1520 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 5 / Friday, January 8, 2021 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[Docket No. BOEM–2020–0066] 

Notice of Public Meetings and of 

Availability of a Draft Environmental 

Impact Statement for Deepwater South 

Fork LLC’s Proposed Wind Energy 

Facility Offshore Rhode Island 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of a Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement and 

public meetings. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with 

regulations issued under the National 

Environmental Policy Act, the Bureau of 

Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is 

announcing the availability of the South 

Fork Wind Farm (SFWF) and South 

Fork Export Cable (SFEC) Project Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 

prepared for a construction and 

operations plan (COP) submitted by 

Deepwater South Fork LLC (South 

Fork). The DEIS analyzes reasonably 

foreseeable effects from the 

construction, operation and 

maintenance, and eventual 

decommissioning of up to 15 wind 

turbine generators, an offshore 

substation, inter-array cables in lease 

area OCS–A 0517, and the installation 

of an export cable from the lease area to 

Suffolk County, Long Island 

(collectively, the ‘‘Project’’). This notice 

of availability (NOA) announces the 

start of the public review and comment 

period, as well as the times and dates 

for virtual public meetings, on the DEIS. 

After BOEM holds the public meetings 

and addresses comments provided, 

BOEM will publish a final 

environmental impact statement. 

DATES: Comments should be submitted 

no later than February 22, 2021. BOEM’s 

virtual public meetings will be held at 

the following dates and times (Eastern): 

Tuesday, February 9, 2021; 1:00–3:00 

p.m.; 

Thursday, February 11, 2021; 5:00–7:00 

p.m.; and 

Tuesday, February 16, 2021; 5:00–7:00 

p.m. 

Registration for the virtual public 

meetings may be completed here: 

https://www.boem.gov/renewableenergy/south-fork-wind-farm-deisvirtual-meetings or by calling (703) 787– 

1662. 

ADDRESSES: The DEIS and detailed 

information about the proposed wind 

energy facility, including the COP, can 

be found on BOEM’s website at: https:// 

www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/stateactivities/south-fork. Comments can be 

submitted in any of the following ways: 

• In written form by mail, enclosed in 

an envelope labeled ‘‘South Fork COP 

DEIS’’ and addressed to Program 

Manager, Office of Renewable Energy, 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 

45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, 

Virginia 20166. Comments must be 

received or postmarked no later than 

February 22, 2021; or 

• Through the regulations.gov web 

portal: Navigate to htttp://

www.regulations.gov and search for 

Docket No. BOEM–2020–0066. Click on 

the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ button to the right 

of the document link. Enter your 

information and comment, then click 

‘‘Submit.’’ 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on the DEIS or BOEM’s 

policies associated with this notice, 

please contact: Michelle Morin, Chief, 

Environment Branch for Renewable 

Energy, BOEM Office of Renewable 

Energy Programs, 45600 Woodland 

Road, Sterling, Virginia 20166, (703) 

787–1722 or michelle.morin@boem.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Proposed Action: South Fork seeks 

approval to construct, operate, maintain, 

and eventually decommission the 

Project—a wind energy facility on the 

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore 

Rhode Island and an associated export 

cable. The Project would be developed 

within the range of design parameters 

outlined in the South Fork COP, subject 

to applicable mitigation measures. The 

SFWF includes up to 15 wind turbine 

generators with a nameplate capacity of 

6 to 12 megawatts per turbine, 

submarine cables between the wind 

turbine generators (inter-array cables), 

and an offshore substation, all located 

entirely on the OCS in Federal waters in 

Lease Area OCS–A 0517, approximately 

19 miles southeast of Block Island, 

Rhode Island, and 35 miles east of 

Montauk Point, New York. The SFEC is 

an alternating current electric cable that 

will connect the wind farm to the 

existing mainland electric grid in East 

Hampton, New York. The Project also 

includes an operations and maintenance 

facility located onshore at either 

Montauk in East Hampton, New York, 

or Quonset Point in North Kingstown, 

Rhode Island, and a new facility that 

will interconnect the SFEC with the 

Long Island Power Authority electric 

transmission and distribution system in 

the town of East Hampton, New York. 

The DEIS analyzes reasonably 

foreseeable effects from the Project. The 

analysis includes a review of resourcespecific baseline conditions and future 

offshore wind activities, and, using the 

methodology and assumptions outlined 

in the document, assesses cumulative 

impacts that could result from the 

incremental impact of the proposed 

action and action alternatives as defined 

in the DEIS when combined with past, 

present, or reasonably foreseeable 

activities, including other potential 

future offshore wind activities. 

Alternatives: BOEM considered 22 

alternatives when preparing the DEIS 

and carried forward four for further 

analysis in the DEIS. These four 

alternatives include three action 

alternatives and the No Action 

alternative. Eighteen alternatives were 

not further analyzed because they did 

not meet the purpose and need for the 

proposed action or did not meet 

screening criteria. The screening criteria 

included consistency with law and 

regulations; operational, technical, and 

economic feasibility; environmental 

impact; and geographical 

considerations. 

Availability of the DEIS: The DEIS, 

South Fork COP, and associated 

information are available on BOEM’s 

website at: https://www.boem.gov/ 

renewable-energy/state-activities/southfork. BOEM distributed digital copies of 

the DEIS to all parties listed in 

Appendix B, which includes the 

location of all libraries receiving a copy. 

If you require a paper copy, BOEM will 

provide one upon request, if copies are 

available. You may request a DVD or 

paper copy of the DEIS by calling (703) 

787–1662. 

Cooperating Agencies: Ten agencies 

or governmental entities participated as 

cooperating agencies in preparing the 

DEIS: Bureau of Safety and 

Environmental Enforcement; U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency; 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration; U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers; U.S. Coast Guard; 

Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone 

Management; Rhode Island Department 

of Environmental Management; Rhode 

Island Coastal Resource Management 

Council; Town of East Hampton, and 

the Trustees of the Freeholders and 

Commonality of the Town of East 

Hampton. 

BOEM does not consider anonymous 

comments. Please include your name 

and address as part of your submittal. 

BOEM makes all comments, including 

the names and addresses of 

respondents, available for public review 

during regular business hours. 

Individual respondents may request that 

BOEM withhold their names or 

addresses from the public record; 

however, BOEM cannot guarantee that it 

will be able to do so. If you wish your 

name or address to be withheld, you 


tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 5 / Friday, January 8, 2021 / Notices 1521 

must state your preference prominently 

at the beginning of your comment. All 

submissions from organizations or 

businesses and from individuals 

identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses will be 

made available for public inspection in 

their entirety. 

Authority: This NOA was prepared under 

Council on Environmental Quality NEPA 

regulations, 40 CFR 1500–1508 (as in place 

before July 16, 2020) and published in 

accordance with 40 CFR 1506.6 and 43 CFR 

46.435. 

William Yancey Brown, 

Chief Environmental Officer, Bureau of Ocean 

Energy Management. 

[FR Doc. 2021–00100 Filed 1–7–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Safety and Environmental 

Enforcement 

[Docket ID BSEE–2020–0015; 21XE8370SD// 

EEGG600000//ED1OS0000.ERD000] 

Notice of Public Comment Period 

AGENCY: Bureau of Safety and 

Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of public comment 

period. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the 

Interior (DOI), Bureau of Safety and 

Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) is 

conducting an independent external 

peer review of a recent study titled, 

OSRR 1063: Bureau of Safety and 

Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) 

Report: Computational Fluid Dynamics 

(CFD) Model for Predicting Wellhead 

Oil-Burning Efficiency at Bench and 

Intermediate Scales: Interim Report 

(July 30, 2020). This peer review will 

aid BSEE gather input from the 

scientific community on the technical 

methodologies and results in this 

interim final report. Background 

information on BSEE’s Oil Spill 

Response Research (OSRR) 1063 study 

is provided in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section below. Information 

regarding BSEE’s peer-review process is 

available at: https://www.bsee.gov/whatwe-do/research/peer review. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before February 

8, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on 

this notice by either of the following 

methods listed below: 

• Electronically go to http://

www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, 

enter BSEE–2020–0015 then click 

search. Follow the instructions to 

submit public comments and view all 

related materials. We will post all 

comments. 

Written comments should be 

submitted on or before February 8, 2021. 

Relevant public comments within the 

BSEE Charge for the scope of this peer 

review (outline below) and directly 

addressing the scientific and technical 

issues in BSEE’s 13 Charge Questions 

(outlined below) will be provided to the 

peer reviewers. BSEE may not be able to 

fully consider comments submitted after 

February 8, 2021. 

Submit your comments, identified by 

name, contact (phone, and/or email) by 

one of the following methods: 

• Mail: Karen N. Stone, Program 

Manager, U.S. Department of the 

Interior, Bureau of Safety and 

Environmental Enforcement, Oil Spill 

Preparedness Division, Response 

Research Branch, 45600 Woodland 

Road, VAE–OSPD, Sterling, VA 20166. 

Email: karen.stone@bsee.gov. Do not 

submit information considered to be 

Confidential Business Information (CBI) 

or other information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute to BSEE 

electronically through email. Please 

contact the BSEE staff listed under the 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

section for special instructions before 

submitting comments considered to be 

CBI or otherwise protected. 

To provide public involvement in this 

peer-review process, BSEE is 

announcing and inviting written public 

comments on the scientific and 

technical merit of the interim OSRR 

1063 report. The interim OSRR 1063 

report is available on BSEE’s OSRR 

website located at: https://

www.bsee.gov/what-we-do/research/oilspill-preparedness/oil-spill-responseresearch. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Karen N. Stone, Program Manager, U.S. 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Safety and Environmental Enforcement, 

Oil Spill Preparedness Division, 

Response Research Branch, 45600 

Woodland Road, VAE–OSPD, Sterling, 

VA 20166. 

Telephone number: (703) 787–1810. 

Email address: karen.stone@bsee.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

BSEE Charge for the Scope of This Peer 

Review 

In order to focus the peer-review 

process effectively on the 13 Charge 

Questions, BSEE has carefully defined 

the scope of this peer review for the 

Interim report of the BSEE Study titled, 

OSRR 1063: Bureau of Safety and 

Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) 

Report: Computational Fluid Dynamics 

(CFD) Model for Predicting Wellhead 

Oil-Burning Efficiency at Bench and 

Intermediate Scales: Interim Report 

(July 30, 2020). Written comments 

should stay within the BSEE Scope 

defined below. 

The scope of this peer review focuses 

only on the scientific and technical 

merit of the assumptions, inputs, 

methodologies, modeling with 

experimental validation, and results for 

the BSEE study titled, OSRR 1063: BSEE 

Report: Computational Fluid Dynamics 

(CFD) Model for Predicting Wellhead 

Oil-Burning Efficiency at Bench and 

Intermediate Scales: Interim Report 

(July 30, 2020). This peer review is 

scientific and technical in nature and 

includes reviewing the methods, 

assumptions, data quality, the strengths 

of any inferences made, and the overall 

strengths and limitations of the study. 

The peer-review scope includes the 

material, fabrication, computations, 

testing, engineering factors, modeling 

with experimental validation, results, 

and final recommendations generated 

from the OSRR 1063 study. 

The following are considered Out-ofScope for this peer review and will not 

be considered during this peer-review 

process: 

• General comments related to 

intentional wellhead ignition as a 

primary response method, because this 

peer review is focused only on the 

methods and approach for predicting 

wellhead burn efficiency at the bench 

and intermediate scales. 

• Comments on, or suggestions for, 

alternate modeling methods to predict 

wellhead burn efficiencies except for 

comments on any omissions or errors 

identified in the specific methods used 

for modeling and experimental 

validations of the model in the OSRR 

1063 study referenced above because 

this peer review focuses on the research 

already completed for this OSRR 1063 

study. 

• Comments related to BSEE policies, 

decisions, or current or proposed BSEE 

regulations. 

Public comments should focus on the 

scientific and technical merit of the 

OSRR 1063 study and be organized 

under BSEE’s 13 Charge Questions. 

BSEE Charge Questions 

1. Were the objectives of the study 

clearly defined? If not, what are your 

recommendations for improving the 

description of this study’s objectives? 

2. Were the assumptions regarding 

wellhead conditions and two-phase 

wellbore flow (including film thickness 

and instability, liquid entrainment, and 


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