[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 87 (Friday, May 5, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26559-26560]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-6924]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Program for Renewable Energy and Alternate Use of Existing 
Structures on the Outer Continental Shelf

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a programmatic environmental 
impact statement (EIS) and scoping meetings.

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1. Authority

    The Notice of Intent (NOI) and notice of scoping meetings is 
published pursuant to the regulations (40 CFR 1501.7) implementing the 
provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as 
amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

2. Purpose of Notice of Intent

    Pursuant to the regulations implementing the procedural provisions 
of the NEPA, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) is announcing its 
intent to prepare a programmatic EIS for the National Offshore 
Alternate Energy-Related Use (AERU) Program and Rule as authorized by 
the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The NOI also serves to announce the 
scoping process for this programmatic EIS. Throughout the scoping 
process, Federal, State, and local government agencies, and other 
interested parties have the opportunity to advise MMS in determining 
the significant issues, alternatives, and mitigation measures to be 
considered for analysis in the programmatic EIS. The programmatic EIS 
analysis will focus on the potential environmental effects of 
implementing the AERU program, and associated rulemaking.

3. Cooperating Agency

    The MMS invites other Federal agencies and State, tribal, and local 
governments to consider becoming cooperating agencies in the 
preparation of the programmatic EIS. We invite qualified government 
entities to inquire about cooperating agency status for the EIS. 
Following the guidelines from the Council of Environmental Quality 
(CEQ), qualified agencies and governments are those with ''jurisdiction 
by law or special expertise.'' Potential cooperating agencies should 
consider their authority and capacity to assume the responsibilities of 
a cooperating agency and to remember that an agency's role in the 
environmental analysis neither enlarges nor diminishes the final 
decision making authority of any other agency involved in the NEPA 
process. Upon request, the MMS will provide potential cooperating 
agencies with a written summary of ground rules for cooperating 
agencies, including time schedules and critical action dates, 
milestones, responsibilities, scope and detail of cooperating agencies' 
contributions, and availability of pre-decisional information. The MMS 
anticipates this summary will form the basis for understanding between 
the MMS and each cooperating agency. Agencies should also consider the 
``Factors for Determining Cooperating Agency Status'' in Attachment 1 
to CEQ's January 30, 2002, Memorandum for the Heads of Federal 
Agencies: Cooperating Agencies in Implementing the Procedural 
Requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. A copy of this 
document is available at: http://ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/cooperatingagenciesmemorandum.html and http://ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/cooperatingagencymemofactors.html.
    The MMS, as the lead agency, will not provide financial assistance 
to cooperating agencies. Even if an organization is not a cooperating 
agency, opportunities will exist to provide information and comments to 
MMS during the normal public input phases of the NEPA/EIS process. If 
further information about cooperating agencies is needed, please 
contact Mr. James F. Bennett at (703) 787-1660.

4. Comments

    Federal, State, tribal, local government agencies, and other 
interested parties are requested to provide comments on the scope of 
the programmatic EIS, significant issues that should be addressed, and 
alternatives that should be considered in one of the following three 
ways:
    1. Electronically, using the online comment form available on the 
project Web site: ocsenergy.anl.gov. This is the preferred method for 
commenting.
    2. In written form, mailed or delivered to MMS Renewable Energy and 
Alternate Use Programmatic EIS Scoping, Argonne National Laboratory, 
9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439.
    3. In person, at public scoping meetings to be held in multiple 
locations in May and June, 2006 (see below).

[[Page 26560]]

    Comments should be submitted no later than 60 days from the 
publication of this NOI.
    Public Comment Policy: Our practice is to make comments, including 
names and addresses of respondents, available for public review. 
Individual respondents may request that we withhold their address from 
the record, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There 
may be circumstances in which we would withhold from the record a 
respondent's identity, as allowable by the law. If you wish us to 
withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently at 
the beginning of your comment. However, we will not consider anonymous 
comments. Except for proprietary information, we will make all 
submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals 
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations 
or businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.

5. Scoping Meetings

    The MMS will hold scoping meetings to obtain additional comments 
and information regarding the scope of the programmatic EIS. The 
scoping meetings are scheduled for the following cities:
     Thursday, May 18, 2006, Days Hotel and Conference Center, 
2200 Centerville Road, Herndon, Virginia, 5:30 p.m.
     Tuesday, May 23, 2006, Marriott Trenton at Lafayette Yard, 
1 West Lafayette Street, Trenton, New Jersey, 5:30 p.m.
     Tuesday, May 23, 2006, Hilton Austin Airport, 9515 New 
Airport Drive, Austin, Texas, 5:30 p.m.
     Wednesday, May 24, 2006, Melville Marriott, 1350 Old Walt 
Whitman Road, Melville, New York, 5:30 p.m.
     Thursday, May 25, 2006, Holiday Inn Boston-Dedham Hotel 
and Conference Center, 55 Ariadne Road, Dedham, Massachusetts, 5:30 
p.m.
     Thursday, May 25, 2006, Courtyard Long Beach Downtown, 500 
East First Street, Long Beach, California, 5:30 p.m.
     Tuesday, June 6, 2006, Atlanta Marriott Century Center, 
2000 Century Boulevard NE, Atlanta, Georgia, 5:30 p.m.
     Tuesday, June 6, 2006, Holiday Inn Portland-Downtown, 1441 
NE 2nd Avenue, Portland, Oregon, 5:30 p.m.
     Thursday, June 8, 2006, Embassy Suites Hotel Orlando-
International Drive, 8978 International Drive, Orlando, Florida, 5:30 
p.m.
     Thursday, June 8, 2006, The Presidio Officer's Club, 50 
Moraga Avenue, San Francisco, California, 5:30 p.m.

    Dated: May 2, 2006.
R.M. ``Johnnie'' Burton,
Director, Minerals Management Service.
 [FR Doc. E6-6924 Filed 5-4-06; 8:45 am]
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