[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 146 (Tuesday, July 30, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45965-45968]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-18283]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
[Docket No. BOEM-2013-0020; MMAA104000]
Research Lease on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Offshore
Virginia, Request for Competitive Interest
AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Interior.
ACTION: Public Notice of an Unsolicited Request for an OCS Research
Lease; Request for Competitive Interest (RFCI); and Request for Public
Comment.
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SUMMARY: The purpose of this public notice is to: (1) Describe the
proposal submitted to BOEM by the Commonwealth of Virginia, Department
of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) to acquire an OCS lease for wind
energy research activities; (2) solicit indications of interest in a
renewable energy lease in the area identified by DMME for substantially
similar wind energy activities; and (3) solicit public input regarding
the proposal, its potential environmental consequences, and the use of
the area in which the proposed project would be located.
On February 13, 2013, BOEM received an unsolicited request for a
research lease from DMME. The objective of DMME is to obtain a lease
under 30 CFR 585.238 for renewable energy research activities,
including wind turbine installation and operational testing and the
installation of metocean monitoring equipment. The objective of the
DMME proposal is to design, develop, and demonstrate a grid-connected
12 megawatt (MW) offshore wind test facility on the OCS off the coast
of Virginia.
This RFCI is published pursuant to subsection 8(p)(3) of the OCS
Lands Act, as amended by section 388 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005
(43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(3)), and the implementing regulations at 30 CFR Part
585.
DATES: If you are submitting an indication of interest in acquiring a
renewable energy lease for the area proposed by DMME, your submission
must be sent by mail, postmarked no later than August 29, 2013 for your
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submission to be considered. If you are providing comments or other
submissions of information, you may send them by mail, postmarked by
this same date, or you may submit them through the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at http://www.regulations.gov, also by this same date.
Submission Procedures: If you are interested in obtaining a
renewable energy lease for the area requested by DMME, you should
submit detailed and specific information as described in the section
entitled ``Required Indication of Interest Information.'' Please submit
this material by mail to the following address: Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, 381 Elden Street, HM-
1328, Herndon, Virginia 20170. Submissions must be postmarked by August
29, 2013 to be considered by BOEM for the purposes of determining
competitive interest. In addition to a paper copy of your submission,
include an electronic copy on a compact disc. BOEM will list the
parties that submit indications of interest on the BOEM Web site after
the 30-day comment period has closed.
If you are submitting comments or other information concerning the
proposed research lease area, you may use either of the following two
methods:
1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. In the
entry entitled, ``Enter Keyword or ID,'' enter BOEM-2013-020, and then
click ``search.'' Follow the instructions to submit public comments and
view supporting and related materials available for this notice.
2. Alternatively, comments may be submitted by mail to the
following address: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Office of
Renewable Energy Programs, 381 Elden Street, HM-1328, Herndon, Virginia
20170.
If you wish to protect the confidentiality of your indication of
interest or comment, clearly mark the relevant sections and request
that BOEM treat them as confidential. Please label privileged or
confidential information ``Contains Confidential Information'' and
consider submitting such information as a separate attachment.
Treatment of confidential information is addressed in the section of
this notice entitled, ``Privileged or Confidential Information.'' BOEM
will post all comments on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov unless labeled as confidential. Information that is
not labeled as privileged or confidential will be regarded by BOEM as
suitable for public release.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Casey Reeves, Renewable Energy
Program Specialist, BOEM, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, 381
Elden Street, HM-1328, Herndon, Virginia 20170; phone (703) 787-1320.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Purpose of the RFCI
Responses to this public notice will allow BOEM to determine,
pursuant to subsection 8(p)(3) of the OCS Lands Act, whether or not
there is competitive interest in acquiring an OCS renewable energy
lease in the area requested by DMME. If BOEM receives no competing
indications of interest for a lease in response to this notice, BOEM
may decide to move forward with the research leasing process using the
procedures described in 30 CFR 585.238(d).
This notice also provides an opportunity for interested
stakeholders to comment on the proposed project and its potential
impacts. BOEM will consider all comments received when deciding whether
and how to move forward with the research leasing process.
DMME's Proposed Research Activities
DMME's proposed research activities are described in their
unsolicited request for a research lease, which is available at the
following URL: http://www.boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/State-Activities/Virginia.aspx.
Description of the Proposed Research Lease Area
The proposed research lease area consists of six OCS sub-blocks (an
OCS sub-block is 1,200 meters by 1,200 meters in area). The following
table describes the OCS sub-blocks that comprise the proposed research
lease area.
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Block Sub
Protraction name Protraction No. No. bock
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Currituck Sound................... NJ18-11............ 6061 H,L,P
Currituck Sound................... NJ18-11............ 6111 D,H,L
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Map of the Area
A map of the area proposed by DMME and included in this RFCI can be
found at the following URL: http://www.boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/State-Activities/Virginia.aspx. A large scale map of the RFCI
area showing boundaries of the area with the numbered blocks is
available from BOEM at the following address: Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, 381 Elden Street, HM-
1328, Herndon, Virginia 20170. Phone: (703) 787-1320, Fax: (703) 787-
1708.
The six sub-blocks requested by DMME are located immediately
adjacent to the western edge of the Virginia Wind Energy Area (WEA).
The Virginia WEA, which consists of more than 19 full OCS blocks, will
be offered for sale in lease sale Atlantic Wind One (ATLW1), as
described in the following section.
Relationship of the DMME Proposal to the Virginia WEA
On July 23, 2013, BOEM published a Final Sale Notice (FSN) in the
Federal Register, announcing the sale of a commercial wind lease on the
OCS offshore Virginia (78 FR 44150-44156).
The area identified for potential commercial wind leasing in the
PSN was delineated through consultation with the BOEM's Virginia
Intergovernmental Task Force and is intended to balance the protection
of environmentally sensitive areas and minimize space-use conflicts
while maximizing the area available for commercial offshore wind
development. The development of the WEA began in December 2009 and the
WEA has been refined since that time, resulting in a area that avoids
sensitive ecological areas offshore the barrier islands, takes
advantage of Class 6 wind speeds, minimizes maritime traffic risk,
avoids military operating and warning areas, and avoids a launch
fallout area east of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops
Flight Facility.
The delineation of the VA WEA was also informed by input received
from stakeholders who commented on the July 12, 2011, Notice of
Availability (NOA) of the draft Environmental Assessment (EA) (76 FR
40926). Among the comments received on the draft EA was a letter dated
August 22, 2011, from the American Waterways Operators (AWO), a
national trade association for the tugboat, towboat and barge industry.
The comment requested that BOEM refrain from leasing OCS Blocks 6011,
6061, 6111, 6161, 6110, and 6160, suggesting that not leasing these
blocks would ``preserve an area currently used by [AWO] members during
inclement weather.'' Based on this concern and on an analysis of ship
traffic data for larger vessels that transit the area, as well as an
assessment conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard, BOEM removed these OCS
blocks from consideration for commercial wind leasing prior to the
publication of the Virginia Call for Information and Nominations (77 FR
5545).
In light of the concerns expressed by AWO, at this time BOEM is not
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considering moving forward with leasing for any wind proposals larger
in scale than DMME's proposed project or outside of the area proposed
by DMME. It does not appear that the proposed lease activity described
in this notice would impair navigational safety. However, authorizing a
wind project within OCS Blocks 6011, 6061, 6111, 6161, 6110, and 6160
larger in scale than DMME's proposed project could cause an
unacceptable level of obstruction to vessel traffic. Accordingly, BOEM
will not consider indication of interest larger in scale than the
project proposed by DMME.
Relationship of the DMME Proposal to the Atlantic Grid Holdings LLC's
ROW Grant Request
On March 31, 2011, Atlantic Grid Holdings LLC submitted an
unsolicited application for a ROW grant, for a buried offshore
electrical transmission cable and infrastructure. A segment of the
proposed cable project that is intended to support commercial
development in the Virginia WEA also occupies the project area proposed
by DMME. Following publication of a notice to determine competitive
interest in the project, BOEM published its determination of no
competitive interest on May 15, 2012, (77 FR 28620). The application
and associated notices can be found at: http://www.boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/State-Activities/Regional-Proposals.aspx.
Required Indication of Interest Information
If you intend to submit an indication of interest for a renewable
energy lease for the area identified in this notice you must provide
the following:
(1) A statement that you wish to acquire an offshore wind lease
within the proposed lease area. For BOEM to consider your indication of
interest, it must include a proposal for the installation of no more
than two WTGs, and may include a proposal for the installation of one
or more metocean facilities. Any interest in an area located outside of
the proposed research lease area should be submitted separately
pursuant to 30 CFR 585.238;
(2) A general description of your objectives and the facilities
that you would use to achieve those objectives;
(3) A general schedule of proposed activities;
(4) Available and pertinent data and information concerning
renewable energy resources and environmental conditions in the area
that you wish to lease, including energy and resource data and
information used to evaluate the area of interest. Where applicable,
spatial information should be submitted in a format compatible with
ArcGIS 9.3 in a geographic coordinate system (NAD 83);
(5) Documentation demonstrating that you are legally qualified to
hold a renewable energy lease as set forth in 30 CFR 585.106 and 107.
Examples of the documentation appropriate for demonstrating your legal
qualifications and related guidance can be found in Chapter 2 and
Appendix B of the Guidelines for the Minerals Management Service
Renewable Energy Framework available at: http://www.boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/Regulatory-Information/Index.aspx. Legal qualification
documents will be placed in an official file that may be made available
for public review. If you wish that any part of your legal
qualification documentation be kept confidential, clearly identify what
should be kept confidential, and submit it under separate cover (see
``Protection of Privileged or Confidential Information Section,''
below); and
(6) Documentation demonstrating that you are technically and
financially capable of constructing, operating, maintaining and
decommissioning the facilities described in your submission. Guidance
regarding the required documentation to demonstrate your technical and
financial qualifications can be found at: http://www.boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/Regulatory-Information/Index.aspx.
It is critical that you provide a complete submission of
competitive interest, including the items identified in (1) through
(6), so that BOEM may consider your submission in a timely manner. If
BOEM reviews your submission and determines that it is incomplete, BOEM
will inform you of this determination in writing and describe the
information that BOEM wishes you to provide in order for BOEM to deem
your submission complete. You will be given 15 business days from the
date of the letter to provide the information that BOEM found to be
missing from your original submission. If you do not meet this
deadline, or if BOEM determines your second submission is also
insufficient, BOEM may deem your submission invalid. In such a case,
BOEM would not consider your submission.
Requested Information From Interested or Affected Parties
BOEM is also requesting from the public and other interested or
affected parties specific and detailed comments regarding the
following:
(1) Geological and geophysical conditions (including bottom and
shallow hazards) in the area described in this notice;
(2) Known archaeological, historic, and/or cultural resource sites
on the seabed in the area described in this notice;
(3) Multiple uses of the area described in this notice, including
navigation (in particular, commercial vessel usage, recreation, and
commercial and recreational fisheries);
(4) Potential impacts to existing communication cables;
(5) Department of Defense operational, training and testing
activities (surface and subsurface) that occur in the area described in
this notice that may be impacted by the proposed project;
(6) Impacts to potential future uses of the area;
(7) Advisable setback distance for other offshore structures,
including other cables, renewable energy structures, oil and gas
structures, etc.;
(8) The potential risk posed by anchors or other factors, and
burial depths that would be required to mitigate such risks; and
(9) Other relevant environmental and socioeconomic information.
Protection of Privileged or Confidential Information
Freedom of Information Act
BOEM will protect privileged or confidential information that you
submit as required by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Exemption
4 of FOIA applies to trade secrets and commercial or financial
information that you submit that is privileged or confidential. If you
wish to protect the confidentiality of such information, clearly mark
it and request that BOEM treat it as confidential. BOEM will not
disclose such information, subject to the requirements of FOIA. Please
label privileged or confidential information, ``Contains Confidential
Information,'' and consider submitting such information as a separate
attachment.
However, BOEM will not treat as confidential any aggregate
summaries of such information or comments not containing such
information. Additionally, BOEM will not treat as confidential: (1) The
legal title of the nominating entity; or (2) the geographic location of
facilities and the types of those facilities. Information that is not
labeled as privileged or confidential will be regarded by BOEM as
suitable for public release.
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Section 304 of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470w-
3(a))
BOEM is required, after consultation with the Secretary of the
Interior, to withhold the location, character, or ownership of historic
resources, if it determines that disclosure may, among other things,
cause a significant invasion of privacy, risk harm to the historic
resources or impede the use of a traditional religious site by
practitioners. Tribal entities and other interested parties should
designate information that they wish to be held as `confidential.'
Dated: July 24, 2013.
Tommy P. Beaudreau,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[FR Doc. 2013-18283 Filed 7-29-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P