[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 76 (Friday, April 18, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21152-21155]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-8387]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
[Docket No. MMS-2008-OMM-0020]
Notice of Nominations Received and Proposed Limited Alternative
Energy Leases on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and Initiation of
Coordination and Consultation
AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.
ACTION: Announcement of nominations and processing priorities, inquiry
on competing nominations for proposed limited alternative energy
leases, and request for comments from interested and affected parties.
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SUMMARY: On November 6, 2007, the Minerals Management Service (MMS)
published in the Federal Register (72 FR 214, pp. 62673-62675) a
request for information and nominations of areas for leases authorizing
alternative energy
[[Page 21153]]
resource assessment and technology testing activities pursuant to
subsection 8(p) of the OCS Lands Act, as amended.
We received over 40 nominations of areas for limited leases
authorizing such activities relating to wind, wave, and ocean current
energy resources on the OCS. The MMS has considered the nominations in
light of relevant criteria for proceeding with the issuance of leases.
As required by subsection 8(p), MMS must issue such leases on a
competitive basis unless we determine after public notice that there is
no competitive interest. Subsection 8(p) also requires MMS to
coordinate and consult with relevant Federal agencies and affected
State and local governments concerning the issuance of OCS alternative
energy leases. This Notice provides the required public notice of
proposed leases by announcing the nominations that MMS has decided to
process as a priority and inquiring as to the existence of any
competitive interest in these nominated areas. Also, with this
announcement we intend to inform all interested and affected parties of
these nominations and invite comments and information--including
information on environmental issues and concerns--that will be useful
in our consideration of the nominated areas for the issuance of limited
alternative energy leases.
DATES: The MMS requests any competing nominations and relevant comments
and information by May 19, 2008. As it pertains to nominations, this is
a strict deadline, and nominations received after the deadline will be
not be considered by MMS for the purpose of determining competitive
interest in the areas originally nominated. Other comments may be
submitted within 60 days.
ADDRESSES: You may submit your comments by one of two methods:
(1) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Under
the tab ``More Search Options,'' click ``Advanced Docket Search,'' then
select ``Minerals Management Service'' from the agency drop-down menu,
then click ``submit.'' In the Docket ID column, select MMS-2008-OMM-
0020 to submit public comments and to view supporting and related
materials available for this rulemaking. Information on using
Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing documents,
submitting comments, and viewing the docket after the close of the
comment period, is available through the site's ``User Tips'' link. The
MMS will post all comments.
(2) Mailing your comments to the following address: Minerals
Management Service, Offshore Minerals Management, Alternative Energy
and Alternate Use Team, 381 Elden Street, Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Maureen Bornholdt, Minerals
Management Service, Offshore Minerals Management, 381 Elden Street,
Mail Stop 4080, Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817, (703) 787-1300.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Public Comment Policy. Before including your address, phone number,
e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your
submission, you should be aware that your entire submission--including
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available
at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold your
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Background. Under the interim policy described in the November 6,
2007, Federal Register Notice referenced above, MMS stated its
intention to issue limited OCS alternative energy leases for a term of
5 years that would authorize resource assessment and technology testing
activities, subject to specific terms and conditions. That Notice
invited respondents who wish to acquire limited OCS alternative energy
leases to nominate areas of interest by January 7, 2008. On December
14, 2007, MMS published in the Federal Register (72 FR 240, pp. 71152-
71157) a Notice of new information collection that presented a proposed
``Lease of Submerged Lands for Alternative Energy Activities on the
OCS'' and requested comments by February 12, 2008.
In addition to the nominations submitted by prospective lessees,
MMS received numerous comments from proponents of OCS alternative
energy development, including industry associations. Several of those
comments stated that the interim policy should be revised to provide a
right to commercial development for those who acquire leases for
resource assessment and technology testing. As MMS stated in the
November 6, 2007, Federal Register Notice, the interim policy is
intended to permit the collection of resource assessment and technology
testing data in support of future development activity without any
priority right for future commercial development. It is designed to
begin the process in the acquisition of needed information about a
variety of OCS conditions under a relatively simple authorizing
process. Conveyance of full commercial development rights would entail
a much lengthier and complicated process than MMS is willing to
undertake at this time under the interim policy.
Therefore, MMS reiterates and reaffirms its interim policy as
originally formulated and proposed. Further, in the absence of
promulgated rules, MMS does not plan to revise the interim policy or
adopt a new policy to authorize commercial development of OCS
alternative energy. We will continue to defer consideration of
commercial OCS alternative energy projects until regulations governing
alternative energy activities on the OCS are in place, except with
respect to the two proposed projects that are the subject of the
savings provision of section 388 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Prospective lessees, both the original nominators and those
responding to this Notice, must show that they are qualified to hold an
OCS lease before MMS will consider their proposals. The qualifications
for holders of OCS oil and gas leases set forth at 30 CFR 256.35
provide useful guidance in this regard to prospective limited
alternative energy lessees. Limited alternative energy lease holders
must also comply with all terms and conditions of their lease (see the
December 14, 2007, Federal Register Notice of the proposed lease form).
As stated in the November 6, 2007, Federal Register Notice proposing
the interim policy, a limited lease will grant the lessee the exclusive
right to conduct the activities identified in the lease on the
designated lease area. Acquisition of a limited lease will not grant
the lessee any rights with respect to the future acquisition of
commercial development rights for the leased site.
Nominations. We received nominations on the Atlantic and Pacific
Coasts. Most of the Atlantic Coast nominations are for meteorological
and oceanographic data collection facilities that would support wind
energy projects off of the coasts of Massachusetts, New York, New
Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia.
There also are nominations for areas off of the coast of Florida
focused on ocean current information collection and technology testing.
On the Pacific coast, the main interest is in wave energy, and
nominations were received for areas off California, Oregon and
Washington.
The MMS has decided to give priority consideration to issuing
limited leases for: (1) Data collection activities relating to wind
resources off of the coasts of New Jersey, Delaware, and Georgia; (2)
data collection and technology testing activities relating to current
resources off of the coast of Florida; and (3) data
[[Page 21154]]
collection and technology testing activities relating to wave resources
off of the coast of Northern California. These locations of proposed
OCS alterative energy limited leasing are described as follows:
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Official protraction
Adjacent state diagram Block(s) Resource
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1. New Jersey....................... Hudson Canyon NJ 18-03. 6451....................... Wind.
2. New Jersey....................... Wilmington NJ 18-02.... 6936 and 7131.............. Wind.
3. New Jersey....................... Wilmington NJ 18-02.... 6931....................... Wind.
4. New Jersey....................... Wilmington NJ 18-02.... 6738....................... Wind.
5. New Jersey....................... Wilmington NJ 18-02.... 7033....................... Wind.
6. Delaware......................... Salisbury NJ 18-05..... 6325....................... Wind.
7. Georgia.......................... Brunswick NH 17-02..... 6074....................... Wind.
8. Georgia.......................... Brunswick NH 17-02..... 6174....................... Wind.
9. Georgia.......................... Brunswick NH 17-02..... 6126....................... Wind.
10. Florida......................... Bahamas NG 17-06....... 7103....................... Current.
11. Florida......................... Bahamas NG 17-05....... 7040 and 7090.............. Current.
Bahamas NG 17-06....... 7001, 7002, 7003, 7004, ....................
7005, 7006, 7007, 7051,
7052, 7053, 7054, 7055,
7056, 7057, 7104, 7105,
7106, and 7107.
12. Florida......................... Bahamas NG 17-06....... 6702, 6703, 6704, 6705, Current.
6706, 6707, and 6708.
13. Florida......................... Miami NG 17-08......... 6040....................... Current.
14. Florida......................... Bimini NG 17-09........ 6001....................... Current.
15. California...................... Ukiah NJ 10-02......... 6405, 6455, 6456, 6504, Wave.
6505, 6506, 6554, 6555,
6604, 6605, 6654, 6655,
6704, and 6705.
16. California...................... Eureka NK 10-10........ 6031, 6032, 6033, 6080, Wave.
6081, 6082, 6083, 6130,
6131, 6132, 6133, 6179,
6180, 6181, 6182, 6229,
6230, 6231, 6232, 6279,
6280, 6281, 6330, and 6331.
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The above locations refer to areas identified on the Official
Protraction Diagrams that are available from each MMS regional office
and online at http://www.mms.gov/ld/Maps.htm, and the areas are
identified as OCS blocks that are generally nine square miles in size.
The nominated areas may be located on those maps or on a map viewer
maintained by MMS at http://www.mms.gov/offshore/RenewableEnergy/WebMappingViewer.htm.
The MMS reviewed in detail all nominations we received and
established our priority areas for initial leasing in light of
considerations such as technological complexity, timing needs,
competing use issues, and relationships to relevant state-supported
renewable energy activities, as well as considerations relating to
limited available MMS staff and budget resources for processing and
managing limited leases. We also took into consideration the
desirability of authorizing the advancement of activities relating to
each of the alternative energy resource types cited in the
nominations--wind, current, and wave.
We chose proposed leasing locations off of the New Jersey and
Delaware coasts primarily because the installation of data collection
facilities relating to wind would support the concurrent efforts by
those States to foster commercial development of wind power on the
adjoining OCS. We also selected the area off of the coast of Georgia as
a site for limited leasing related to wind because of the ongoing
efforts of Southern Company and the Georgia Institute of Technology
Strategic Energy Institute to acquire wind data to determine the
technical and economic feasibility of locating an OCS wind energy
project off of the coast of Georgia. Their efforts include the use of
existing U.S. Navy meteorological and oceanographic data collection
platforms and other lower elevation facilities for several years. They
now propose to gather critical data at a substantially higher height.
We chose proposed leasing locations off of the coast of Florida,
because the data collection and technology testing activities relate to
ocean currents. The State of Florida has supported ocean current
research through the Florida Atlantic University Center of Excellence
in Ocean Energy Technology, which includes several academic, Federal
Government, and private industry participants.
We chose two proposed leasing locations off of the coast of
Northern California, specifically offshore Humboldt and Mendocino
Counties, because the data collection and technology testing activities
relate to ocean wave activities. The areas were nominated to conduct
alternative energy resource assessment and technology testing with
respect to the WaveConnect Projects proposed by Pacific Gas and
Electric Company in each area. The Pacific Gas and Electric Company has
sought or obtained permits from other Federal agencies and has applied
to the California Public Utilities Commission for funds to conduct
studies related to these projects.
It is important to note that MMS has not made any final decision to
award leases in the areas identified in this Notice. We have identified
these areas as our priorities for potentially authorizing limited
leases under this interim policy, and through this Notice we are
soliciting comments to determine if competitive interest exists in
these areas. Nominations that were not selected for processing as a
priority, as well as additional nominations received in the future, may
be processed by MMS at a later date. We have chosen to process a lease
or group of leases relating to each type of alternative energy resource
in accordance with our staff and budget resources and associated timing
considerations. Many of the nominations that were not selected for
priority processing appear to entail complex technology (e.g., new
deeper-water designs) or environmental or conflicting use concerns that
would make processing them more difficult and time consuming.
Request for Competing Nominations. As stated above, the areas that
have been nominated for proposed alternative energy limited leases are
identified as blocks on the OCS Official Protraction Diagrams. While we
received some nominations for areas smaller than OCS blocks, we have
decided that the minimum size for limited leases issued under the
interim policy will be a block or aggregation of blocks but will not be
smaller than a block. Upon acquisition of such a lease, a lessee may
contract the
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original lease area by relinquishing aliquot parts of the lease, a part
as small as \1/16\ of a block.
We request respondents who wish to compete for limited leases for
the areas identified in this Notice to submit a nomination identifying
the block(s) in which you are interested, the resource(s) you want to
assess (e.g., wind, current, wave) and the technology you want to test.
Also, provide a general description of the type and number of
installations or technologies you would use and a project schedule for
the activities you propose. Your nomination of an area must be
consistent with the type of alternative energy resource identified for
that area (e.g., a nomination off of the coast of New Jersey must
pertain to data collection activities relating to wind resources). A
nomination that is not consistent with the resource identified for a
specific area will not be considered. The block(s) you wish to nominate
should be identified using the information on Official Protraction
Diagrams available as described above. Also, if you submit such a
nomination, please provide the name, telephone number, and e-mail
address of an individual for the MMS to contact.
With this request MMS is inviting nominations from parties who have
not previously submitted nominations for the areas identified in this
Notice and are interested in acquiring leases only for one or more of
the blocks listed above. Those who have already submitted nominations
for these areas should not resubmit the same nomination. A nomination
received in response to the November 6, 2007, Federal Register Notice
will be considered active unless the original nominator notifies MMS in
writing that the nominator is no longer interested in obtaining a lease
for the area originally nominated. If an original nominator is
interested in competing for a lease area identified in this Notice and
it was not the original nominator of that site, it must submit a new
nomination for that lease area as provided in this Notice. If you have
not already submitted a nomination and wish to submit one for an area
listed above, you must submit by the deadline stated above. Late
submissions will not be considered.
MMS Analysis of Nominations. The MMS will consider the nominations
received in response to this Notice along with the original
nominations. We will determine that there is competitive interest for
any proposed lease area that receives more than one nomination and that
there is no competitive interest for any area that receives only one
nomination. In instances where our analysis determines that there is
competitive interest, we will contact the competing nominators to
explore options for collaboration or refinements of proposals before
considering options for proceeding with a competitive auction. If we
receive a competing nomination that only partially overlaps a multiple-
block original nomination, we may determine that there is no
competition, because in such a case the proposed lease area subject to
competition would comprise the entire multiple-block original
nomination. However, based on the information we receive in response to
this notice, MMS may decide to issue a subsequent public notice
requesting expressions of interest in the partial area where the
competing nominations overlap separate from the remainder of the
multiple-block area proposed for lease.
In instances where our analysis concludes that there is no
competitive interest in a previously nominated area, we will contact
the nominators and proceed with noncompetitive lease issuances as time
and resources allow. However, we may first choose to explore options
for collaboration in the interest of optimizing efficiency. The MMS
will publicly announce the results of its analyses to determine
competitive interest and its intentions to proceed with the issuance of
leases.
Coordination and Consultation
The MMS invites all interested and affected parties to submit
comments and information pertaining to the nominated areas listed
above. We believe such input would be useful as we consider these areas
for limited leasing, and we especially welcome information concerning
geographic characteristics and environmental resources, as this will
assist us in our environmental review processes. We seek information on
the nominated areas relating to other ocean and seabed uses,
relationships to onshore energy markets of the nominated areas, and
applicable State and local laws and policies. We also request comments
and suggestions on how we may best coordinate and consult
comprehensively and efficiently to comply with applicable Federal,
State, and local laws and policies. Officials of MMS intend to contact
Federal, State, and local government counterparts during the comment
period to discuss the nominations and the process for issuing limited
OCS alternative energy leases under the interim policy. Such
discussions may explore methods to foster intergovernmental
coordination, including whether to establish intergovernmental task
forces with Federal, State, and local entities for this purpose.
Dated: April 2, 2008.
Randall B. Luthi,
Director, Minerals Management Service.
[FR Doc. E8-8387 Filed 4-17-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P