[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 181 (Friday, September 18, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56494-56495]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-22988]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

[BOEM-2015-0078; MMAA104000]


Revised Environmental Assessment for Commercial Wind Lease 
Issuance and Site Assessment Activities on the Atlantic Outer 
Continental Shelf Offshore North Carolina

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: BOEM is announcing the availability of a revised Environmental 
Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for 
commercial wind lease issuance, site characterization activities 
(geophysical, geotechnical, archaeological, and biological surveys), 
and site assessment activities (including the installation and 
operation of a meteorological tower and/or buoys) on the Atlantic Outer 
Continental Shelf offshore North Carolina. The revised EA provides a 
discussion of potential impacts of the proposed action and an analysis 
of reasonable alternatives to the proposed action. In accordance with 
the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and 
the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) regulations implementing 
NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500 through 1508), BOEM issued a FONSI supported by 
the analysis in the revised EA. The FONSI concluded that the reasonably 
foreseeable environmental impacts associated with the proposed action 
and alternatives, as set forth in the EA, would not significantly 
impact the quality of the human environment; therefore, the preparation 
of an Environmental Impact Statement is not required. These documents 
and associated information are available on BOEM's Web site at http://www.boem.gov/North-Carolina/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michelle Morin, BOEM Office of 
Renewable Energy Programs, 45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, Virginia 
20166, (703) 787-1340 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In January 2015, BOEM published an EA to 
consider the reasonably foreseeable environmental consequences 
associated with commercial wind lease issuance, site characterization 
activities, and site assessment activities in three wind energy areas 
(WEAs) offshore North Carolina. The 2015 EA considered all three North 
Carolina WEAs for leasing and approval of site assessment plans as the 
proposed action under NEPA. A Notice of Availability was published on 
January 23, 2015 to announce the availability of the EA and initiate a 
30-day public comment period (80 FR 3621). The EA was subsequently 
revised based on comments received during the comment period and public 
information meetings. The revised EA provides updated environmental 
data, additional details on how the WEAs were delineated, and analysis 
of potential effects to the proposed critical habitat expansion for 
North Atlantic right whales, which was published during the public 
comment period for the 2015 EA. A summary of comments received on the 
2015 EA and BOEM's responses to those comments is also provided in the 
revised EA.
    In addition to the proposed action, the revised EA considers the 
following alternatives: Exclusion of the Wilmington West WEA from 
leasing; seasonal restrictions on certain site characterization 
activities; and no action. BOEM's analysis of the proposed action and 
alternatives takes into account standard operating conditions (SOCs) 
designed to avoid or minimize potential impacts to marine mammals and 
sea turtles. The SOCs can be found in Appendix B of the revised EA.
    BOEM will use the revised EA to inform decisions to issue leases in 
the North Carolina WEAs, and to

[[Page 56495]]

subsequently approve site assessment plans on those leases. BOEM may 
issue one or more commercial wind energy leases in the North Carolina 
WEAs. The competitive leasing process is set forth at 30 CFR 585.210 
through 585.225. If a lessee is prepared to propose a wind energy 
generation facility on its lease, the lessee can submit a Construction 
and Operations Plan (COP) to BOEM. BOEM would then prepare a separate 
site- and project-specific NEPA analysis based on the activities 
proposed in the COP.

    Authority:  This Notice of Availability for an EA is in 
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as 
amended (42 U.S.C. 4231 et seq.), and is published pursuant to 43 
CFR 46.305.

    Dated: August 3, 2015.
Abigail Ross Hopper,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[FR Doc. 2015-22988 Filed 9-17-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P