[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 102 (Wednesday, May 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30643-30645]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12067]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
[Docket No. BOEM-2014-0003; MMAA104000]
Potential Commercial Wind Lease Issuance and Site Assessment
Activities on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Offshore New
York
AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment.
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[[Page 30644]]
SUMMARY: This Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment
(Notice) is being published as an initial step to involve Federal
agencies, states, tribes, local governments, and the public in an early
and transparent process to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) in
accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., and the Council on Environmental
Quality (CEQ) regulations implementing NEPA, 40 CFR parts 1500-1508.
This process includes determining the scope of issues and identifying
potentially significant issues related to a proposed project on the OCS
offshore New York. This public and expert input will help inform BOEM
decision-making with regard to issuing leases and approving site
assessment activities.
In consultation with other Federal agencies and BOEM's New York
Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force, BOEM has identified an
area for consideration for potential future wind energy leasing
offshore New York (Call Area). The Call Area is identified in
Commercial Leasing for Wind Power on the Outer Continental Shelf
Offshore New York--Call for Information and Nominations (Call), which
is being published concurrently with this Notice. The leasing process
provides several opportunities for public involvement before leasing
can occur, including the publication of a Call and proposed sale
notice. A commercial lease gives the lessee the exclusive right,
subsequently, to 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 to consider the environmental
consequences associated with issuing commercial wind leases, associated
site characterization activities (i.e., biological, archeological,
geological and geophysical surveys and core samples), and approving
site assessment activities on those leases within the Call Area. If a
lessee proposes commercial wind development activity, the specific
proposal will be subject to an environmental review at that time. At a
minimum, the EA will consider the alternatives of (1) no action (i.e.,
no issuance of a lease) and (2) the issuance of a lease, associated
site characterization activities and approval of certain site
assessment activities within the lease area, such as installation of a
fixed meteorological tower and/or deployment of a meteorological buoy.
With this notice, BOEM requests comments and input from Federal, state,
and local government agencies; tribal governments; and other interested
parties on 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 impacts to
environmental resources and socioeconomic conditions that could result
from the proposed activity. Additionally, as part of its compliance
with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C.
470f), and its implementing regulations (36 CFR part 800), BOEM is
seeking public comment and input regarding the identification of
historic properties or potential effects to historic properties from
leasing and site assessment activities in the proposed lease area.
Authority: This Notice 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 Leasing and Development Process
There are four key phases in BOEM's wind energy authorization on
the OCS: (1) Planning; (2) lease issuance; (3) approval of a site
assessment plan (SAP); and (4) approval of a construction and
operations plan (COP). During the planning phase, BOEM engages our
inter-governmental partners and other relevant parties to delineate an
area on the OCS that would be appropriate for commercial wind
activities. BOEM is currently working through this stage for the area
offshore New York with BOEM's New York Intergovernmental Renewable
Energy Task Force. This phase typically ends with the completion of the
environmental reviews necessary to support lease issuance. The second
phase, issuance of a commercial wind lease, gives the lessee an
exclusive right to apply for the required approval of a SAP. The third
phase is the applicant's actual 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 to perform site assessment
functions, such as a meteorological tower or buoys. See 30 CFR 585.600-
585.601; 585.605-585.618. The submission of a SAP is separate from the
submission of a COP. After the lessee has collected the site
characterization and assessment data necessary, the lessee may submit
its COP to BOEM for subsequent review and may proceed with construction
and operation of a renewable energy facility on the lease if BOEM
approves the COP (see 30 CFR 585.620-585.629) and after BOEM's review
of a lessee's Facility Design Report and Fabrication and Installation
Report (see 30 CFR 585.700-585.702)
2. Proposed Action and Scope of Analysis
The proposed action that will be the subject of the EA is the
issuance of one or more renewable energy leases within the Call Area
described in this Notice and the approval of site assessment activities
on those leases in support of COP information requirements. (See 30 CFR
585.610 and 585.626.) Based on the information submitted in response to
this Notice and the Call, BOEM plans to identify any portions of the
Call Area that should be excluded from consideration for commercial
wind leasing at this time. The remaining area identified will
constitute a Wind Energy Area (WEA) and will be subject to
environmental analysis in consultation with appropriate Federal
agencies, states, local governments, tribes and other interested
parties.
Additional NEPA analyses will be required before any future
decisions on construction or operation of wind energy facilities on
leases that may be issued within the Call Area. If and when a lessee is
ready to begin this final phase of renewable energy development, it
must submit a COP to proceed. No COP has been submitted to BOEM for a
project within the Call Area at this time. If a COP is submitted for a
particular project on a lease, appropriate site- and project-specific
NEPA analysis will be prepared.
If BOEM determines during the EA process that issuing leases,
authorizing site assessment activities, or associated site
characterization activities within the Call Area would constitute a
major Federal action significantly affecting the human environment,
BOEM will publish a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS). If BOEM determines during the EA process that issuing
leases, authorizing site assessment activities, or associated site
characterization activities within the Call Area would not be a major
impact significantly affecting the human
[[Page 30645]]
environment, 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
the Call Area. 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 will be required before the SAP
is approved. If the EA requires supplementation, 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). BOEM has prepared several EAs for areas in the North
Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic OCS that evaluated activities similar to
those to be addressed in the EA for which this Notice is being
published (http://www.boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/Smart-from-the-Start/Index.aspx). Additionally, BOEM has published a Final
Programmatic EIS for proposed geological and geophysical activities in
the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic OCS Planning Areas (OCS EIS/EA BOEM
2014-001).
BOEM will incorporate the environmental and socioeconomic analyses
of site characterization and assessment activities from previous NEPA
documents and other public information to help inform its analysis in
the EA.
4. Description of the Call Area
A detailed description of the Call Area 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://boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/State-Activities/New York.aspx.
A large-scale map of the Call Area showing its boundaries and with
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 20170-4817, Phone: (703) 787-
1320.
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. 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 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 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://ceg.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/cooperatingagenciesmemorandum.html and at: http://ceg.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/cooperating/cooperatingagencymemofactors.html.
BOEM, as the lead agency, will not provide financial assistance to
cooperating agencies. If an agency is not a cooperating agency, it may
provide information to BOEM during the public comment period for the
EA.
6. Comments
Federal, state, local government agencies; tribal governments; and
other interested parties are requested to send their written comments
regarding environmental issues and potential alternatives to the
proposed action described in this Notice in one of the following ways:
1. Electronically: http://www.regulations.gov. In the entry
entitled ``Enter Keyword or ID,'' enter BOEM-2014-0003, 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 New York 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 July 14, 2014.
Dated: April 21, 2014.
Tommy P. Beaudreau,
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[FR Doc. 2014-12067 Filed 5-27-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P