[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 122 (Friday, June 26, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30616-30617]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-15169]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Notice of Offering of Five Alternative Energy Interim Policy
Leases for Wind Resource Data Collection on the Outer Continental Shelf
Offshore Delaware and New Jersey; Notice of Availability of an
Environmental Assessment
AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Lease Offering; Notice of Availability of an
Environmental Assessment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Notice is given that the MMS will issue five limited leases
authorizing wind resource data collection on the Outer Continental
Shelf (OCS) offshore New Jersey and Delaware. Five OCS blocks will be
leased for a term of 5 years; and the annual rent will be $3.00 per
acre as established in the interim policy published in the Federal
Register (72 FR 214, pp. 62673-62675) on November 6, 2007. The OCS
blocks will be leased subject to the terms set forth in the lease form
published in the Federal Register (73 FR 77, pp. 21363-21375) on April
21, 2008, and also subject to stipulations. The MMS will issue leases
for four OCS blocks off the coast of New Jersey and one off the coast
of Delaware to four companies: Bluewater Wind Delaware, LLC; Bluewater
Wind New Jersey Energy LLC; Fishermen's Energy of New Jersey, LLC, and
Deepwater Wind, LLC. The OCS blocks off the coast of New Jersey are
Wilmington NJ 18-02 Block 6936 to Bluewater Wind New Jersey Energy,
LLC; Wilmington NJ 18-02 Block 6931 to Fishermen's Energy of New
Jersey, LLC; Wilmington NJ 18-02 Block 6738 and Wilmington NJ 18-02
Block 7033 to Deepwater Wind, LLC. The OCS block MMS will lease off the
coast of Delaware is Salisbury NJ 18-05 Block 6325 to Bluewater Wind
Delaware, LLC.
The MMS is also giving notice that MMS is making available to the
public an environmental assessment (EA) that addresses the issue of
whether offering of leases off the coasts of New Jersey and Delaware
would have a significant effect on the human environment and whether an
environmental impact statement (EIS) must be prepared pursuant to the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, 42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq. Based on the environmental review set forth in the EA, the
MMS has determined that no significant effects on the human environment
have been identified that would result from the issuance of leases for
wind resource data collection on the OCS off the coasts of New Jersey
and Delaware. Therefore, MMS concluded that an EIS was not required
under the NEPA and prepared a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).
The MMS is making available the FONSI and the decision memorandum
approving the selection of the preferred alternative on the MMS Web
site provided at the time of this notice.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background. Section 388 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct)
gave the Secretary of the Department of the Interior (DOI) the
authority to issue leases, easements and rights-of-way on the OCS for
alternative energy activities. In a Request for Information and
Nominations published on November 6, 2007, in the Federal Register (72
FR 214, pp. 62673-62675) the MMS announced that it had established an
interim policy under which it would issue limited leases authorizing
alternative energy resource assessment data collection and technology
testing activities on the OCS and that it was accepting requests for
limited leases to conduct such activities. Limited leases issued under
the interim policy for energy resource assessment data collection and
technology testing activities have a term of 5 years, and do not
authorize the production or transmission of energy. Subsequently, MMS
received more than 40 nominations proposing areas for limited leases on
the OCS off the Pacific and Atlantic Coasts. The MMS reviewed in detail
all nominations received and established priority areas for initial
leasing based on considerations such as technological complexity,
geographical balance, timing needs, competing space-use issues, and
relevant State-supported renewable energy activities and initiatives.
The MMS also took into consideration the importance of supporting the
advancement of activities relating to the development of each of the
renewable energy resource types cited in the nominations--wind,
current, and wave. In April 2008, MMS identified a subset of 16
proposed lease areas for priority consideration, including 7 areas
offshore Delaware and New Jersey, and provided public notice of those
areas in the Federal Register (73 FR 76, pp. 21152-21155) in which it
sought other project proposals for those areas for the purpose of
determining competitive interest as required by the EPAct. No competing
nominations were received for any of the areas offshore Delaware and
New Jersey, allowing the MMS to proceed with the issuance of the leases
noncompetitively and the required
[[Page 30617]]
environmental review. The MMS received applications for five of the
initial seven lease areas proposed offshore Delaware and New Jersey.
The five limited leases are as follows:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Approximate
State distance Technology type Protraction Company
offshore
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Jersey.................... 15-18 miles..... Wind............ Wilmington NJ 18-02, Bluewater Wind New
block 6936. Jersey Energy, LLC.
New Jersey.................... 7-10 miles...... Wind............ Wilmington NJ 18-02, Fishermen's Energy of
block 6931. New Jersey, LLC.
New Jersey.................... 15-18 miles..... Wind............ Wilmington NJ 18-02, Deepwater Wind, LLC.
block 6738.
New Jersey.................... 12-15 miles..... Wind............ Wilmington NJ 18-02, Deepwater Wind, LLC.
block 7033.
Delaware...................... 12-15 miles..... Wind............ Salisbury NJ 18-05, Bluewater Wind
block 6325. Delaware, LLC.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The limited leases will be governed by the terms outlined in the
interim policy lease and stipulations. The interim policy lease form
was published in the Federal Register (73 FR 77, pp. 21363-21375) on
April 21, 2008.
Environmental Assessment. The MMS has prepared an EA to determine
whether issuance of leases under MMS' alternative energy interim policy
authorizing wind resource data collection on seven lease blocks,
including the five lease blocks listed above, located on the OCS
offshore Delaware and New Jersey would have a significant effect on the
human environment and whether an EIS must be prepared. The EA examines
potential effects of activities associated with the proposed action--
the issuance of seven limited leases--and the alternatives (reduced
number of leases and no action) that would occur over the life of the
leases, including site assessment activities, construction, operation,
and decommissioning of meteorological and oceanographic data collection
facilities. The EA concluded that offshore activities would result in
localized impacts and impacts from the individual meteorological
towers. The activities related to the seven proposed facilities would
not overlap due to the distance between the proposed lease areas.
Therefore, the EA concluded that there would be no additive effect on
offshore environmental resources by approving multiple locations for
wind resource data collection. The proposed leases would be located 7-
18 miles from the nearest shoreline and result in virtually no visual
impacts. There also would be no need to expand existing onshore
facilities or construct new facilities to support staging and
fabrication of meteorological towers. There would, however, be a small
increase in vessel traffic associated with limited construction and
decommissioning activities for very short time periods. During the
operation of the proposed meteorological towers, there would be no
significant impacts on air and water quality; coastal, wildlife, and
archeological resources; or fishing and recreational activities.
Furthermore, EA recommended that several mitigation measures, in the
form of lease stipulations, be added to the lease that would reduce or
eliminate the potential impacts to the environment. Based on the
analyses in the EA, no significant effects on the human environment
were identified that would result from the proposed action. Therefore,
MMS has concluded that an EIS is not required and prepared a FONSI.
EA Availablity: The EA, FONSI, and decision memorandum are
available on the MMS Web site at: http://www.mms.gov/offshore/AlternativeEnergy/RegulatoryInformation.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Regarding the Lease Issuance: Ms. Maureen Bornholdt, Program
Manager, Office of Offshore Alternative Energy Programs, 381 Elden
Street MS 4090, Herndon, Virginia 20170, (703) 787-1300.
Regarding the Environmental Assessment: Mr. James F. Bennett,
Chief, Branch of Environmental Assessment, 381 Elden Street MS 4042,
Herndon, Virginia 20170, (703) 787-1660.
Dated: June 12, 2009.
Walter D. Cruickshank,
Acting Director, Minerals Management Service.
[FR Doc. E9-15169 Filed 6-25-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P