Narrative:

Aircraft X was departed on the NIKOL1 obstacle departure procedure and assigned 12;300 ft in minimum mia (minimum IFR altitude) altitude boxes of 15;300 ft and 15;700 ft in the sierra mountains. I was the controller in charge and distracted by the r-side (fairly new partial r-controller) all nervous and standing up reviewing the NIKOL1 on the erids. He had just gotten the sector from another controller and I asked him what was going on? He said; 'aircraft X has been issued a clearance with FSS and I know the altitude issued is incorrect for this and he will be too low.' at that point aircraft X checked on; radar identified and couldn't go higher than 12;300 ft. I asked other senior controllers around controllers about what was being used for proper terrain separation and would they have let aircraft X depart if restricted to 12;300 ft. They said flat out; no! The MOCA (minimum obstacle clearance altitude) on V381 from bih to nikol is 12;300 ft. I think that is where the controller that issued departure got his information; but getting from the mmh airport to join the BIH322 radial doesn't seem we can use this since the odp states; 'aircraft off RWY27 shall climb with standard rate with min 500 ft per NM to 12;700 ft.' I; along with several other controllers have never; ever cleared any aircraft off mmh to an assigned altitude below 13;000 ft and couldn't figure how aircraft X was assigned 12;300 ft. I believe it was a terrain violation and needs to be investigated. Being the controller in charge; I asked the relieving controller to ask the pilot his flight conditions and departure runway. The pilot was IMC at 12;300 ft; departed RWY27 and I later learned aircraft X only wanted to climb to 12;000. I; along with several other seasoned veterans and 2 supervisors played this out and we really couldn't see how the controller applied proper separation. A few other controllers with less than 10 years in the FAA said it was fine and we were wrong jumping to conclusions and not applying the MOCA correctly. Area east at oakland center needs all controllers to be briefed on minimum altitude that a NIKOL1 odp can depart the airport. We cannot have that much discussion or confusion and need a face to face with supervisor; one on one; a crew brief on this issue. Lives are at stake and aircraft X fortunately had no issues on a day that was not VFR.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZOA Center controllers reported confusion and misunderstanding regarding the lowest assignable altitude.

Narrative: Aircraft X was departed on the NIKOL1 obstacle departure procedure and assigned 12;300 ft in minimum MIA (Minimum IFR Altitude) altitude boxes of 15;300 ft and 15;700 ft in the Sierra Mountains. I was the CIC and distracted by the R-side (fairly new partial R-controller) all nervous and standing up reviewing the NIKOL1 on the Erids. He had just gotten the sector from another controller and I asked him what was going on? He said; 'Aircraft X has been issued a clearance with FSS and I know the altitude issued is incorrect for this and he will be too low.' At that point Aircraft X checked on; radar identified and couldn't go higher than 12;300 ft. I asked other senior controllers around controllers about what was being used for proper terrain separation and would they have let Aircraft X depart if restricted to 12;300 ft. They said flat out; NO! The MOCA (Minimum Obstacle Clearance Altitude) on V381 from BIH to NIKOL is 12;300 ft. I think that is where the controller that issued departure got his information; but getting from the MMH airport to join the BIH322 radial doesn't seem we can use this since the ODP states; 'Aircraft off RWY27 shall climb with standard rate with min 500 ft per NM to 12;700 ft.' I; along with several other controllers have never; ever cleared any aircraft off MMH to an assigned altitude below 13;000 ft and couldn't figure how Aircraft X was assigned 12;300 ft. I believe it was a terrain violation and needs to be investigated. Being the CIC; I asked the relieving controller to ask the pilot his flight conditions and departure Runway. The pilot was IMC at 12;300 ft; departed RWY27 and I later learned Aircraft X only wanted to climb to 12;000. I; along with several other seasoned veterans and 2 supervisors played this out and we really couldn't see how the controller applied proper separation. A few other controllers with less than 10 years in the FAA said it was fine and we were wrong jumping to conclusions and not applying the MOCA correctly. Area EAST at Oakland center needs ALL controllers to be briefed on minimum altitude that a NIKOL1 ODP can depart the airport. We cannot have that much discussion or confusion and need a face to face with supervisor; one on one; a crew brief on this issue. Lives are at stake and Aircraft X fortunately had no issues on a day that was not VFR.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.