[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 160 (Thursday, August 18, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51391-51393]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-21142]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement

[Docket No. BOEM-2011-0063]


Commercial Wind Lease Issuance and Site Characterization 
Activities on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Offshore Rhode 
Island and Massachusetts

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

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice is being published as an initial step for the 
purpose of involving Federal agencies, states, tribes, local 
government, offshore wind energy developers, and the public in the 
Department of the Interior's (DOI) ``Smart from the Start'' wind energy 
initiative. The purpose of the ``Smart from the Start'' wind energy 
initiative is to identify areas that may be most suitable for wind 
energy leasing on the OCS, and to obtain public and expert input that 
will inform the Department's decisionmaking with regard to issuing 
leases and approving site assessment activities in these areas, in 
accordance with the DOI 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 23, 2010, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the 
``Smart from the Start'' renewable energy initiative to accelerate the 
responsible development of renewable energy resources on the Atlantic 
OCS. The initiative focuses on the identification and refinement of 
areas on the OCS that are most suitable for renewable energy 
development (Wind Energy Areas (WEAs)), and utilizes coordinated 
environmental studies, large-scale planning processes, and expedited 
review processes within these areas to achieve an efficient and 
responsible renewable energy leasing process.
    In consultation with other Federal agencies and the Rhode Island 
and Massachusetts Renewable Energy Task Forces, BOEMRE has identified 
an area for consideration for potential future wind energy leasing. 
This area, offshore Rhode Island and Massachusetts, is identified in 
the Commercial Leasing for Wind Power on the Outer Continental Shelf 
(OCS) Offshore Rhode Island and Massachusetts-Call for Information and 
Nominations (Call), which is being published concurrently with this 
notice. The area identified in the Call and this notice is located 
within the Area of Mutual Interest (AMI), as described by a Memorandum 
of Understanding (MOU) between the Governors of Rhode Island and 
Massachusetts.
    More information on the task forces and the ``Smart from the 
Start'' initiative can be found at: http://www.boemre.gov/offshore/RenewableEnergy/StateActivitiesProjects.htm and http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Salazar-Launches-Smart-from-the-Start-Initiative-to-Speed-Offshore-Wind-Energy-Development-off-the-Atlantic-Coast.cfm.
    BOEMRE intends to prepare an environmental assessment (EA), which 
will consider the environmental consequences associated with issuing 
commercial wind leases and approving site assessment activities on 
those leases (within all or some of this Call Area). The EA will not 
analyze or support

[[Page 51392]]

development activities. If a successful lessee proposes development 
activity, the specific proposal will be given full review at that time. 
BOEMRE is seeking public input regarding the identification of the 
important environmental and/or socioeconomic issues and alternatives to 
be considered in the EA.

    Authority: This Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an 
environmental assessment 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. The OCS Wind Energy Leasing and Development Process

    There are three key phases of the wind energy leasing and 
development process on the OCS: (1) Lease issuance; (2) approval of a 
site assessment plan (SAP); and (3) approval of a construction and 
operation plan (COP). The first phase, issuance of a commercial 
renewable energy lease, gives the lessee an exclusive right to apply 
for approval of subsequent plans, the approval of which is necessary 
for a lessee to advance to the next stage of the renewable energy 
development process. The second phase is the applicant's submission, 
and BOEMRE's subsequent review and approval of a SAP. Approval of a SAP 
would allow the lessee to construct and install a meteorological tower 
and/or buoys on the leasehold. See 30 CFR 285.600-285.601; 285.605-
285.618. After the lessee has collected sufficient site 
characterization and assessment data, the lessee may submit a COP, the 
review of which could authorize the actual construction and operation 
of a renewable energy facility on the lease. See 30 CFR 285.620-
285.629. Although BOEMRE does not authorize site characterization 
activities (i.e., geological and geophysical surveys and core samples), 
a lessee must submit the results of such surveys before BOEMRE can 
consider its COP. See 30 CFR 285.626.

2. Proposed Action and Scope of Analysis

    The proposed action that will be the subject of the EA is the 
issuance of renewable energy leases within all or some of the Call Area 
described in this Notice, and the approval of site assessment 
activities on those leases (i.e., Phases 1 and 2 of the wind energy 
leasing and development process). BOEMRE will also consider in the EA 
the environmental impacts associated with the site characterization 
activities that it anticipates lessees might eventually undertake to 
fulfill the COP information requirements at 30 CFR 285.626.
    The EA will not, however, be used to support any future decision 
regarding the approval of the construction or operation of any wind 
energy facility on leases that may be issued within all or some of this 
Call Area. BOEMRE is not currently considering any such plan, nor has 
any plan been submitted. If and when a lessee is ready to begin this 
third phase of renewable energy development, it will submit a COP. If a 
COP is submitted for a particular project on a lease, a separate site- 
and project-specific NEPA analysis would be prepared. This would take 
the form of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and would provide 
additional opportunities for public involvement pursuant to NEPA and 
the CEQ regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508. Such an EIS process 
would provide the public and Federal officials with comprehensive site- 
and project-specific information, and the EIS would consider the 
reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts of the specific project 
that the lessee is proposing. These potential impacts will be taken 
into account when deciding whether to approve, approve with 
modification, or deny the COP pursuant to 30 CFR 285.628.
    The EA, which is the subject of this notice, will consider the 
environmental consequences associated with reasonably foreseeable 
leasing scenarios (not development itself), reasonably foreseeable site 
characterization scenarios within these lease areas (including 
geophysical, geotechnical, archeological, and biological surveys), and 
reasonably foreseeable site assessment scenarios (including the 
installation and operation of meteorological towers and buoys) on the 
leases that may be issued within all or some of the Call Area. At a 
minimum, the alternatives that will be considered are: no action (i.e., 
no issuance of leases or approval of site assessment activities); and 
the issuance of leases and approval of site assessment activities 
within the areas described in Section 4 of this Notice. BOEMRE is 
therefore soliciting input on the environmental issues and alternatives 
to be considered in the EA related to the potential environmental 
effects of the activities described above.
    Federal, state, and local government agencies, tribal governments, 
and other interested parties may assist BOEMRE in determining the 
issues and any additional alternatives to be analyzed in the EA. Input 
is also requested on measures (e.g., limitations on activities based on 
technology, distance from shore, or timing) that would mitigate impacts 
to environmental resources and socioeconomic conditions that could 
result from leasing, site characterization, and site assessment in and 
around the Call Area described below. 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 any particular lease will be issued or site assessment 
activities on those leases approved.
    If BOEMRE determines during the EA process that issuing leases and 
conducting site characterization and assessment activities offshore 
within the Call Area would result in significant environmental impacts, 
then BOEMRE would publish a NOI to prepare an EIS for the issuance of 
renewable energy leases and approval of site assessment activities 
within all or some of this Call Area. If BOEMRE determines during the 
EA process that issuing leases and conducting site characterization and 
assessment activities within all or some of this Call Area would not 
result in significant environmental impacts, then BOEMRE would issue a 
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). After either a FONSI is 
issued or the EIS process is completed, BOEMRE may issue one or more 
renewable energy leases within all or some of this Call Area. In the 
event that a particular lease is issued, and the lessee submits a SAP, 
BOEMRE will determine whether the EA adequately considers the 
environmental consequences of the activities proposed in the lessee's 
SAP. If the analysis in the EA adequately addresses these consequences, 
then no further NEPA analysis would be required before the SAP is 
approved. If that analysis is inadequate, additional NEPA analysis 
would be conducted before the SAP could be approved.

3. Information That Will Be Incorporated Into the EA

    On November 6, 2007, BOEMRE published a Notice of Availability in 
the Federal Register (72 FR 62,672) of the Programmatic EIS for 
Alternative Energy Development and Production and Alternate Use of 
Facilities on the Outer Continental Shelf, Final EIS (OCS Report MMS 
2007-046) (Programmatic EIS). On June 26, 2009, BOEMRE published a 
Notice of Availability in the Federal Register (74 FR 30,616) of the EA 
for Issuance of Leases for Wind Resource Data Collection on the Outer

[[Page 51393]]

Continental Shelf Offshore Delaware and New Jersey (OCS EIS/EA MMS 
2009-025) (Interim Policy EA), which addressed similar activities.
    BOEMRE will incorporate the environmental and socioeconomic 
analyses of site characterization and assessment activities from the 
Programmatic EIS, Interim Policy EA, and other public information to 
inform its analysis in the EA. The EA will be developed using many of 
the principles of coastal and marine spatial planning, such as 
comprehensive interagency coordination, to identify information needs 
for COP submittals necessary for future decisionmaking regarding wind 
energy development.

4. Description of the Call Area

    BOEMRE has identified an area for consideration for potential 
future wind energy leasing in consultation with other Federal agencies 
and the Rhode Island and Massachusetts Renewable Energy Task Forces. 
The area identified in the Call and this notice is located within the 
AMI, as described by a MOU between the Governors of Rhode Island and 
Massachusetts. The Call Area is divided into two areas separated by an 
existing traffic separation scheme. A detailed description of the area 
can be found in the Call that is published concurrently with this 
notice.

Map of the Call Area

    A map of the area can be found at the following URL: http://www.boemre.gov/offshore/RenewableEnergy/StateActivities-RhodeIsland.htm.
    A large-scale map of the Call Area showing boundaries of the area 
with numbered blocks is available from BOEMRE at the following address: 
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, Office 
of Offshore Alternative Energy Programs, 381 Elden Street, Mail Stop 
4090, Herndon, Virginia 20170, Phone: (703) 787-1320.
    Based on the information submitted in response to this notice and 
the aforementioned Call, BOEMRE would identify an area in which 
interest exists, and which will be subject to environmental analysis, 
in consultation with appropriate Federal agencies, states, local 
governments, tribes and other interested parties. The area identified 
will constitute a WEA under the ``Smart from the Start'' initiative, 
which will be the area analyzed in the EA.

5. Cooperating Agencies

    BOEMRE invites other Federal agencies and state, tribal, and local 
governments to consider becoming cooperating agencies in the 
preparation of this 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 to remember 
that an agency's role in the environmental analysis neither enlarges 
nor diminishes the final decisionmaking 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 
predecisional information. 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 
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.

6. Comments

    Federal, state, local government agencies, tribal governments, and 
other interested parties are requested to send their written comments 
regarding environmental issues and the identification of reasonable 
alternatives related to the proposed actions described in this notice 
in one of the following ways:
    1. Electronically: http://www.regulations.gov. In the entry titled 
``Enter Keyword or ID,'' enter BOEM-2011-0063, 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 Rhode Island and Massachusetts EA'' 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 October 3, 2011.

     Dated: July 27, 2011.
Robert P. LaBelle,
Acting Associate Director for Offshore Energy and Minerals Management.
[FR Doc. 2011-21142 Filed 8-17-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P