33908 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 108 / Wednesday, June 5, 2013 / Notices 

CFR 585.225 and 585.118(c). Pursuant 

to 30 CFR 585.225: 

(a) If BOEM rejects your bid, BOEM 

will provide a written statement of the 

reasons, and refund any money 

deposited with your bid, without 

interest. 

(b) You will then be able to ask the 

BOEM Director for reconsideration, in 

writing, within 15 business days of bid 

rejection, under 30 CFR 585.118(c)(1). 

We will send you a written response 

either affirming or reversing the 

rejection. 

The procedures for appealing adverse 

final decisions with respect to lease 

sales are described in 30 CFR 

585.118(c). 

Protection of Privileged or 

Confidential Information: 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 may not treat as 

confidential the legal title of the 

commenting entity (e.g., the name of 

your company). Information that is not 

labeled as privileged or confidential will 

be regarded by BOEM as suitable for 

public release. 

Dated: May 24, 2013. 

Tommy P. Beaudreau, 

Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 2013–13197 Filed 6–4–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[Docket No. BOEM–2013–0008; 

MMAA104000] 

Commercial Wind Lease Issuance and 

Site Assessment Activities on the 

Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) 

Offshore Rhode Island and 

Massachusetts 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM), Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of the Availability of a 

revised Environmental Assessment and 

a Finding of No Significant Impact. 

SUMMARY: BOEM has prepared a revised 

environmental assessment (EA) 

considering the reasonably foreseeable 

environmental and socioeconomic 

impacts of issuing renewable energy 

leases and subsequent site 

characterization activities (geophysical, 

geotechnical, archaeological, and 

biological surveys needed to develop 

specific project proposals on those 

leases) in an identified Wind Energy 

Area (WEA) on the OCS offshore Rhode 

Island (RI) and Massachusetts (MA). The 

revised EA also considers the 

reasonably foreseeable impacts 

associated with the approval of site 

assessment activities (including the 

installation and operation of 

meteorological towers and buoys) on the 

leases that may be issued in the 

identified WEA. 

As a result of the analysis in the 

revised EA, BOEM issued a Finding of 

No Significant Impact (FONSI). The 

FONSI concluded that the reasonably 

foreseeable impacts associated with the 

preferred alternative would not 

significantly impact the environment; 

therefore, the preparation of an 

environmental impact statement (EIS) is 

not required. 

The purpose of this notice is to inform 

the public of the availability of the 

revised EA and FONSI, which can be 

accessed online at: http:// 

www.boem.gov/Renewable-EnergyProgram/Smart-from-the-Start/ 

Index.aspx. 

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 

michelle.morin@boem.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 3, 

2012, BOEM published a Notice of 

Availability (NOA) for an EA, which 

requested public comments on 

alternatives considered in the 2012 EA, 

as well as measures (e.g., limitations on 

activities based on technology, distance 

from shore, or timing) that would 

mitigate impacts to environmental 

resources and socioeconomic conditions 

that could result from leasing, site 

characterization, and site assessment in 

and around the Call Area (76 FR 51391). 

The Call Area is located within the Area 

of Mutual Interest, as described in a 

Memorandum of Understanding 

between the Governors of RI and MA 

dated July 2010. 

The 2012 EA considered the entire 

WEA for leasing and approval of site 

assessment plans (SAPs) as the 

proposed action under the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (42 

U.S.C. 4321–4370f). Comments received 

in response to the NOA can be viewed 

at: http://www.regulations.gov by 

searching for Docket ID BOEM–2012– 

0048. 

Based on comments received and the 

results of required consultations (e.g., 

Endangered Species Act), BOEM has 

revised the 2012 EA. BOEM will use the 

revised EA to inform decisions to issue 

leases in the WEA and to subsequently 

approve SAPs on those leases. BOEM 

may issue one or more commercial wind 

energy leases in the WEA. The 

competitive lease process is set forth at 

30 CFR 585.210–585.225, and the 

noncompetitive process is set forth at 30 

CFR 585.230–585.232 (as amended by a 

rulemaking effective as of June 15, 

2011). 

A commercial lease, whether issued 

through a competitive or noncompetitive process, gives the lessee the 

exclusive right to subsequently 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 

right to use the leased area to develop 

its plans, which BOEM must approve 

before the lessee may proceed to the 

next stage of the process. See 30 CFR 

585.600 and 585.601. In the event that 

a particular lease is issued, and the 

lessee subsequently submits a SAP, 

BOEM would then determine whether 

the revised EA adequately considers the 

impacts of the activities proposed in the 

lessee’s SAP. If BOEM determines that 

the analysis in the revised EA 

adequately considers these impacts, 

then no further analysis under NEPA 

would be required before BOEM could 

approve a SAP. If, on the other hand, 

BOEM determines that the analysis in 

this revised EA is inadequate for that 

purpose, BOEM would prepare 

additional NEPA analysis before it 

could approve the SAP. 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES2
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 108 / Wednesday, June 5, 2013 / Notices 33909 

If a lessee is prepared to propose a 

wind energy generation facility on its 

lease, it would submit a construction 

and operations plan (COP). BOEM then 

would prepare a separate site- and 

project-specific NEPA analysis of the 

proposed project. This analysis would 

likely take the form of an EIS and would 

provide the public and Federal officials 

with comprehensive information 

regarding the reasonably foreseeable 

environmental and socioeconomic 

impacts of the proposed project. This 

analysis would inform BOEM’s decision 

to approve, approve with modification, 

or disapprove a lessee’s COP pursuant 

to 30 CFR 585.628. This NEPA process 

also would provide additional 

opportunities for public involvement 

pursuant to NEPA and the White House 

Council on Environmental Quality’s 

regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500–1508. 

Dated: April 29, 2013. 

Tommy P. Beaudreau, 

Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 2013–13199 Filed 6–4–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES2