[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 241 (Friday, December 14, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74512-74513]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-30185]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
[Docket No. BOEM-2012-0074]
Interim Policy Leasing for Renewable Energy Data Collection
Facility on the Outer Continental Shelf off the Coast of Georgia
AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment.
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SUMMARY: This Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental
Assessment (EA) is being published as an initial step for the purpose
of involving Federal agencies, states, tribes, local governments, and
the public in the preparation of an EA. The EA will consider the
environmental consequences associated with issuing a lease for an
offshore data collection facility located on the Outer Continental
Shelf (OCS), in accordance with applicable Department of the Interior
(DOI) and 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, now BOEM,
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). An applicant has submitted a lease
proposal to BOEM pursuant to the interim policy and, thus, has
initiated the need for an EA.
On April 7, 2011, Southern Company submitted an application to
lease three OCS blocks, approximately 3--11 nautical miles off the
coast of Tybee Island, Georgia, under its original nomination submitted
on July 23, 2008. The areas proposed for leasing are identified as
Brunswick NH 17-02 OCS blocks numbered 6074, 6174, and 6126. The
proposed lease area covers about 70 square kilometers (17,280 acres) of
seafloor, and ranges from a depth of 12 meters (m) in Block 6074 to 20
m in the eastern half of Block 6126. Southern Company submitted amended
project applications on May 18, 2012, and October 25, 2012, which
describe additional data collection and technology testing activities
to be conducted on the proposed lease. Southern Company intends to
deploy a meteorological tower and/or a meteorological buoy that will
measure wind speed, direction and shear, and potentially collect other
environmental data during the five year lease term.
BOEM intends to prepare an EA for the purpose of considering the
environmental consequences associated with issuing an interim policy
lease to Southern Company; this EA will consider impacts associated
with the deployment and installation of a meteorological tower and/or
the deployment of a meteorological buoy. At a minimum, the EA will
consider the alternatives of 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 installation of a fixed
meteorological tower and/or deployment of a meteorological buoy.
With this NOI, BOEM requests comments and input from Federal,
state, and local government agencies, tribal governments, and other
interested parties on important environmental issues and alternatives
that may be appropriate for consideration in the EA. BOEM also requests
information pertaining to measures (e.g., limitations on activities
based on technology, siting, or timing) that would minimize the
reasonably foreseeable impacts to environmental resources and
socioeconomic conditions which could result from the proposed activity.
BOEM will conduct consultations with other Federal agencies, tribal
governments, and affected states during the EA process.
Authority: BOEM publishes this NOI to prepare an EA pursuant to
43 CFR 46.305.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michelle Morin, BOEM Office of
Renewable Energy Programs, 381 Elden Street, HM 1328, Herndon, Virginia
20170-4817, (703) 787-1340 or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Interim Policy
Subsection 8(p) of the OCS Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(p)), 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. The
Secretary delegated this authority to BOEM. In a Request for
Information and Nominations published on November 6, 2007, in the
Federal Register (72 FR 62673), BOEM announced that it had established
an interim policy under which it would issue limited leases authorizing
renewable 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. Leases issued under the
interim policy have a term of five years, and do not authorize the
production or transmission of energy. In response to the November 6,
2007 notice, BOEM received more than 40 nominations proposing areas for
interim policy leases on the OCS off the Pacific and Atlantic Coasts.
BOEM reviewed in detail all nominations received and, on April 18,
2008, identified 16 proposed lease areas for consideration based on
factors such as the technological complexity of the proposed project,
timing needs, competing OCS space-use issues, and relevant state-
supported renewable energy activities and initiatives (73 FR 21152).
BOEM 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, ocean current, and wave. Of the 16 areas, BOEM
identified three proposed areas offshore Georgia as suitable areas for
renewable energy resource data collection and technology testing.
In the April 18, 2008 notice, BOEM solicited expressions of
competitive interest from parties interested in leasing any of these
nominated areas. 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.
The terms outlined in the BOEM interim policy lease and
stipulations published in the Federal Register (73 FR 21363) on April
21, 2008, govern interim policy leases. More information about the
interim policy can be found at the following web address: http://www.boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/Regulatory-Information/Index.aspx#Interim_Policy.
2. Cooperating Agencies
BOEM invites Federal, state, and local government agencies as well
as tribal governments to consider becoming cooperating agencies in the
preparation of the EA. CEQ regulations
[[Page 74513]]
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 decisionmaking authority of
any other agency involved in the NEPA process.
Upon request, BOEM 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 of
CEQ's January 30, 2002, Memorandum for the Heads of Federal Agencies:
Cooperating Agencies in Implementing the Procedural Requirements of the
NEPA. Copies of this document are available at the following web
addresses: http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/cooperatingagenciesmemorandum.html and http://ceq.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/cooperatingagencymemofactors.html.
BOEM, 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
BOEM during the normal public input phases of the NEPA 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 an interim
policy lease to Southern Company 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-2012-0074,'' 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 Southern Company'' to Program Manager, Office of
Renewable Energy Programs (HM 1328), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,
381 Elden Street, Herndon, Virginia 20170.
Comments should be submitted no later than January 14, 2013.
Dated: December 5, 2012.
Tommy P. Beaudreau,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[FR Doc. 2012-30185 Filed 12-13-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P