not match the official BOEM areas.