[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 240 (Thursday, December 13, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74218-74220]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-30091]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
[Docket No. BOEM-2012-0090]
Commercial Wind Leasing and Site Assessment Activities on the
Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Offshore North Carolina
AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment.
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SUMMARY: BOEM is publishing this Notice of Intent To Prepare an
Environmental Assessment (EA) for the purpose of involving Federal
agencies, states, tribes, local governments, offshore wind energy
developers, and the public in the Department of the Interior's (DOI)
``Smart from the Start'' wind energy initiative offshore North
Carolina. The ``Smart from the Start'' wind energy initiative is
designed to identify areas that appear to be suitable for wind energy
leasing on the OCS, known as Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) and to obtain
public and expert input that will inform DOI's decisionmaking with
regard to issuing leases and approving site assessment activities in
these areas, in accordance with applicable DOI regulations 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.).
The ``Smart from the Start'' initiative involves coordinated
environmental studies, large-scale planning processes, and expedited
review procedures within these areas to achieve an efficient and
responsible renewable energy leasing process. More information on the
``Smart from the Start'' initiative can be found at: http://boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/Smart-from-the-Start/Index.aspx.
In consultation with other Federal agencies and the BOEM North
Carolina Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force, BOEM has
identified three areas under consideration for potential future wind
energy leasing offshore North Carolina (Call Areas). These Call Areas
are identified in the document entitled, Commercial Leasing for Wind
Power on the Outer Continental Shelf Offshore North Carolina-Call for
Information and Nominations (Call), which is being published
concurrently with this Notice. The publication of a Call is the first
public step in BOEM's offshore wind planning process for North
Carolina, and additional opportunities for public involvement are
required before any commercial wind leases would be issued. A
commercial lease gives the lessee the exclusive right to subsequently
seek BOEM approval for the development of the leasehold. The lease does
not grant the lessee the right to construct any facilities; rather, the
lease grants the lessee the right to use the leased area to develop its
plans, which BOEM must approve before the lessee can move on to the
next stage of the process. See 30 CFR 585.600 and 585.601.
BOEM intends to prepare an EA, which is the subject of this Notice,
that will consider the environmental consequences associated with the
possible future issuance of commercial wind leases and approving site
assessment activities on those leases (within all or some of these Call
Areas). BOEM is seeking public input regarding the identification of
the alternatives to be considered in the EA, as well as the
environmental and/or socioeconomic issues to be analyzed.
Furthermore, section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act
(16 U.S.C. 470f) and its implementing regulations at 36 CFR 800 require
Federal agencies to consider the effects of their actions on historic
properties, and afford the Advisory Council on Historic Properties an
opportunity to comment (36 CFR 800.1). Therefore, BOEM will conduct
Section 106 review for the issuance of leases and approval of site
assessment activities within some or all of the Call Areas, in
coordination with its environmental review. As part of this Section 106
review, BOEM will initiate consultation with state historic
preservation officer, tribal officials, and others. With the
publication of this Notice, BOEM is reaching out to the general public
for comments regarding the identification of historic properties or
potential effects to historic properties from leasing and site
assessment activities in the Call Areas. Submitted information will
allow BOEM to consider the views of the public and document historic
preservation concerns early in the Section 106 process.
Authority: This Notice of Intent to prepare an EA is published
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. The OCS Wind Energy Planning, Leasing and Development Process
There are four key phases in the wind energy planning, leasing and
development process on the OCS: (1) Planning and siting; (2) lease
issuance; (3) approval of a site assessment plan (SAP); and (4)
approval of a construction and operations plan (COP). Publication of
the Call and this NOI are steps in the first phase of this process. The
second phase, issuance of a commercial renewable energy lease, gives
the lessee an exclusive right to submit plans, the approval of which is
necessary for a lessee to advance to the next stage of the renewable
energy development process. The third phase is the applicant's
submission and BOEM's subsequent review and approval of a SAP. Approval
of a SAP allows the lessee to construct and install equipment on the
leasehold, such as a meteorological tower and/or buoys, to perform site
assessment functions. See 30 CFR 585.600-585.601; 585.605-585.618. Site
characterization activities are necessary to support a lessee's
proposed site assessment activities (e.g., geological and geophysical
surveys and core samples) and the lessee must submit the results of
such surveys with the supporting data in its SAP. See 30 CFR 585.610.
The submission of a SAP is separate from the submission of a COP. After
the lessee has collected the additional site characterization and
assessment data necessary for a COP, the lessee may submit its COP. The
COP would be subject to additional project specific environmental
review. The approval of the COP would authorize the construction and
operation of a renewable energy generation facility on the lease. See
30 CFR 585.620-585.629.
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
Areas described in this Notice, and the approval of site
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assessment activities on those leases (i.e., Phases 2 and 3 of the wind
energy planning, leasing and development process). BOEM 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 SAP and COP information
requirements at 30 CFR 585.610 and 585.626, respectively.
Additional analysis under NEPA will be required before any future
decision is made regarding the approval of the construction or
operation of any wind energy facility on leases that may be issued
within all or some of these Call Areas. If and when a lessee is ready
to begin the final phase of renewable energy development, it will
submit a COP. If, in the future, a COP is submitted for a particular
project on a lease, BOEM would undertake a separate site- and project-
specific NEPA analysis and consultations. This specific NEPA analysis
would likely 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 1500-1508. The NEPA
process would provide the public and Federal officials with
comprehensive site- and project-specific information, which would
consider the reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts of the
specific project the lessee is proposing. These potential impacts will
be taken into account when deciding whether to approve, approve with
modification, or disapprove the COP pursuant to 30 CFR 585.628.
Based on the information submitted in response to this Notice and
the Call, BOEM will determine the level of interest in the Call Areas
and identify the areas that would be appropriate to move forward with
in BOEM's offshore wind planning, leasing, and development process. The
areas identified will constitute WEA(s) under the ``Smart from the
Start'' initiative, and will be the area(s) analyzed in this EA. That
step in the process is referred to as Area Identification.
This EA, 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, archaeological, 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 Areas. At a minimum, two alternatives will be considered:
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 identified portion(s) of the Call Areas. BOEM is
therefore soliciting input on these and/or other alternatives, and on
the environmental and socioeconomic issues to be considered in this EA
related to the potential environmental effects of the activities listed
above.
Federal, state, and local government agencies, tribal governments,
and other interested parties may assist BOEM 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 could lessen impacts
to environmental resources and socioeconomic conditions that could
result from leasing, site characterization, and site assessment
activities taking place in the Call Areas or from support activities
taking place outside the Call Areas. 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 BOEM determines during the EA process that issuing leases and
conducting site characterization and assessment activities within the
Call Areas would result in significant environmental impacts, BOEM will
publish a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS for the issuance of
renewable energy leases and approval of site assessment activities
within all or some of these Call Areas. If BOEM determines during the
EA process that issuing leases and conducting site characterization and
assessment activities within the Call Areas would not result in
significant environmental impacts, BOEM will issue a Finding of No
Significant Impact (FONSI). After either a FONSI is issued or the EIS
process is completed, BOEM may issue one or more renewable energy
leases within all or some of these Call Areas. In the event that a
particular lease is issued, and the lessee submits a SAP, BOEM will
determine whether the EA adequately considers the environmental impacts
of the activities proposed in the lessee's SAP. If the analysis in the
EA adequately addresses these impacts, then no further NEPA analysis
would be required before the SAP is approved. If the EA 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, BOEM published a Notice of Availability (NOA)
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 February 3, 2012, BOEM published a NOA
in the Federal Register (77 FR 5560) of the Final EA for Commercial
Wind Lease Issuance and Site Assessment Activities on the Atlantic
Outer Continental Shelf Offshore New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and
Virginia (OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2012-003) (Mid-Atlantic EA), which addressed
activities similar to those to be addressed in the EA for which this
Notice is being published.
BOEM will incorporate the environmental and socioeconomic analyses
of site characterization and assessment activities from the
Programmatic EIS, Mid-Atlantic EA, and other public information to help
inform its analysis in this EA. The EA will incorporate the principles
of national ocean policy, including comprehensive interagency
coordination.
4. Description of the Call Areas
A detailed description of the Call Areas can be found in the Call
that is being published concurrently with this Notice.
A map of the Call Area can be found at the following URL: http://www.boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/State-Activities/North-Carolina.aspx.
5. Cooperating Agencies
BOEM invites Federal, state, and local government agencies, as well
as tribal 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 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, BOEM will provide potential cooperating agencies with
a
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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
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. These documents
are available at: 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.
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 action 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-2012-0090, 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 North Carolina EA'' to Program Manager,
Office of Renewable Energy Programs, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,
381 Elden Street, HM 1328, Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817.
Comments should be submitted no later than January 28, 2013.
Dated: December 10, 2012.
Tommy P. Beaudreau,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[FR Doc. 2012-30091 Filed 12-12-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P