[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 122 (Friday, June 26, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30616-30617]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-15169]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Notice of Offering of Five Alternative Energy Interim Policy 
Leases for Wind Resource Data Collection on the Outer Continental Shelf 
Offshore Delaware and New Jersey; Notice of Availability of an 
Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Lease Offering; Notice of Availability of an 
Environmental Assessment.

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SUMMARY: Notice is given that the MMS will issue five limited leases 
authorizing wind resource data collection on the Outer Continental 
Shelf (OCS) offshore New Jersey and Delaware. Five OCS blocks will be 
leased for a term of 5 years; and the annual rent will be $3.00 per 
acre as established in the interim policy published in the Federal 
Register (72 FR 214, pp. 62673-62675) on November 6, 2007. The OCS 
blocks will be leased subject to the terms set forth in the lease form 
published in the Federal Register (73 FR 77, pp. 21363-21375) on April 
21, 2008, and also subject to stipulations. The MMS will issue leases 
for four OCS blocks off the coast of New Jersey and one off the coast 
of Delaware to four companies: Bluewater Wind Delaware, LLC; Bluewater 
Wind New Jersey Energy LLC; Fishermen's Energy of New Jersey, LLC, and 
Deepwater Wind, LLC. The OCS blocks off the coast of New Jersey are 
Wilmington NJ 18-02 Block 6936 to Bluewater Wind New Jersey Energy, 
LLC; Wilmington NJ 18-02 Block 6931 to Fishermen's Energy of New 
Jersey, LLC; Wilmington NJ 18-02 Block 6738 and Wilmington NJ 18-02 
Block 7033 to Deepwater Wind, LLC. The OCS block MMS will lease off the 
coast of Delaware is Salisbury NJ 18-05 Block 6325 to Bluewater Wind 
Delaware, LLC.
    The MMS is also giving notice that MMS is making available to the 
public an environmental assessment (EA) that addresses the issue of 
whether offering of leases off the coasts of New Jersey and Delaware 
would have a significant effect on the human environment and whether an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) must be prepared pursuant to the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 
4321 et seq. Based on the environmental review set forth in the EA, the 
MMS has determined that no significant effects on the human environment 
have been identified that would result from the issuance of leases for 
wind resource data collection on the OCS off the coasts of New Jersey 
and Delaware. Therefore, MMS concluded that an EIS was not required 
under the NEPA and prepared a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). 
The MMS is making available the FONSI and the decision memorandum 
approving the selection of the preferred alternative on the MMS Web 
site provided at the time of this notice.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Background. Section 388 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) 
gave the Secretary of the Department of the Interior (DOI) the 
authority to issue leases, easements and rights-of-way on the OCS for 
alternative energy activities. In a Request for Information and 
Nominations published on November 6, 2007, in the Federal Register (72 
FR 214, pp. 62673-62675) the MMS announced that it had established an 
interim policy under which it would issue limited leases authorizing 
alternative energy resource assessment data collection and technology 
testing activities on the OCS and that it was accepting requests for 
limited leases to conduct such activities. Limited leases issued under 
the interim policy for energy resource assessment data collection and 
technology testing activities have a term of 5 years, and do not 
authorize the production or transmission of energy. Subsequently, MMS 
received more than 40 nominations proposing areas for limited leases on 
the OCS off the Pacific and Atlantic Coasts. The MMS reviewed in detail 
all nominations received and established priority areas for initial 
leasing based on considerations such as technological complexity, 
geographical balance, timing needs, competing space-use issues, and 
relevant State-supported renewable energy activities and initiatives. 
The MMS also took into consideration the importance of supporting the 
advancement of activities relating to the development of each of the 
renewable energy resource types cited in the nominations--wind, 
current, and wave. In April 2008, MMS identified a subset of 16 
proposed lease areas for priority consideration, including 7 areas 
offshore Delaware and New Jersey, and provided public notice of those 
areas in the Federal Register (73 FR 76, pp. 21152-21155) in which it 
sought other project proposals for those areas for the purpose of 
determining competitive interest as required by the EPAct. No competing 
nominations were received for any of the areas offshore Delaware and 
New Jersey, allowing the MMS to proceed with the issuance of the leases 
noncompetitively and the required

[[Page 30617]]

environmental review. The MMS received applications for five of the 
initial seven lease areas proposed offshore Delaware and New Jersey. 
The five limited leases are as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Approximate
             State                  distance       Technology type       Protraction              Company
                                    offshore
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New Jersey....................  15-18 miles.....  Wind............  Wilmington NJ 18-02,   Bluewater Wind New
                                                                     block 6936.            Jersey Energy, LLC.
New Jersey....................  7-10 miles......  Wind............  Wilmington NJ 18-02,   Fishermen's Energy of
                                                                     block 6931.            New Jersey, LLC.
New Jersey....................  15-18 miles.....  Wind............  Wilmington NJ 18-02,   Deepwater Wind, LLC.
                                                                     block 6738.
New Jersey....................  12-15 miles.....  Wind............  Wilmington NJ 18-02,   Deepwater Wind, LLC.
                                                                     block 7033.
Delaware......................  12-15 miles.....  Wind............  Salisbury NJ 18-05,    Bluewater Wind
                                                                     block 6325.            Delaware, LLC.
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    The limited leases will be governed by the terms outlined in the 
interim policy lease and stipulations. The interim policy lease form 
was published in the Federal Register (73 FR 77, pp. 21363-21375) on 
April 21, 2008.
    Environmental Assessment. The MMS has prepared an EA to determine 
whether issuance of leases under MMS' alternative energy interim policy 
authorizing wind resource data collection on seven lease blocks, 
including the five lease blocks listed above, located on the OCS 
offshore Delaware and New Jersey would have a significant effect on the 
human environment and whether an EIS must be prepared. The EA examines 
potential effects of activities associated with the proposed action--
the issuance of seven limited leases--and the alternatives (reduced 
number of leases and no action) that would occur over the life of the 
leases, including site assessment activities, construction, operation, 
and decommissioning of meteorological and oceanographic data collection 
facilities. The EA concluded that offshore activities would result in 
localized impacts and impacts from the individual meteorological 
towers. The activities related to the seven proposed facilities would 
not overlap due to the distance between the proposed lease areas. 
Therefore, the EA concluded that there would be no additive effect on 
offshore environmental resources by approving multiple locations for 
wind resource data collection. The proposed leases would be located 7-
18 miles from the nearest shoreline and result in virtually no visual 
impacts. There also would be no need to expand existing onshore 
facilities or construct new facilities to support staging and 
fabrication of meteorological towers. There would, however, be a small 
increase in vessel traffic associated with limited construction and 
decommissioning activities for very short time periods. During the 
operation of the proposed meteorological towers, there would be no 
significant impacts on air and water quality; coastal, wildlife, and 
archeological resources; or fishing and recreational activities. 
Furthermore, EA recommended that several mitigation measures, in the 
form of lease stipulations, be added to the lease that would reduce or 
eliminate the potential impacts to the environment. Based on the 
analyses in the EA, no significant effects on the human environment 
were identified that would result from the proposed action. Therefore, 
MMS has concluded that an EIS is not required and prepared a FONSI.
    EA Availablity: The EA, FONSI, and decision memorandum are 
available on the MMS Web site at: http://www.mms.gov/offshore/AlternativeEnergy/RegulatoryInformation.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    Regarding the Lease Issuance: Ms. Maureen Bornholdt, Program 
Manager, Office of Offshore Alternative Energy Programs, 381 Elden 
Street MS 4090, Herndon, Virginia 20170, (703) 787-1300.
    Regarding the Environmental Assessment: Mr. James F. Bennett, 
Chief, Branch of Environmental Assessment, 381 Elden Street MS 4042, 
Herndon, Virginia 20170, (703) 787-1660.

    Dated: June 12, 2009.
Walter D. Cruickshank,
Acting Director, Minerals Management Service.
[FR Doc. E9-15169 Filed 6-25-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P