Vol. 78 Wednesday, 

No. 108 June 5, 2013 

Part II 

Department of the Interior 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

Atlantic Wind Lease Sale 2 (ATLW2) Commercial Leasing for Wind Power 

on the Outer Continental Shelf Offshore Rhode Island and 

Massachusetts—Final Sale Notice and Commercial Wind Lease Issuance 

and Site Assessment Activities on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf 

(OCS) Offshore Rhode Island and Massachusetts; Notices 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES2
33898 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 108 / Wednesday, June 5, 2013 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[Docket No. BOEM–2013–0014; 

MMAA104000] 

Atlantic Wind Lease Sale 2 (ATLW2) 

Commercial Leasing for Wind Power 

on the Outer Continental Shelf 

Offshore Rhode Island and 

Massachusetts—Final Sale Notice 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM), Interior. 

ACTION: Final Sale Notice for 

Commercial Leasing for Wind Power on 

the Outer Continental Shelf Offshore 

Rhode Island and Massachusetts. 

SUMMARY: This document is the Final 

Sale Notice (FSN) for the sale of two 

commercial wind energy leases on the 

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore 

Rhode Island and Massachusetts, 

pursuant to BOEM’s regulations at 30 

CFR 585.216. BOEM is offering Lease 

OCS–A 0486 (North Lease Area) and 

Lease OCS–A 0487 (South Lease Area) 

for sale simultaneously using a multiple 

factor auction format. The two lease 

areas together comprise the Rhode 

Island and Massachusetts Wind Energy 

Area (WEA) announced on February 24, 

2012, (see ‘‘Areas Offered for Leasing’’ 

below for a description of the WEA and 

lease areas). The two lease areas are 

identical to those announced in the 

Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) for 

Commercial Leasing for Wind Power on 

the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) 

Offshore Rhode Island and 

Massachusetts, which was published on 

December 3, 2012, in the Federal 

Register with a 60-day public comment 

period (77 FR 71612). This FSN 

contains information pertaining to the 

areas available for leasing, lease 

provisions and conditions, auction 

details, the lease form, criteria for 

evaluating competing bids, award 

procedures, appeal procedures, and 

lease execution. The issuance of the 

leases resulting from this lease sale 

would not constitute an approval of 

project-specific plans to develop 

offshore wind energy. Such plans, 

expected to be submitted by successful 

lessees, will be subject to subsequent 

environmental and public review prior 

to a decision to proceed with 

development. 

DATES: BOEM will hold a mock auction 

for the eligible bidders on July 24, 2013. 

The nonmonetary phase of the auction 

will begin on July 29, 2013. The 

monetary phase of the auction will be 

held online and will begin at 10:30 a.m. 

on July 31, 2013. Additional details are 

provided in the section entitled, 

‘‘Deadlines and Milestones for Bidders.’’ 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jessica Bradley, BOEM Office of 

Renewable Energy Programs, 381 Elden 

Street, HM 1328, Herndon, Virginia 

20170, (703) 787–1320 or 

jessica.bradley@boem.gov. 

Authority: This FSN is published pursuant 

to subsection 8(p) of the OCS Lands Act (43 

U.S.C. 1337(p)) (‘‘the Act’’), as amended by 

section 388 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 

(EPAct), and the implementing regulations at 

30 CFR Part 585, including 30 CFR 585.211 

and 585.216. 

Background: The two lease areas 

offered in this FSN are the same areas 

as BOEM announced in the PSN on 

December 3, 2012 (77 FR 71612). BOEM 

received 82 comments in response to 

the PSN, which are available on BOEM’s 

Web site at: http://www.boem.gov/ 

Renewable-Energy-Program/StateActivities/Rhode-Island.aspx. BOEM 

has also posted a document containing 

responses to comments submitted 

during the PSN comment period and 

listing other changes that BOEM has 

implemented for this lease sale since 

publication of the PSN. 

On July 3, 2012, BOEM published a 

Notice of Availability (NOA) (77 FR 

39508) of an Environmental Assessment 

(EA) for commercial wind lease 

issuance and site assessment activities 

on the Atlantic OCS Offshore Rhode 

Island and Massachusetts with a 30-day 

public comment period. BOEM received 

32 comments, which are available at 

http://www.boem.gov/RenewableEnergy-Program/State-Activities/RhodeIsland.aspx. BOEM has also concluded 

consultations under the Endangered 

Species Act (ESA), the MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act (MSFCMA), Section 

106 of the National Historic 

Preservation Act (NHPA), and the 

Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). 

Based on the public comments in 

response to the EA, the conclusion of 

required consultations, and public 

outreach and information meetings, 

BOEM decided to make certain 

revisions to the EA originally published 

in July 2012. Concurrent with this 

notice, BOEM is publishing a NOA for 

the revised EA and Finding of No 

Significant Impact (FONSI). The 

Commercial Wind Lease Issuance and 

Site Assessment Activities on the 

Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) 

Offshore Rhode Island and 

Massachusetts Revised Environmental 

Assessment (EA) can be found at http:// 

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

Index.aspx. 

The two lease areas offered in Atlantic 

Wind Lease Sale 2 (ATLW2) comprise 

the Rhode Island and Massachusetts 

WEA described as the proposed action 

and preferred alternative in the EA. 

Additional environmental reviews will 

be conducted upon receipt of the 

lessees’ proposed project-specific plans, 

such as a Site Assessment Plan (SAP) or 

Construction and Operations Plan 

(COP). 

List of Eligible Bidders: BOEM has 

determined that the following 

companies are legally, technically and 

financially qualified pursuant to 30 CFR 

585.106 and 107, and are therefore 

eligible to participate in this lease sale 

as bidders. 

Company name Company 

No. 

Deepwater Wind New England, 

LLC ............................................ 15012 

EDF Renewable Development, 

Inc ............................................. 15027 

Energy Management, Inc. ............ 15015 

Fishermen’s Energy, LLC ............. 15005 

IBERDROLA RENEWABLES, Inc. 15019 

Neptune Wind LLC ....................... 15011 

Sea Breeze Energy LLC .............. 15044 

US Mainstream Renewable 

Power (Offshore) Inc. ................ 15029 

US Wind Inc. ................................ 15023 

Deadlines and Milestones for Bidders: 

This section describes the major 

deadlines and milestones in the auction 

process from publication of this FSN to 

execution of leases pursuant to this sale. 

• Bidders Financial Form (BFF): Each 

eligible bidder must submit a BFF to 

BOEM by June 12, 2013. Please note that 

the BFF has been updated since 

publication of the PSN. The updated 

BFF is available at http:// 

www.boem.gov/Renewable-EnergyProgram/State-Activities/RhodeIsland.aspx. Once this information has 

been processed by BOEM, bidders may 

log into pay.gov and leave bid deposits. 

• Bid Deposits: Each bidder must 

submit an adequate bid deposit by July 

17, 2013. 

• Non-Monetary Package: Each 

bidder must submit a non-monetary 

package, if it is applying for a credit, by 

July 17, 2013. 

• Mock Auction: BOEM will hold a 

Mock Auction on July 24, 2013. The 

Mock Auction is not an ‘‘in-person’’ 

event. BOEM will contact each eligible 

bidder and provide instructions for 

participation. Only bidders eligible to 

participate in this auction will be 

permitted to participate in the Mock 

Auction. 

• Panel Convenes to Evaluate NonMonetary Packages: On July 29, 2013, 

the panel described in the ‘‘Auction 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES2
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 108 / Wednesday, June 5, 2013 / Notices 33899 

Procedures’’ section will convene to 

consider non-monetary packages. The 

panel will send determinations of 

eligibility to BOEM, who will inform 

each bidder by email of the panel’s 

determination with respect to them. 

• Monetary Auction: On July 31, 

2013, BOEM, through its contractor, will 

hold the monetary stage of the auction. 

The auction will start at 10:30 a.m. The 

auction will proceed electronically 

according to a schedule to be distributed 

by the BOEM Auction Manager at the 

time of the auction. BOEM anticipates 

that the auction will continue on 

consecutive business days, as necessary, 

until the auction ends according to the 

procedures described in the Auction 

Format section of this notice. 

• Announce Provisional Winners: 

BOEM will announce the provisional 

winners of the lease sale after the 

auction ends. 

• Reconvene the Panel: The panel 

will reconvene to verify auction results. 

• Department of Justice (DOJ) Review: 

BOEM will afford the Department of 

Justice (DOJ) 30 days to conduct an 

antitrust review of the auction, pursuant 

to 43 U.S.C. 1337(c), which reads, in 

relevant part: 

Antitrust review of lease sales. 

Following each notice of a proposed 

lease sale and before the acceptance of 

bids and the issuance of leases based on 

such bids, the Secretary [of the Interior] 

shall allow the Attorney General, in 

consultation with the Federal Trade 

Commission, thirty days to review the 

results of such lease sale, except that the 

Attorney General, after consultation 

with the Federal Trade Commission, 

may agree to a shorter review period. 

• Delivery of Leases: BOEM will send 

three lease copies to each winner, with 

instructions on how to accept and 

execute the leases. The first 6-months of 

the first year’s rent payment is due 45 

days after the winner receives the lease 

for execution. 

• Return the Leases: The auction 

winners will have ten days from 

receiving the lease copies in which to 

post financial assurance, pay any 

outstanding balance of their bonus bids, 

and sign and return the three copies. 

• Refund Non-Winners: BOEM will 

return the bid deposits of any bidders 

that did not win leases in the lease sale 

with a written explanation of why the 

bidder did not win. 

• Execution of Leases: Once BOEM 

has received the signed lease copies and 

verified that all required materials have 

been received, BOEM will make a final 

determination regarding its execution of 

the leases, and execute if appropriate. 

Areas Offered For Leasing: The North 

and South Lease Areas offshore Rhode 

Island and Massachusetts comprise 13 

whole OCS blocks and 26 sub-blocks 

encompassing 164,750 acres. The North 

Lease Area consists of 97,498 acres, and 

the South Lease Area consists of 67,252 

acres. If there are adequate bids, two 

leases will be issued pursuant to this 

lease sale. A description of the lease 

areas and lease activities can be found 

in Addendum ‘‘A’’ of each lease, which 

BOEM has made available with this 

notice on its Web site at: http:// 

www.boem.gov/Renewable-EnergyProgram/State-Activities/RhodeIsland.aspx. 

BOEM commissioned the Department 

of Energy’s National Renewable Energy 

Laboratory (NREL) to evaluate BOEM’s 

delineation of the lease areas that was 

published in the PSN. The final 

technical evaluation report is available 

on BOEM’s Web site at: http:// 

www.boem.gov/Renewable-EnergyProgram/State-Activities/RhodeIsland.aspx. One conclusion of the 

report is that the North and South Lease 

Areas have significantly dissimilar 

attributes and that ‘‘together these 

differing attributes tend to indicate that 

the North Lease area is a more 

competitive and cost effective area for 

near term commercial development.’’ 

Still, the report concludes, ‘‘the current 

RI/MA WEA delineation is logical in 

terms of providing two distinct 

developable leasing areas . . .’’ 

Ascending bidding over the course of 

the auction will ensure that the relative 

values of the lease areas will determine 

the amount bidders will pay. BOEM has 

determined that the differences 

highlighted in the NREL report justify 

adjusting the minimum bids for the two 

lease areas. Accordingly, the minimum 

bid for the South Lease Area will be $1 

per acre, or $67,252. The minimum bid 

for the North Lease Area will be $2 per 

acre, or $194,996. 

Map of the Area Offered for Leasing: 

A map of the North and South Lease 

Areas and a table of the boundary 

coordinates in X, Y (eastings, northings) 

UTM Zone 18, NAD83 Datum and 

geographic X, Y (longitude, latitude), 

NAD83 Datum can be found at the 

following URL: http://www.boem.gov/ 

Renewable-Energy-Program/StateActivities/Rhode-Island.aspx. 

A large scale map of these areas, 

showing boundaries of the area 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, Phone: (703) 787–1320, Fax: 

(703) 787–1708. 

Withdrawal of Blocks: BOEM reserves 

the right to withdraw areas from this 

lease sale prior to its execution of a 

lease. 

Lease Terms and Conditions: BOEM 

has included specific terms, conditions, 

and stipulations for OCS commercial 

wind leases in the Rhode Island and 

Massachusetts WEA within Addendum 

‘‘C’’ of each lease. BOEM reserves the 

right to apply additional terms and 

conditions to activities conducted on 

the lease incident to any future approval 

or approval with modifications of a SAP 

and/or COP. Each lease, including 

Addendum ‘‘C’’, is available on BOEM’s 

Web site at: http://www.boem.gov/ 

Renewable-Energy-Program/StateActivities/Rhode-Island.aspx. Each lease 

consists of an instrument with 18 

sections and the following six 

attachments: 

Addendum ‘‘A’’ (Description of 

Leased Area and Lease Activities); 

Addendum ‘‘B’’ (Lease Term and 

Financial Schedule); 

Addendum ‘‘C’’ (Lease Specific 

Terms, Conditions, and Stipulations); 

Addendum ‘‘D’’ (Project Easement) 

Addendum ‘‘E’’ (Rent Schedule); and 

Appendix A to Addendum C 

(Incident Report: Protected Species 

Injury or Mortality). 

Addenda ‘‘A’’, ‘‘B’’, and ‘‘C’’ provide 

detailed descriptions of lease terms and 

conditions. 

Addenda ‘‘D’’ and ‘‘E’’ will be 

completed at the time of COP approval. 

Plans: Pursuant to 30 CFR 585.601, 

the leaseholder must submit a SAP 

within 6 months of lease issuance. If the 

leaseholder intends to continue its 

commercial lease with an operations 

term, the leaseholder must submit a 

COP at least 6 months before the end of 

the site assessment term. 

Pursuant to 30 CFR 585.629, a 

leaseholder may include in its COP a 

request to develop its commercial lease 

in phases. If a leaseholder requests and 

BOEM approves phased development, 

this approval will not affect the length 

of the preliminary, site assessment, or 

commercial terms offered under the 

lease. The COP must describe in 

sufficient detail the activities proposed 

for all phases of commercial 

development, including a schedule 

detailing the proposed timelines for 

phased development. Further, the COP 

must include the results of all site 

characterization surveys, as described in 

30 CFR 585.626(a), necessary to support 

each phase of commercial development. 

The requirements of the SAP remain the 

same as they would under a non-phased 

development scenario, and must meet 

the requirements set forth in the 

regulatory provisions in 30 CFR 

585.605–585.613 for the full commercial 

lease area. 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES2
33900 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 108 / Wednesday, June 5, 2013 / Notices 

Financial Terms and Conditions: This 

section provides an overview of the 

basic annual payments required of the 

Lessee, which will be fully described in 

each lease. 

Rent: The first year’s rent payment of 

$3 per acre for the entire lease area will 

be separated into two 6-month 

payments. The first 6-month payment is 

due within 45 calendar days of the date 

the Lessee receives the lease for 

execution. The second 6-month 

payment is due 6 months after the 

Effective Date of the lease. Thereafter, 

annual rent payments are due on the 

anniversary of the Effective Date of the 

lease, i.e., the Lease Anniversary. Once 

the first commercial operations under 

the lease begin, rent will be charged on 

the remaining part of the lease not 

authorized for Commercial Operations, 

i.e., not generating electricity. However, 

instead of geographically dividing the 

lease area into acreage that is 

‘‘generating’’ and acreage that is ‘‘nongenerating,’’ the fraction of the lease 

accruing rent is based on the fraction of 

the total nameplate capacity of the 

project that is not yet in operation. The 

fraction is the ratio of the actual 

nameplate capacity (as defined below) 

not yet authorized for commercial 

operations at the time payment is due 

divided by the maximum nameplate 

capacity authorized in the Lessee’s most 

recent approved COP in any year of 

commercial operations on the lease. 

This fraction is then multiplied by the 

amount of rent that would be due for the 

Lessee’s entire leased area at the rental 

rate of $3 per acre to obtain the annual 

rent due for a given year. 

For example, for a lease the size of 

164,750 acres (the size of the entire 

WEA), the amount of rent payment will 

be $494,250 per year if the entire leased 

area is not authorized for commercial 

operations. If the Lessee has 500 MW 

authorized under commercial 

operations and its most recent approved 

COP specifies a maximum project size 

of 1000 MW on the entire leased area in 

any year of commercial operations, the 

rent payment will be $247,125. 

The Lessee also must pay rent for any 

project easement associated with the 

lease commencing on the date that 

BOEM approves the COP (or 

modification) that describes the project 

easement. Annual rent for a project 

easement, 200-feet wide and centered 

on the transmission cable, is $70.00 per 

statute mile. For any additional acreage 

required, the Lessee must also pay the 

greater of $5.00 per acre per year or 

$450.00 per year. 

Operating Fee: The annual operating 

fee reflects a 2% operating fee rate 

applied to a proxy for the wholesale 

market value of electricity production. 

The initial payment is prorated to reflect 

the period between the start of 

commercial operations and the Lease 

Anniversary, and is due within 45 days 

of the start of commercial operations; 

thereafter, subsequent annual operating 

fee payments are due on or before each 

Lease Anniversary. The annual 

operating fee payment is calculated by 

multiplying the operating fee rate by the 

imputed wholesale market value of the 

projected annual electric power 

production. For the purposes of this 

calculation, the imputed market value is 

the product of the project’s nameplate 

capacity, the total number of hours in 

the year (8,760), a capacity utilization 

factor, and the annual average price of 

electricity derived from a historical 

regional wholesale power price index. 

Operating Fee Rate: The operating fee 

rate is set at 0.02 (i.e., 2%) during the 

entire life of commercial operations. 

Nameplate Capacity: Nameplate 

capacity is the maximum rated electric 

output, expressed in megawatts (MW), 

that the turbines of the wind farm 

facility under commercial operations 

can produce at their rated wind speed 

as designated by the turbine’s 

manufacturer. The nameplate capacity 

at the start of each year of commercial 

operations on the lease will be specified 

in the COP. For example, if a Lessee has 

20 turbines under commercial 

operations rated by the design 

manufacturer at 5 MW of output each, 

the nameplate capacity of the wind farm 

facility at the rated wind speed of the 

turbines would be 100 MW. 

Capacity Factor: Capacity factor 

represents the share of anticipated 

generation of the wind farm facility that 

is delivered to the interconnection grid 

(i.e., where the Lessee’s facility 

interconnects with the electric grid) 

relative to the wind farm facility’s 

generation at continuous full power 

operation at nameplate capacity, 

expressed as a decimal between zero 

and one. The capacity factor for the year 

in which the Commercial Operation 

Date occurs and for the first six full 

years of commercial operations on the 

lease is set to 0.4 (i.e., 40%) to allow for 

one year of installation and testing 

followed by five years at full 

availability. At the end of the sixth year, 

the capacity factor will be adjusted to 

reflect the performance over the 

previous five years based upon the 

actual metered electricity generation at 

the delivery point to the electrical grid. 

Similar adjustments to the capacity 

factor will be made once every five 

years thereafter. The maximum change 

in the capacity factor from one period to 

the next will be limited to plus or minus 

10 percent of the previous period’s 

value. 

Wholesale Power Price Index: The 

wholesale power price, expressed in 

dollars per MW hour, is determined at 

the time each annual operating fee 

payment is due, based on the weighted 

average of the inflation-adjusted peak 

and off-peak spot price indices for the 

Northeast—Mass Hub power market for 

the most recent year of data available as 

reported by the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC) as part 

of its annual State of the Markets Report 

with specific reference to the summary 

entitled, ‘‘Electric Market Overview: 

Regional Spot Prices.’’ The wholesale 

power price is adjusted for inflation 

from the year associated with the 

published spot price indices to the year 

in which the operating fee is to be due 

based on the Lease Anniversary using 

annual implicit price deflators as 

reported by the U.S. Department of 

Commerce Bureau of Economic 

Analysis (BEA). 

Financial Assurance: Within ten days 

after receiving the lease copies, the 

provisional winner must provide an 

initial lease-specific bond or other 

approved means of meeting the Lessor’s 

initial financial assurance requirements 

in the amount of $100,000. BOEM will 

base the amount of all SAP, COP, and 

decommissioning financial assurance 

requirements on estimates of cost to 

meet all accrued lease obligations. The 

amount of supplemental and 

decommissioning financial assurance 

requirements will be determined on a 

case-by-case basis. 

The financial terms can be found in 

Addendum ‘‘B’’ of the proposed lease, 

which BOEM has made available with 

this notice on its Web site at: http:// 

www.boem.gov/Renewable-EnergyProgram/State-Activities/RhodeIsland.aspx. 

Bid Deposit and Minimum Bid: A bid 

deposit is an advance cash deposit 

submitted to BOEM in order to 

participate in the auction. No later than 

July 17, 2013, each bidder must have 

submitted a bid deposit of $450,000 per 

unit of desired initial eligibility. Each 

lease is worth one unit of bid eligibility 

in the auction. The required bid deposit 

for any participant intending to bid on 

both leases in the first round of the 

auction will be $900,000. Any 

participant intending to bid on only one 

of the leases during the auction must 

submit a bid deposit of $450,000. Any 

bidder that fails to submit the bid 

deposit by the deadline described 

herein may be prevented by BOEM from 

participating in the auction. Bid 

deposits will be accepted online via 

pay.gov. 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES2
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 108 / Wednesday, June 5, 2013 / Notices 33901 

Approximately 97,498 acres are 

offered for sale as Lease OCS–A 0486 

(North Lease Area), and approximately 

67,252 acres are offered as Lease OCS– 

A 0487 (South Lease Area) in this 

auction. The minimum bid is $1 per 

acre for the South Lease Area and $2 per 

acre for the North Lease Area. Therefore, 

the minimum acceptable bid, i.e., the 

opening asking price for the South Lease 

Area, will be $67,252, and for the North 

Lease Area, will be $194,996. 

Each bidder must complete the 

Bidder’s Financial Form that BOEM has 

made available with this notice on its 

Web site at: http://www.boem.gov/ 

Renewable-Energy-Program/StateActivities/Rhode-Island.aspx. This form 

must be submitted by June 12, 2013, to 

BOEM, pursuant to the instructions 

posted with the form. Please note that 

the BFF has been updated since 

publication of the PSN. This form 

requests that each bidder designate an 

email address, which the bidder should 

use to create an account in pay.gov. 

After establishing the pay.gov account, 

bidders may use the Bid Deposit Form 

on the pay.gov Web site to leave a 

deposit. 

Following the auction, bid deposits 

will be applied against any bonus bids 

or other obligations owed to BOEM. If 

the bid deposit exceeds the bidder’s 

total financial obligation, the balance of 

the bid deposit will be refunded to the 

bidder. BOEM will refund the bid 

deposit to unsuccessful bidders. 

Auction Procedures 

Summary 

For the sale of Lease OCS–A 0486 

(‘‘North’’) and Lease OCS–A0487 

(‘‘South’’), BOEM will use a multiplefactor auction format, with a multiplefactor bidding system. Under this 

system, BOEM may consider a 

combination of monetary and 

nonmonetary factors, or ‘‘variables,’’ in 

determining the outcome of the auction. 

BOEM has appointed a panel of three 

BOEM employees for the purposes of 

reviewing the non-monetary packages 

and verifying the results of the lease 

sale. BOEM reserves the right to change 

the composition of this panel prior to 

the date of the lease sale. The panel will 

meet to consider non-monetary 

packages on July 29, 2013. The panel 

will determine whether any bidder has 

earned a non-monetary credit to be used 

during the auction, and, if one or more 

bidders have earned such a credit, the 

percentage the credit will be worth. The 

monetary auction will take place on July 

31, 2013. The auction will balance 

consideration of two variables—(1) a 

cash bid, and (2) a non-monetary credit, 

i.e., if a bidder holds a Power Purchase 

Agreement (PPA), or a Joint 

Development Agreement (JDA). In sum, 

these two variables comprise the ‘‘AsBid’’ auction price, as reflected either in 

a bidder meeting BOEM’s asking price 

or the bidder offering its own IntraRound Bid price subject to certain 

conditions, as described more fully 

below. A multiple-factor auction, 

wherein both monetary and nonmonetary bid variables are considered, 

is provided for under BOEM’s 

regulations at 30 CFR 585.220(a)(4) and 

585.221(a)(6). 

Overview of the Multiple-Factor 

Bidding Format Proposed for this Sale 

Under a multiple-factor bidding 

format, as set forth at 30 CFR 

585.220(a)(4), BOEM may consider 

many factors as part of a bid. The 

regulation states that one bid proposal 

per bidder will be accepted, but does 

not further specify the procedures to be 

followed in the multiple-factor format. 

This multiple-factor format is intended 

to allow BOEM flexibility in 

administering the auction and in 

balancing the variables presented. The 

regulation leaves to BOEM the 

determination of how to administer the 

multiple-factor auction format in order 

to ensure receipt of a fair return under 

the Act, 43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(2)(A). BOEM 

has chosen to do this through an auction 

format that considers a non-monetary 

factor along with ascending bidding 

over multiple rounds, sharing certain 

useful information with bidders at the 

end of each auction round, such as the 

number of live bids associated with 

each Lease Area (LA), and ensuring that 

a bidder’s live bid submitted in the final 

round of the auction will win the LAs 

included in that bid. This auction 

format enhances competition and 

reduces bidder uncertainty more 

effectively than other auction types that 

BOEM considered. 

BOEM’s regulations at 30 CFR 

585.220(a)(4) provides for a multi-round 

auction in which each bidder may 

submit only one proposal per LA or for 

a set of LAs in each round of the 

auction. This formulation presents an 

administratively efficient auction 

process. It also takes advantage of the 

flexibility built into the regulations by 

enabling BOEM to benefit from both the 

consideration of more than one bidding 

factor and the price discovery involved 

in successive rounds of bidding. 

The auction will be conducted in a 

series of rounds. At the start of each 

round, BOEM will state an asking price 

for the North LA and an asking price for 

the South LA. The asking price for a bid 

on both LAs is the sum of the asking 

prices for the North LA and the South 

LA. Each bidder will indicate whether 

it is willing to meet the asking price for 

one or both LAs. A bid submitted at the 

full asking price for one or both LAs in 

a particular round is referred to as a 

‘‘live bid.’’ A bidder must submit a live 

bid for at least one of the LAs in each 

round to participate in the next round 

of the auction. As long as there is at 

least one LA that is included in two or 

more live bids, the auction continues, 

and the next round is held. 

A bidder’s As-Bid price must meet the 

asking price in order for it to be 

considered a live bid. A bidder may 

meet the asking price by submitting a 

monetary bid equal to the asking price, 

or, if it has earned a credit, by 

submitting a multiple-factor bid—that 

is, a live bid that consists of a monetary 

element and a non-monetary element, 

the sum of which equals the asking 

price. In particular, the multiple-factor 

bid would consist of the sum of a cash 

portion and any credit portion which 

the bidder has earned. 

An uncontested bid is a live bid that 

does not overlap with other live bids in 

that round. For example, a bid for both 

the North and the South LAs is 

considered contested if any LA included 

in that bid is included in another bid— 

a bid cannot be ‘‘partially uncontested.’’ 

An uncontested bid represents the only 

apparent interest in that bid’s LA(s) at 

the asking price for that round. If a 

bidder submits an uncontested bid 

consisting of one LA, and the auction 

continues for another round, BOEM 

automatically carries that same live bid 

forward as a live bid into the next 

round, and BOEM’s asking price for the 

LA contained in the uncontested bid 

would remain unchanged from the 

previous round. In other words, BOEM 

assumes that the bidder is willing to pay 

that same price for the LA in that bid 

in the next round as it revealed it was 

willing to pay for it in the current 

round. If the price on the LA in that bid 

rises later in the auction because 

another bidder places a live bid on that 

LA, BOEM will stop automatically 

carrying forward the previously 

uncontested bid. Once the asking price 

goes up, the bidder that placed the 

previously carried-forward bid is free to 

bid on either lease area at the new 

asking prices. 

Following each round in which either 

LA is contained in more than one live 

bid, BOEM will raise the asking price 

for that LA by an increment determined 

by BOEM. The auction concludes when 

neither the North nor the South LA is 

included in more than one live bid. The 

series of rounds and the rising asking 

prices set by BOEM will facilitate 


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consideration of the first variable—the 

cash portion of the bid. 

The second variable—a credit of up to 

25% of a monetary bid for holding a 

PPA or JDA—will be applied throughout 

the auction rounds as a form of imputed 

payment against the asking price for the 

highest priced LA in a bidder’s 

multiple-factor bid. This credit serves to 

supplement the amount of a cash bid 

proposal made by a particular bidder in 

each round. A bidder holding a 

qualified PPA will receive a credit of up 

to 25%. A bidder holding a qualified 

JDA will receive a credit of 20%. The 

total percentage credit for each bidder is 

limited to 25% on a single LA in the 

auction to address concerns about 

creating too large an advantage to 

certain bidders in the auction, as 

discussed in BOEM’s Auction Format 

Information Request (76 FR 76174). 

BOEM has considered the overall 

impact on competition and the relative 

strength of a PPA and JDA in enabling 

a lessee to install a viable project on the 

OCS in setting the credits. In the case of 

a bidder holding a credit and bidding on 

more than one LA, the credit will be 

applied only on the LA with the highest 

asking price. More details on the nonmonetary factors are found in the 

‘‘Credit Factors’’ section below. 

By way of example, assume a bidder 

holds a qualified PPA for the sale of 400 

MW, and its live bid consists of both the 

North and South LAs in the current 

round: the South LA having an asking 

price of $1,000,000 and the North LA 

having an asking price of $2,000,000. 

Suppose the bidder receives a 25% 

credit, which applies only against the 

North LA, the higher priced LA in that 

round, at $2,000,000. A live bid for 

these two LAs would require the bidder 

to submit an As-Bid price of $3,000,000 

which would consist of a monetary 

payment of $1,500,000 for North, (25% 

less than the asking price), and 

$1,000,000 for South. Hence, the 

monetary portion of the live bid would 

be $2,500,000, and the credit portion 

would be $500,000. Each bid in each 

round will thus be considered based on 

both factors—the amount of the cash bid 

proposed and the amount of a potential 

credit for holding a qualified PPA or 

JDA. 

BOEM’s regulations at 30 CFR 

585.222(d) require the use of a panel to 

weigh the variables and to determine 

the winner(s) of the auction. The 

regulations state that BOEM ‘‘will 

determine the winning bid for proposals 

submitted under the multiple-factor 

bidding format on the basis of selection 

by the panel . . .’’ 30 CFR 585.224(h). 

The panel will evaluate non-monetary 

packages consisting of any purported 

PPA or qualified JDA to determine 

whether it is acceptable to BOEM, and 

therefore whether it will qualify for a 

credit for its holder. It is possible that 

the panel will determine that no bidder 

qualifies for a non-monetary credit 

during the auction, in which case the 

auction will otherwise proceed as 

described in the FSN. The panel will 

determine the winning bids for each LA 

in accordance with the procedures 

described below. 

Details of the Auction Process 

Bidding—Live Bids 

Each bidder is allowed to submit a 

live bid for one LA (North or South), or 

both LAs based on its ‘‘eligibility’’ at the 

opening of each round. A bidder’s 

eligibility is either two, one, or zero 

LAs, and it corresponds to the 

maximum number of LAs that a bidder 

may include in a live bid during a single 

round of the auction. A bidder’s initial 

eligibility is determined based on the 

amount of the bid deposit submitted by 

the bidder prior to the auction. To be 

eligible to offer a bid on one LA at the 

start of the auction, a bidder must 

submit a bid deposit of $450,000. To be 

eligible to offer a bid on both North and 

South in the first round of the auction, 

the bidder must submit a bid deposit of 

$900,000. A bidder’s bid deposit will be 

used by BOEM as a down payment on 

any monetary obligations incurred by 

the bidder should it be awarded a lease. 

As the auction proceeds, a bidder’s 

eligibility is determined by the number 

of LAs included in its live bid submitted 

in the round prior to the current round. 

That is, if a bidder submitted a live bid 

on one LA in the previous round, that 

bidder may submit a bid that includes 

at most one LA in the current round. If 

a bidder submitted a live bid comprised 

of both LAs in the previous round, that 

bidder may submit a live bid that also 

includes these two LAs in the current 

round. In both cases, unless a bidder has 

an uncontested bid that is carried 

forward into the next round, the bidder 

also may choose to submit a live bid 

with fewer LAs than the maximum 

number it is eligible to include in its 

bid. Thus, eligibility in successive 

rounds may stay the same or go down, 

but it can never go up. 

In the first round of the auction, 

bidders have the following options: A 

bidder with an initial eligibility of one 

(that is, a bidder who submitted a bid 

deposit of $450,000) may: 

• Submit a live bid on the North LA 

or the South LA, or 

• Submit nothing, and drop out of the 

auction. 

A bidder with an initial eligibility of 

two (that is, a bidder who submitted a 

bid deposit of $900,000) may: 

• Submit a live bid for both the North 

and South LAs, 

• Submit a live bid for the North LA 

or the South LA, or 

• Submit nothing, and drop out of the 

auction. 

Before each subsequent round of the 

auction, BOEM will raise the asking 

price for any LA that was contained in 

more than one live bid in the previous 

round. BOEM will not raise the asking 

price for a LA that was in one or no live 

bids in the previous round. 

Asking price increments will be 

determined by BOEM, in its sole 

discretion. BOEM will base asking price 

increments on a number of factors, 

including: 

• Making the increments sufficiently 

large that the auction will not take an 

unduly long time to conclude; 

• Decreasing the increments as the 

asking price of a LA nears its final price. 

Because the final price for a LA is not 

known until the entire auction has 

ended, the number of bids that have 

included the same LA in the most recent 

round may be used as an imperfect 

indicator of how close a LA’s asking 

price is to its final price. 

BOEM has reduced the minimum bids 

for both LAs in this auction compared 

to the minimum bids announced in the 

PSN. Because the minimum bids have 

been significantly reduced, BOEM 

believes that it would be appropriate to 

raise asking prices by greater bid 

increments in early rounds of the 

auction than originally suggested. 

BOEM intends to use bid increments in 

the range of 20% to 50% in early rounds 

of the auction. At some point, BOEM 

intends to reduce the bid increments to 

the 5% to 20% range. BOEM reserves 

the right during the auction to increase 

or decrease increments if it determines, 

in its sole discretion, that a different 

increment is warranted to enhance the 

efficiency of the auction process. Asking 

prices for the LAs included in multiple 

live bids in the previous round will be 

raised and rounded to the nearest whole 

dollar amount to obtain the asking 

prices in the current round. 

A bidder must submit a live bid in 

each round of the auction (or have an 

uncontested live bid automatically 

carried forward by BOEM) for it to 

remain active and continue bidding in 

future rounds. All of the live bids 

submitted in any round of the auction 

will be preserved and considered 

binding until determination of the 

winning bids is made. Therefore, the 

bidders are responsible for payment of 

the bids they submit and can be held 


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accountable for up to the maximum 

amount of those bids determined to be 

winning bids during the final award 

procedures. 

Between rounds, BOEM will release 

the following information: 

• The level of demand for each LA in 

the previous round of the auction. The 

level of demand for a given LA is 

defined as the number of live bids that 

included the LA. 

• The asking price for each LA in the 

upcoming round of the auction. 

In any subsequent round of the 

auction, if a bidder’s previous round bid 

was uncontested, and the auction 

continues for another round, then 

BOEM will automatically carry forward 

that bid as a live bid in the next round. 

A bidder whose bid is being carried 

forward will not have an opportunity to 

modify or drop its bid until some other 

bidder submits a live bid that overlaps 

with the LA in the carried forward bid. 

Note that in this sale a carried forward 

bid will always be for only one LA—if 

a live bid consisting of both North and 

South was uncontested, the auction 

would end. In particular, for rounds in 

which a bidder finds its uncontested bid 

is carried forward, the bidder will be 

unable to do the following: 

• Switch to the other LA; 

• Submit an Intra-Round Bid (see 

below for discussion of Intra-Round 

Bids); or 

• Drop out of the auction. 

In this scenario the bidder is 

effectively ‘‘frozen’’ through future 

auction rounds for as long as its bid for 

that LA remains uncontested. Moreover, 

the bidder may be bound by that bid or, 

indeed, for any other bid which BOEM 

determines is a winning bid in the 

award stage. Hence, the bidder cannot 

drop an uncontested bid, and in no 

scenario can the bidder be relieved of 

any of its bids from previous or future 

rounds until a determination is made in 

the award stage about the LAs won by 

the bidder. 

If a bidder’s bid is not being carried 

forward by BOEM, a bidder with an 

eligibility of one (that is, a bidder who 

submitted a live bid for either the North 

LA or the South LA in the previous 

round) may: 

• Submit a live bid for either the 

North LA or the South LA, 

• Submit an Intra-Round Bid for the 

same LA that the bidder submitted a 

live bid for in the previous round and 

exit the auction: Or 

• Submit nothing, and drop out of the 

auction. 

A bidder with an eligibility of two 

(that is, a bidder who submitted a live 

bid for both North and South in the 

previous round) may: 

• Submit a live bid for both the North 

and South LAs, 

• Submit a live bid for either the 

North LA or the South LA, 

• Submit an Intra-Round Bid for both 

the North and South LAs, and a live bid 

for either the North LA or the South LA, 

• Submit an Intra-Round Bid for both 

the North and South LAs, no live bids, 

and exit the auction; or 

• Submit nothing, and drop out of the 

auction. 

Subsequent auction rounds occur in 

this sale as long as either the North LA 

or the South LA is contested. The 

auction concludes at the end of the 

round in which neither the North LA 

nor the South LA is included in the live 

bid of more than one bidder, i.e., all live 

bids are uncontested. 

Bidding—Intra-Round Bids 

All asking prices and asking price 

increments will be determined by the 

BOEM Auction Manager. It is possible 

that multiple bidders will be willing to 

meet the previous round’s asking price 

for a LA, while no bidders will be 

willing to meet the next round’s asking 

price. Without some mechanism to 

resolve this situation, the auction could 

result in a tie for this LA. 

Intra-Round Bidding is a mechanism 

to minimize the chance of ties. It also 

allows bidders to more precisely express 

the maximum price they are willing to 

offer for the North, South, or both LAs. 

When submitting a live bid, a bidder 

simply indicates willingness or 

unwillingness to pay the asking price 

for each LA offered in the auction. The 

bidder’s response is either yes or no. In 

contrast, when submitting an IntraRound Bid, the bidder is indicating that 

it is not willing to meet the current 

round’s asking price, but it is willing to 

pay more than the previous round’s 

asking price. In particular, in an IntraRound Bid, the bidder specifies the 

maximum (higher than the previous 

round’s asking price and less than the 

current round’s asking price) that it is 

willing to offer for the specific LA(s) in 

its previous round’s live bid. 

Because an Intra-Round Bid must 

consist of a single offer price for exactly 

the same LA(s) included in the bidder’s 

live bid in the previous round, a bidder 

cannot submit a live bid on the North 

LA in the previous round and then offer 

an Intra-Round Bid on the South LA in 

the current round (or vice versa). Rather, 

an Intra-Round Bid from this bidder in 

the current round must be for the North. 

In the same way, if the bidder submitted 

a live bid which includes both the North 

and South LAs in the previous round, 

then an Intra-Round Bid in the current 

round must include both the North and 

South LAs. 

The number of LAs in a bidder’s live 

bid will determine that bidder’s 

eligibility in the next round. If a bidder 

includes two LAs in a bid in round 1, 

that bidder can include up to two LAs 

in a live bid in round 2, if the bidder 

chooses not to submit an Intra-Round 

Bid. However, if the bidder does choose 

to submit an Intra-Round Bid in round 

2, which must be for both LAs included 

in the bidder’s previous round’s live 

bid, any accompanying live bid must be 

for only one of the two LAs. Otherwise, 

the bidder would be duplicating its 

carried forward live bid at a different 

price. Accordingly, although an IntraRound Bid is not a live bid, in the round 

in which a valid Intra-Round Bid is 

submitted for both LAs, the bidder’s 

eligibility for a live bid in that same 

round and future rounds is permanently 

reduced from including two LAs to one 

LA. In other words, once an Intra-Round 

Bid is submitted, the bidder will never 

again have the opportunity to submit a 

live bid on as many LAs as it has bid 

in previous rounds. 

Because Intra-Round Bids are not live 

bids, and since BOEM only raises asking 

prices on LAs that are included in 

multiple live bids, BOEM will not 

consider Intra-Round Bids for the 

purpose of determining either to 

increase the asking price for a particular 

LA or to end the auction. Also, BOEM 

will not count nor share with bidders 

between rounds the number of IntraRound Bids received for each LA. 

All of the Intra-Round Bids submitted 

during the auction will be preserved, 

and may be determined to be winning 

bids. Therefore, bidders are responsible 

for payment of the bids they submit and 

may be held accountable for up to the 

maximum amount of any Intra-Round 

Bids or live bids determined to be 

winning bids during the final award 

procedures. 

Determining Provisional Winners 

After the bidding ends, BOEM will 

determine provisionally winning bids in 

accordance with the process described 

in this section. This process consists of 

two stages: Stage 1 and Stage 2, which 

are described below. Once the auction 

itself ends, nothing further is required of 

bidders within or between Stages 1 and 

2. In practice, the stages of the process 

will take place as part of the solution 

algorithm for analyzing the monetary 

and credit portion of the bids, 

determining provisional winners, 

finding the LAs won by the provisional 

winners, and calculating the applicable 

bid prices to be paid by the winners for 

the LAs they won. This evaluation will 


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be reviewed, checked and validated by 

the panel. The determination of 

provisional winners, in both stages, will 

be based on the two auction variables, 

as well as on a bidder’s adherence to the 

rules of the auction, and the absence of 

conduct detrimental to the integrity of 

the competitive auction. 

Stage 1 

Live bids submitted in the final round 

of the auction are Qualified Bids. In 

Stage 1, a bidder with a Qualified Bid 

is provisionally guaranteed of winning 

the LA(s) included in its final round 

bid, regardless of any other prior-to-final 

round live bids or Intra-Round Bids in 

any round. This guarantee provides 

bidders assurance that as long as they 

stay active in the bidding for a LA until 

the last round when the auction closes, 

they cannot be outbid on that LA or 

unexpectedly lose that LA. Not only 

does this provision strengthen 

competition and fairness in the auction, 

it also limits opportunities for anticompetitive tactics. 

If both LAs are awarded to bidders in 

Stage 1, the second award stage is not 

necessary. If the North LA or the South 

LA received a bid but was not awarded 

in Stage 1, BOEM will proceed to Stage 

2 to award remaining leases. 

Following the auction, all winning 

bidders must pay the price associated 

with their winning bids, which may 

consist of cash and non-monetary 

credits or just cash. 

Stage 2 

All bids are either Qualified Bids or 

Contingent Bids. Contingent bids 

include all of the live bids received 

before the final round, and any IntraRound Bids received during the auction. 

In Stage 2, BOEM will consider 

Contingent Bids, to see if the unawarded 

LA(s) can be awarded without 

interfering with Stage 1 awards. BOEM 

will make Stage 2 awards to the bid(s) 

that maximize(s) the total As-Bid prices. 

Any Contingent Bids that conflict 

with Qualified Bids will not be 

considered. That is, if there was a 

Qualified Bid for the North LA (i.e., a 

live bid in the final round for the North 

LA), BOEM will not consider any 

Contingent Bid that contains the North 

LA. Only one bid per bidder may win. 

Accordingly, BOEM will not consider a 

Contingent Bid from any bidder that 

received a Stage 1 award for submitting 

a Qualified Bid. 

There is one notable exception to the 

rule described in the preceding 

paragraph. This exception allows BOEM 

to accept a Contingent Bid for both LAs 

notwithstanding the existence of a 

Qualified Bid by the same bidder, 

provided the acceptance of the 

Contingent Bid results in higher overall 

As-Bid prices than acceptance of only 

the Qualified Bid. Suppose, for 

example, that a bidder submitted an 

Intra-Round Bid for the North and South 

LAs, and a live bid in the same round 

for the South LA. Suppose as well that 

the live bid turned out to be the only 

live bid submitted in that round, i.e., it 

is a Qualified Bid because the auction 

closes at the conclusion of that round. 

Without the exception, the Intra-Round 

Bid for both the North and South LAs 

would not win, because the Qualified 

Bid (for the South LA) overlaps with 

part of the Contingent Intra-Round Bid 

(for the North and South LAs), so BOEM 

would award the bidder only the South 

LA based on its Qualified Bid as 

provisionally awarded in Stage 1. In 

cases such as this, and related ones 

where the same bidder’s Contingent Bid 

occurs in other than the final auction 

round where it has submitted an 

overlapping Qualified Bid, there are 

sound reasons to prefer the Contingent 

Bid to the Qualified Bid if the 

Contingent Bid results in higher As-Bid 

prices. 

Based on the bids received, if the 

bidder values the Contingent Bid on 

both LAs more than the Qualified Bid 

on one LA: 

• Awarding the Qualified Bid could 

discourage bidders from submitting live 

bids that compete with their own IntraRound Bids, and 

• Awarding the Qualified Bid could 

result in undersell, if one of the LAs 

would otherwise not be awarded in 

Stage 2. 

The exception discussed here would 

prevent these adverse results. 

In the example, the Intra-Round 

Contingent Bid could prevail, in which 

case the bidder would win both the 

North and South LAs. Note that all 

winning bidders must pay the As-Bid 

price associated with the winning bid, 

which may consist of cash and nonmonetary credits or just cash. This 

means that the bidder would be 

required to pay its Intra-Round Bid 

price associated with its Intra-Round 

Bid, even though it submitted a 

Qualified Bid that guaranteed the South 

LA would be provisionally awarded to 

that bidder. In other words, the 

guarantee (that the bidder that 

submitted a Qualified Bid will be 

awarded the LA(s) associated with that 

bid) does not extend to the price the 

bidder might have to pay for the South 

LA if that LA is ultimately awarded 

through a Stage 2 evaluation in which 

the South LA was a subset of the North 

and South LAs awarded provisionally to 

that bidder in Stage 2. 

This exception represents the only 

situation in which BOEM will consider 

for award a Contingent Bid which 

overlaps a Qualified Bid, i.e., when a 

bidder’s Contingent Bid overlaps its 

own Qualified Bid. In contrast, there is 

no situation in which one bidder’s 

Contingent Bid will be considered for 

award if it overlaps with any LA that is 

included in another bidder’s Qualified 

Bid. 

If more than one combination of 

Contingent Bids exist that would yield 

the same highest As-Bid price total, 

while preserving the LAs originally 

awarded in Stage 1, the resulting tie in 

the allocation of these LAs would be 

settled by a random draw. 

In the event a bidder submits a bid for 

a LA that the panel and BOEM 

determine to be a winning bid, the 

bidder is expected to timely sign the 

applicable lease documents and submit 

the full cash payment due. If the bidder 

fails to timely sign and pay for the lease, 

then BOEM will not issue the lease to 

that bidder, and the bidder will forfeit 

its bid deposit. BOEM may consider 

failure of the bidder to timely pay the 

full amount due an indication that a 

bidder is no longer financially qualified 

to participate in other lease sales under 

BOEM’s regulations at 30 CFR 585.106 

and 585.107. 

Credit Factors 

Prior to the auction, BOEM will 

convene a panel to evaluate bidders’ 

non-monetary packages to determine 

whether and to what extent each bidder 

is eligible for a non-monetary credit 

applicable to the As-Bid auction price 

for one of the LAs in each round of the 

auction, as described below. Any single 

JDA or PPA cannot be used by more 

than one bidder in the auction. 

The percentage credit is determined 

based on the panel’s evaluation of 

required documentation submitted by 

the bidders as of July 17, 2013. Bidders 

will be informed by email before the 

monetary auction about the percentage 

credit applicable to their bids. The bid 

credit will be applicable to only one LA. 

Any non-monetary credit would only be 

applicable to the higher priced LA in a 

bid for both LAs. For an Intra-Round 

Bid containing both LAs, the higher 

priced LA will be determined using the 

previous round’s asking prices. In each 

round, the auction system will display 

information showing how their As-Bid 

auction prices are affected by the credit 

imputed to their bid to determine their 

net monetary payment due to BOEM, 

should their bids prevail as winning 

bids in the award stages. Application of 

the credit percentage to the appropriate 

As-Bid auction price will be rounded to 


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the nearest whole dollar amount. This 

entire process is conceptually similar to 

one in which the multiple bid factors 

are combined into an aggregate score for 

the purpose of awarding LAs, but is 

more transparent to bidders and 

facilitates the bidding process in a 

dynamic, multiple-factor, multiple 

round auction process. 

The bidder’s imputed credit 

throughout the auction and award 

process is limited to the greater of 25% 

for a PPA or 20% for a JDA, applied to 

the highest priced LA related to the 

bidder’s latest live bid or Intra-Round 

Bid. During each round, bidders are 

informed by the BOEM Auction 

Manager how the credit applies to their 

live bid and any Intra-Round Bid. In the 

case of a live bid for both LAs, the credit 

will apply only to the LA having the 

highest current round asking price. In 

the case of an Intra-Round Bid for both 

LAs, the credit will also apply only to 

the higher-priced LA, but the applicable 

price for calculating the credit will be 

based on the previous round’s asking 

prices, not on any additional amount 

above the previous round’s asking 

prices as reflected in the incremental 

amount associated with its Intra-Round 

Bid. 

The reason for using the previous 

round asking price in this situation is 

the difficulty of determining the precise 

LA As-Bid price attributable to each 

individual LA in an Intra-Round Bid 

that contains both LAs. The amount of 

the Intra-Round Bid attributable to each 

LA is not directly available when the 

bidder makes an Intra-Round Bid on 

both LAs. The individual LA bid 

amounts are available at the previous 

round asking prices. For this reason, the 

imputed credit is calculated based on 

the highest asking price of a LA 

included in the Intra-Round Bid 

submitted in the round preceding the 

round in which the Intra-Round Bid was 

made. 

The panel will review the nonmonetary package submitted by each 

bidder, and determine whether bidders 

have established that they are qualified 

to receive a credit, and the percentage 

at which that credit will apply, based on 

the definitional information regarding 

the PPA and JDA. If the panel 

determines that no bidder has qualified 

for a non-monetary factor, the auction 

will proceed with each bidder registered 

with no imputed credit. 

Credit Factor Definitions: The 

definitions below will apply to the 

factors for which bidders may earn a 

credit. 

Power purchase agreement (PPA) is 

any legally enforceable long term 

contract negotiated between an 

electricity generator (Generator) and a 

power purchaser (Buyer) that identifies, 

defines, and stipulates the rights and 

obligations of one party to produce, and 

the other party to purchase, energy from 

an offshore wind project to be located in 

the lease sale area. The PPA must have 

been approved by a public utility 

commission or similar legal authority. 

The PPA must state that the Generator 

will sell to the Buyer and the Buyer will 

buy from the Generator capacity, energy, 

and/or environmental attribute products 

from the project, as defined in the terms 

and conditions set forth in the PPA. 

Energy products to be supplied by the 

Generator and the details of the firm 

cost recovery mechanism approved by 

the State’s public utility commission or 

other applicable authority used to 

recover expenditures incurred as a 

result of the PPA must be specified in 

the PPA. In order to qualify, a PPA must 

contain the following terms or 

supporting documentation: 

(i) A complete description of the 

proposed project; 

(ii) Identification of both the 

electricity Generator and Buyer that will 

enter into a long term contract; 

(iii) A time line for permitting, 

licensing, and construction; 

(iv) Pricing projected under the long 

term contract being sought, including 

prices for all market products that 

would be sold under the proposed long 

term contract; 

(v) A schedule of quantities of each 

product to be delivered and projected 

electrical energy production profiles; 

(vi) The term for the long term 

contract; 

(vii) Citations to all filings related to 

the PPA that have been made with state 

and Federal agencies, and identification 

of all such filings that are necessary to 

be made; and 

(viii) Copies of or citations to 

interconnection filings related to the 

PPA. 

The panel will assign a 25% nonmonetary credit to any bidder that 

establishes in its non-monetary package 

that it meets the criteria described above 

for a PPA for the sale of 350 MW of 

power. The panel will assign a smaller 

percentage credit to any bidder that 

establishes in its non-monetary package 

that it meets the criteria described above 

for a PPA for the sale of less than 350 

MW of power. The smaller percentage 

credit will be calculated according to 

the formula below: 

Where: 

• Partial Credit = Percent credit for which 

a smaller PPA is eligible. 

• Full PPA = 350 MW 

• Full Credit = 25% 

• Partial PPA = amount (less than 350 

MW) of power under contract 

Joint Development Agreement (JDA) is 

a binding agreement between a state and 

a legal entity that proposes to develop 

renewable (wind) energy, which sets 

forth the rights, obligations, and certain 

economic development activities of the 

parties in connection with the 

development of an offshore wind 

project. The legal entity named in a JDA 

must be selected through a competitive 

selection process, such as a request for 

proposals that is conducted by a state 

adjacent to the wind energy area issuing 

and entering into the JDA, where the 

subsequent submitted proposals are 

evaluated by a state agency, committee 

or public utility board. To apply for a 

non-monetary credit, the bidder must 

send the agreement to BOEM by July 17, 

2013, in its non-monetary package. The 

JDA will qualify if the panel determines 

that the agreement includes the 

following identifiable factors: (1) 

Sufficient specificity to the size, timing, 

and location of the proposed project on 

the OCS; (2) the financial commitment 

of the state, the identified legal entity, 

and/or a third party (buyer of power), if 

applicable, included in the agreement; 

(3) the developmental, financial, and/or 

regulatory processes through which the 

state will support the identified legal 

entity that proposes to develop 

renewable (wind) energy; (4) significant 

project milestones; (5) the ramifications 

for not meeting said milestones; and (6) 

any exclusionary rights awarded to said 

identified legal entity. Please clearly 

designate all information that BOEM 

should treat as business confidential. 

The panel will assign each holder of a 

qualifying JDA a credit of 20%. 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES2EN05JN13.000</GPH>
33906 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 108 / Wednesday, June 5, 2013 / Notices 

Additional Information Regarding the 

Auction 

Non-Monetary Auction Procedures 

All bidders seeking a non-monetary 

auction credit are required to submit a 

non-monetary auction package. If a 

bidder seeks a non-monetary auction 

credit, this submission must contain 

information sufficient to establish the 

bidder’s eligibility to receive a nonmonetary credit in the monetary phase 

of the auction. Further information on 

this subject can be found in the section 

of this notice entitled, ‘‘Credit Factor 

Definitions.’’ If a bidder does not submit 

a non-monetary package by July 17, 

2013, to BOEM, then BOEM will assume 

that bidder is not seeking a nonmonetary auction credit and the panel 

will not consider that bidder for a nonmonetary auction credit. 

Bidder Authentication 

The Auction Manager will send 

several bidder authentication packages 

to each bidder shortly after BOEM has 

processed the Bidder Financial Forms. 

One package will contain tokens for 

each authorized individual. Tokens are 

digital authentication devices. The 

tokens will be mailed to the address of 

record that BOEM has on file for each 

company, care of the Primary Point of 

Contact indicated on the Bidder’s 

Financial Form. This individual is 

responsible for distributing the tokens to 

the individuals authorized to bid for 

that company. Bidders are to ensure that 

each token is returned within three 

business days following the auction. An 

addressed, stamped envelope will be 

provided to facilitate this process. 

The second package contains login 

credentials for authorized bidders. The 

login credentials will be mailed to the 

address provided in the Bidder’s 

Financial Form for each authorized 

individual. Bidders can confirm these 

addresses by calling 703–787–1320. 

This package will contain user login 

information and instructions for 

accessing the Auction System Technical 

Supplement and Alternative Bidding 

Form. The login information, along with 

the tokens, will be tested during the 

mock auction. 

Monetary Auction Times 

This section will describe, from a 

bidder’s perspective, how the monetary 

phase of the auction will take place. 

This information will be elaborated on 

and clarified in the Mock Auction to be 

held on July 24, 2013, and an Auction 

System Technical Supplement that will 

be made publicly available on BOEM’s 

Web site at: http://www.boem.gov/ 

Renewable-Energy-Program/StateActivities/Rhode-Island.aspx. The 

Auction System Technical Supplement 

describes auction procedures that are 

incorporated by reference in this notice, 

except where the procedures described 

in the Auction System Technical 

Supplement directly contradict this 

notice. 

The monetary auction will begin at 

10:30 a.m. on July 31, 2013. Bidders 

may log in as early as 8:30 a.m. on that 

day. We recommend that bidders log in 

no later than 9:30 a.m. on that day to 

ensure that any login issues have been 

resolved in time. Once bidders have 

logged in, they should review the 

auction schedule, which lists the start 

times, end times, and recess times of 

each round in the auction. Each round 

is structured as follows: 

• Round 1 Bidding Begins; 

• Bidders enter their bids; 

• Round 1 Bidding Ends and the first 

Recess begins; 

• Sometime during the first Recess, 

Round 1 results are posted; 

• Bidders review the Round 1 results 

and prepare their Round 2 bids; 

• Round 2 Bidding Begins * * * 

The first round will last about 30 

minutes, though subsequent rounds may 

be closer to 20 minutes in length. 

Recesses are anticipated to last 

approximately 10 minutes. The 

descriptions of the auction schedule and 

asking price increments included with 

this FSN are for informational purposes 

only. Bidders should consult the 

auction schedule on the bidding Web 

site for updated times. Bidding will 

continue until about 5 p.m. each day. 

BOEM anticipates the auction will last 

one or two business days, but bidders 

are advised to prepare to continue 

bidding for additional business days as 

necessary to resolve the auction. 

The schedule and asking price 

increments are in BOEM’s discretion, 

and are subject to change at any time 

before or during the auction. 

BOEM and the auction contractors 

will use the auction platform messaging 

service to keep bidders informed on 

issues of interest during the auction. For 

example, BOEM may change the 

schedule at any time, including during 

the auction. If BOEM changes the 

schedule during the auction, it will use 

the messaging feature to notify bidders 

that a revision has been made, and 

direct bidders to the relevant page. 

BOEM will also use the messaging 

system for other changes and items of 

particular note during the auction. 

Bidders may place bids at any time 

during the round. At the top of the 

bidding page, a countdown clock will 

show how much time remains in the 

round. Bidders have until the scheduled 

time to place bids. Bidders should do so 

according to the procedures described 

in the Auction System Technical 

Supplement, and practiced at the Mock 

Auction. No information about the 

round is available until the round has 

closed and results have been posted, so 

there should be no strategic advantage 

to placing bids early or late in the 

round. 

Alternate Bidding Procedures 

Any bidder who is unable to place a 

bid using the online auction should 

follow these instructions: 

• Call BOEM/the BOEM Auction 

Manager at the help desk number that 

is listed in the Auction System 

Technical Supplement before the end of 

the round. 

• BOEM will authenticate the caller 

to ensure he/she is authorized to bid on 

behalf of the company. 

• Explain the problem. 

• BOEM may, in its sole discretion, 

accept a bid using the Alternative 

Bidding Procedure. 

• The Alternative Bidding Procedure 

enables a bidder who is having 

difficulties accessing the Internet to 

submit its bid via an Alternative 

Bidding Form that can be faxed to the 

auction manager. 

Æ If the bidder has not placed a bid, 

but calls BOEM before the end of the 

round and notifies BOEM that it is 

preparing a bid using the Alternate 

Bidding Procedure, and submits the 

Alternate Bidding Form by fax before 

the round ends, BOEM will likely 

accept the bid, though acceptance or 

rejection of the bid is within BOEM’s 

sole discretion. 

Æ If the bidder calls during the round, 

but does not submit the bid until after 

the round ends (but before the round is 

posted), BOEM may or may not accept 

the bid, in part based on how much time 

remains in the recess. Bidders are 

strongly encouraged to submit the 

Alternative Bidding Form before the 

round ends. 

Æ If the bidder calls during the recess 

following the round, but before the 

previous round’s results have been 

posted, BOEM will likely reject its bid, 

even if it has otherwise complied with 

all of BOEM’s Alternate Bidding 

Procedures. 

Æ If the bidder calls to enter a bid 

after results have been posted, BOEM 

will reject the bid. 

Except for bidders who have 

uncontested bids in the current round, 

failure to place a bid during a round 

will be interpreted as dropping out of 

the auction. It is possible that bids 

entered before the bidder stopped 

entering bids may be awarded one or 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES2
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 108 / Wednesday, June 5, 2013 / Notices 33907 

both LAs pursuant to BOEM’s stage 2 

procedures. Bidders are held 

accountable for all bids placed during 

the auction. This is true if they 

continued bidding in the last round, if 

they placed an Intra-Round Bid for a 

single LA in an earlier round, or if they 

stopped bidding during the auction. 

Acceptance, Rejection or Return of 

Bids: BOEM reserves the right and 

authority to reject any and all bids. In 

any case, no lease will be awarded to 

any bidder, and no bid will be accepted, 

unless (1) The bidder has complied with 

all requirements of the FSN, applicable 

regulations and statutes, including, but 

not limited to, bidder qualifications, bid 

deposits, and adherence to the integrity 

of the competitive bidding process, (2) 

the bid conforms with the requirements 

and rules of the auction, and (3) the 

amount of the bid has been determined 

to be adequate by the authorized officer. 

Any bid submitted that does not satisfy 

any of these requirements may be 

returned to the bidder submitting that 

bid by the Program Manager of BOEM’s 

Office of Renewable Energy Programs 

and not considered for acceptance. 

Process for Issuing the Lease: If BOEM 

proceeds with lease issuance, it will 

issue three unsigned copies of the lease 

form to each winning bidder. Within 10 

business days after receiving the lease 

copies, each winning bidder must: 

1. Execute the lease on the bidder’s 

behalf; 

2. File financial assurance, as required 

under 30 CFR 585.515–537; and 

3. Pay by EFT the balance of the 

bonus bid (bid amount less the bid 

deposit). BOEM requires bidders to use 

EFT procedures (not to include pay.gov) 

for payment of the balance of the bonus 

bid, following the detailed instructions 

contained in the ‘‘Instructions for 

Making Electronic Payments’’ available 

on BOEM’s Web site at: http://

www.boem.gov/Renewable-EnergyProgram/State-Activities/RhodeIsland.aspx. 

If a winning bidder does not meet 

these three requirements within 10 

business days of receiving the lease 

copies as described above, or if a 

winning bidder otherwise fails to 

comply with applicable regulations or 

the terms of the FSN, the winning 

bidder will forfeit its bid deposit. BOEM 

may extend this 10 business-day time 

period if it determines the delay was 

caused by events beyond the winning 

bidder’s control. 

In the event that the provisional 

winner does not execute and return the 

leases according to the instructions in 

this notice, BOEM reserves the right to 

reconvene the panel to determine 

whether it is possible to identify a bid 

that would have won in the absence of 

the bid previously determined to be the 

winning bid. In the event that a new 

winning bid is selected by the panel, 

BOEM will follow the procedures in this 

section for the new winner(s). 

BOEM will not execute a lease until 

the three requirements above have been 

satisfied, BOEM has accepted the 

winning bidder’s financial assurance, 

and BOEM has processed the winning 

bidder’s payment. The winning bidder 

may meet financial assurance 

requirements by posting a surety bond 

or by setting up an escrow account with 

a trust agreement giving BOEM the right 

to withdraw the money held in the 

account on demand by BOEM. BOEM 

may accept other forms of financial 

assurance on a case-by-case basis in 

accordance with its regulations. BOEM 

encourages provisionally winning 

bidders to discuss the financial 

assurance requirement with BOEM as 

soon as possible after the auction has 

concluded. 

Within 45 calendar days of the date 

that the Lessee receives the lease copies, 

the Lessee must pay the first 6-months’ 

rent using the pay.gov Renewable 

Energy Initial Rental Payment Form 

available at: https://pay.gov/paygov/

forms/formInstance.html?agencyForm

Id=27797604. The Lessee must pay the 

remaining 6-months’ rent by the first 

day of the seventh month following the 

effective date of the lease, following the 

detailed instructions contained in the 

‘‘Instructions for Making Electronic 

Payments’’ available on BOEM’s Web 

site at: http://www.boem.gov/Renewable

-Energy-Program/State-Activities/Rhode

-Island.aspx. 

Anti-Competitive Behavior: In 

addition to the auction rules described 

in this notice, bidding behavior is 

governed by Federal antitrust laws 

designed to prevent anticompetitive 

behavior in the marketplace. 

Compliance with BOEM’s auction 

procedures will not insulate a party 

from enforcement of the antitrust laws. 

In accordance with the Act at 43 

U.S.C. 1337(c), following the auction, 

and before the acceptance of bids and 

the issuance of leases, BOEM will 

‘‘allow the Attorney General, in 

consultation with the Federal Trade 

Commission, 30 days to review the 

results of the lease sale.’’ 

If a bidder is found to have engaged 

in anti-competitive behavior or 

otherwise violated BOEM’s rules in 

connection with its participation in the 

competitive bidding process, BOEM 

may reject the high bid. 

Anti-competitive behavior 

determinations are fact specific. 

However, such behavior may manifest 

itself in several different ways, 

including, but not limited to: 

• An agreement, either express or 

tacit, among bidders to not bid in an 

auction, or to bid a particular price; 

• An agreement among bidders not to 

bid for a particular Lease Area; 

• An agreement among bidders not to 

bid against each other; and 

• Other agreements among bidders 

that have the effect of limiting the final 

auction price. 

BOEM may decline to award a lease 

if doing so would otherwise create a 

situation inconsistent with the antitrust 

laws (e.g., heavily concentrated market, 

etc.). 

For more information on whether 

specific communications or agreements 

could constitute a violation of Federal 

antitrust law, please see: http:// 

www.justice.gov/atr/public/businessresources.html, or consult counsel. 

Post-Auction Certification: Each 

bidder is required to sign the selfcertification, in accordance with 18 

U.S.C. 1001 (Fraud and False 

Statements) in the Bidder’s Financial 

Form, which can be found on BOEM’s 

Web site: http://www.boem.gov/ 

Renewable-Energy-Program/StateActivities/Rhode-Island.aspx. The form 

must be filled out and returned to 

BOEM in accordance with the 

‘‘Deadlines and Milestones for Bidders’’ 

section of this notice. 

Non-Procurement Debarment and 

Suspension Regulations: Pursuant to 

regulations at 43 CFR Part 42, Subpart 

C, an OCS renewable energy Lessee 

must comply with the U.S. Department 

of the Interior’s non-procurement 

debarment and suspension regulations 

at 2 CFR parts 180 and 1400 and agree 

to communicate the requirement to 

comply with these regulations to 

persons with whom the Lessee does 

business as it relates to this lease, by 

including this term as a condition in 

their contracts and other transactions. 

Force Majeure: The Program Manager 

of BOEM’s Office of Renewable Energy 

Programs has the discretion to change 

any date, time, and/or location specified 

in the FSN in case of a force majeure 

event that the Program Manager deems 

may interfere with a fair and proper 

lease sale process. Such events may 

include, but are not limited to, natural 

disasters (e.g., earthquakes, hurricanes, 

floods), wars, riots, acts of terrorism, 

fire, strikes, civil disorder or other 

events of a similar nature. In case of 

such events, bidders should call 703– 

787–1320 or access the BOEM Web site 

at: http://www.boem.gov/RenewableEnergy-Program/index.aspx. 

Appeals: The appeals procedures are 

provided in BOEM’s regulations at 30 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES2
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