[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 100 (Tuesday, May 24, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30184-30186]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-12724]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement

[Docket No. BOEM-2011-0012]


Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Renewable Energy Program Interim 
Policy Leasing for Marine Hydrokinetic Technology Testing Offshore 
Florida

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement 
(BOEMRE), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare an Environmental Assessment 
(EA).

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SUMMARY: This notice is being published as an initial step for the 
purpose of involving Federal agencies, states, tribes, local 
government, and the public in the leasing decision for an offshore 
technology testing facility located on the OCS, in accordance with the 
Department of the Interior and the Council on Environmental Quality 
(CEQ) regulations implementing the provisions of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
seq.). On November 6, 2007, the Minerals Management Service (MMS), now 
BOEMRE, announced an interim policy for authorizing the issuance of 
leases for the installation of offshore data collection and technology 
testing facilities on the OCS (72 FR 62673). A lease application has 
been submitted pursuant to the interim policy, initiating the need for 
an EA.
    On June 11, 2010 Florida Atlantic University's (FAU) Southeast 
National Marine Renewable Energy Center (SNMREC) submitted an 
application to lease three OCS blocks, approximately nine to 15 
nautical miles offshore of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, under its original 
nomination submitted on November 8, 2007. These three blocks are 
located on the Atlantic OCS in the Official Protraction Diagram NG 17-
06 numbered 7003, 7053, and 7054. The proposed lease area ranges from a 
depth of 262 meters (m) in Block 7053 to 366 m in the southern half of 
Block 7054. This project application was amended on February 10, 2011, 
and describes data collection and technology testing activities to be 
conducted on the proposed lease. FAU SNMREC intends to deploy a single-
anchor mooring, with a mooring and telemetry buoy (MTB) (similar to the 
Navy Oceanographic Meteorological Automatic Device (NOMAD) weather 
buoys) for the purpose of testing, for limited periods, equipment 
designed to use the Florida current to generate electricity on the 
proposed leasehold. The proposed MTB would act as both a sensor and 
measurement platform and mooring point for a platform or vessel which 
can deploy small-scale ocean current devices. The device(s) to be 
deployed would be limited to 100-kilowatt (kW) power extraction and 
seven-meter diameter rotor(s). Initially, it is proposed to deploy an 
experimental demonstration device with 20 kW maximum power and a three-
meter rotor diameter from a vessel moored to the MTB.
    BOEMRE intends to prepare an EA for the purpose of considering the 
environmental consequences associated with issuing an interim policy 
lease to FAU SNMREC, which will include impacts that may result from 
the installation of an MTB, deployment of small-scale ocean current 
devices, and operations of a deployment vessel on the potential 
leasehold. The EA will consider multiple environmental issues, 
including impacts to benthic habitats, sea turtles, pelagic fishes, 
marine mammals, and existing human uses. At a minimum, the alternatives 
that will be considered are no action (i.e., no issuance of a lease), 
and the issuance of a lease and approval of certain technology testing 
activities within the lease area, such as deployment of technology 
demonstration devices, single anchor moorings, and an MTB.
    With this NOI, BOEMRE is requesting comments and input from 
Federal, state,

[[Page 30185]]

and local government agencies, tribal governments, and other interested 
parties, which may assist BOEMRE in identifying the important 
environmental issues and any additional alternatives that should be 
considered in the EA. Input is also requested regarding measures (e.g., 
limitations on activities based on technology, siting, or timing) that 
would mitigate impacts to environmental resources and socioeconomic 
conditions that could result from leasing and the technology testing 
activities in the lease area. Consultation with other Federal agencies, 
tribal governments, and affected states will be carried out during the 
EA process and will be completed before a final decision is made on 
whether, or under what circumstances to issue a lease.

    Authority:  This NOI to prepare an EA is published pursuant to 
43 CFR 46.305.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michelle Morin, BOEMRE Office of 
Offshore Alternative Energy Programs, 381 Elden Street, MS 4090, 
Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817, (703) 787-1340 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Interim Policy

    Subsection 8(p)(1)(C) of the OCS Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 
1337(p)(1)(3)), which was added by section 388 of the Energy Policy Act 
of 2005 (EPAct), gave the Secretary of the Interior the authority to 
issue leases, easements and rights-of-way on the OCS for alternative 
energy activities. This authority has been delegated to BOEMRE. In a 
Request for Information and Nominations published on November 6, 2007, 
in the Federal Register (72 FR 62673) BOEMRE 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 
nominations 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. 
In response to the November 6, 2007 notice, BOEMRE received more than 
40 nominations proposing areas for limited leases on the OCS off the 
Pacific and Atlantic Coasts.
    BOEMRE reviewed in detail all nominations received and, on April 
18, 2008, identified 16 proposed lease areas for priority consideration 
based on factors such as the technological complexity of the project 
proposed, timing needs, competing OCS space-use issues, and relevant 
state-supported renewable energy activities and initiatives (73 FR 
21152). BOEMRE also took into consideration the importance of 
supporting the advancement of activities related to the development of 
each of the renewable energy resource types that would be studied in 
the proposals--wind, current, and wave. Of the 16 areas, BOEMRE 
identified four proposed areas offshore Florida as priority areas for 
the testing of ocean current technology and the collection of resource 
data.
    In the April 18, 2008 notice, BOEMRE also solicited from interested 
parties expressions of competitive interest in leasing any of these 
nominated areas. See 43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(3). The notice also invited 
comments and solicited information from the public regarding the 
suitability of these areas for leasing and the environmental and 
socioeconomic consequences that may be associated with issuing research 
leases in these areas. BOEMRE received no indications of competitive 
interest in acquiring leases within these four areas offshore Florida, 
which include the three blocks identified in FAU SNMREC's most recent 
application. As a result, BOEMRE intends to make a final decision on 
whether to proceed with the issuance of a lease noncompetitively, once 
the required environmental review, which is the subject of this NOI, is 
completed.
    Interim policy leases will be governed by the terms outlined in the 
interim policy lease and stipulations published in the Federal Register 
(73 FR 21363) on April 21, 2008. More information about the interim 
policy can be found at: http://www.boemre.gov/offshore/RenewableEnergy/RegulatoryInformation.htm#Interim_Policy.

2. Cooperating Agencies

    BOEMRE invites other Federal agencies and state, tribal, and local 
governments to consider becoming cooperating agencies in the 
preparation of the EA. CEQ regulations implementing the procedural 
provisions of NEPA define cooperating agencies as those with 
``jurisdiction by law or special expertise'' (40 CFR 1508.5). Potential 
cooperating agencies should consider their authority and capacity to 
assume the responsibilities of a cooperating agency and 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, BOEMRE will provide potential cooperating agencies 
with a draft Memorandum of Agreement that includes a schedule with 
critical action dates and milestones, mutual responsibilities, 
designated points of contact, and expectations for handling pre-
decisional information. Agencies should also consider the ``Factors for 
Determining Whether to Invite, Decline, or End 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 NEPA. A copy of this document is 
available at: http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/cooperatingagenciesmemorandum.html and http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/cooperatingagencymemofactors.html.
    BOEMRE, 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 
BOEMRE during the normal public input phases of the NEPA/EA process.

3. Comments

    Federal, state, local government agencies, tribal governments, and 
other interested parties are requested to send their written comments 
regarding important environmental issues and the identification of 
reasonable alternatives related to the proposed issuance of a limited 
lease to FAU SNMREC on which it intends to conduct data collection and 
technology testing activities in one of the following ways:
    1. Electronically: http://www.regulations.gov. In the entry titled 
``Enter Keyword or ID,'' enter ``BOEM-2011-0012,'' then click 
``Search''. Follow the instructions to submit public comments and view 
supporting and related materials available for this document.
    2. In written form, delivered by hand or by mail, enclosed in an 
envelope labeled ``Comments on OCS Renewable Energy Program Interim 
Policy Lease for FAU SNMREC'' to Program Manager, Office of Offshore 
Alternative Energy Programs (MS 4090), Bureau of Ocean Energy 
Management, Regulation and Enforcement, 381 Elden Street, Herndon, 
Virginia 20170.
    Comments should be submitted no later than June 23, 2011.


[[Page 30186]]


    Dated: May 18, 2011.
L. Renee Orr,
Acting Associate Director for Offshore Energy and Minerals Management.
[FR Doc. 2011-12724 Filed 5-23-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P