47876 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 155 / Friday, August 10, 2012 / Notices 

forwarded via email to: 

nr_info@nps.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Alexis Abernathy, National Register of 

Historic Places program, National Park 

Service; 1849 C Street NW (2280); 

Washington, DC 20240; Telephone (202) 

354–2236; Email: nr_info@nps.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: With the 

1990 release of National Register 

Bulletin 38, Guidelines for Evaluating 

and Documenting Traditional Cultural 

Properties, NPS clarified a broader 

scope of properties that could be 

considered eligible for listing in the 

National Register of Historic Places (NR) 

for their significance as Traditional 

Cultural Properties, and provided 

written guidance on working with these 

properties. This policy direction was 

followed by the provision in the 1992 

amendment to the National Historic 

Preservation Act stating: ‘‘Properties of 

traditional religious and cultural 

importance to an Indian tribe or Native 

Hawaiian organization may be 

determined to be eligible for inclusion 

in the National Register.’’ While 

Bulletin 38 remains an essential, basic 

resource for identifying, evaluating, and 

documenting TCPs, in recent years the 

number of requests for additional 

assistance in this regard from State and 

Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, 

Federal agencies, and preservation 

professionals has increased 

significantly. NPS believes the best way 

to address these requests is through the 

provision of updated, published 

guidance on how to better identify and 

evaluate: 

• What constitutes a ‘‘traditional’’ 

community 

• ‘‘Continuity of use’’ by a traditional 

community 

• Evolving uses of resources by a 

traditional community 

• Multiple lines of documentary 

evidence 

• Broad ethnographic landscapes 

• Property boundaries 

• Resource integrity 

In addition to the issues noted above, 

NPS is also seeking to identify and 

address any other ‘‘user-identified’’ 

TCP-related issues, as well as requesting 

comments and recommendations that 

specifically address the development of 

published guidance related to 

identifying, evaluating, and 

documenting NR-eligible Native 

American landscapes. NPS requests that 

all comments and recommendations 

related to the issues outlined above 

should be forwarded via email to: 

nr_info@nps.gov. Respondents should 

identify their submission(s) as a ‘‘TCP/ 

NAL Comment’’ in their email ‘‘subject’’ 

box. Responses submitted via email will 

be posted on an ongoing basis beginning 

the first week of June, 2012 on the NR 

Web site located at: http://www.nps.gov/ 

history/nr/publications/guidance/ 

TCP_comments.htm. Before including 

your address, phone number, email 

address, or other personal identifying 

information in your comment, you 

should be aware that your entire 

comment—including your personal 

identifying information—may be made 

publicly available at any time. While 

you can ask us in your comment to 

withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

The National Register Program looks 

forward to hearing comments on these 

issues. 

Dated: July 10, 2012. 

J. Paul Loether, 

Chief, National Register of Historic Places/ 

National Historic Landmarks Program. 

[FR Doc. 2012–19594 Filed 8–9–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312–51–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[Docket No. BOEM–2012–0049] 

Intent To Prepare Environmental 

Impact Statements: Potential 

Commercial Wind Lease Issuance and 

Decision Regarding Approval of 

Construction and Operations Plan on 

the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf 

(OCS) Offshore Maine 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM), Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: On October 12, 2011, BOEM 

received an unsolicited request from 

Statoil North America Inc. (Statoil NA) 

for a commercial wind lease on the OCS 

offshore Maine. Upon the submittal of a 

construction and operations plan (COP), 

BOEM intends to prepare an 

environmental impact statement (EIS) 

that will consider the environmental 

consequences associated with the 

Hywind Maine project proposed by 

Statoil NA, and to obtain public input 

regarding important environmental 

issues that should be considered in the 

EIS. 

Authority: The Notice of Intent to prepare 

an EIS is published pursuant to 40 CFR 

1501.7. 

DATES: Comments should be submitted 

no later than November 8, 2012. 

Submission Procedures: Federal, state, 

local government agencies, tribal 

governments, and other interested 

parties are requested to send their 

written comments on the important 

issues to be considered in the EIS by 

either of the following two methods: 

1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. In the entry 

titled ‘‘Enter Keyword or ID,’’ enter 

BOEM–2012–0049, and then click 

‘‘search.’’ Follow the instructions to 

submit public comments and view 

supporting and related materials 

available for this notice. 

2. By U.S. Postal Service or other 

delivery service, send your comments 

and information to the following 

address: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management, Office of Renewable 

Energy, 381 Elden Street, HM 1328, 

Herndon, Virginia 20170–4817. 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

While you can ask us in your comments 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michelle Morin, BOEM, Environment 

Branch for Renewable Energy, 381 

Elden Street, HM 1328, Herndon, 

Virginia 20170–4817; (703) 787–1722 or 

michelle.morin@boem.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Background 

Statoil NA’s proposed project, 

Hywind Maine, would consist of four 3- 

megawatt (MW) floating wind turbine 

generators (WTGs) configured for a total 

of 12 MW. The project would be located 

in water depths greater than 100 meters 

approximately 12 nautical miles off the 

coast of Maine. Statoil NA’s short-term 

objective is to construct the Hywind 

Maine project to demonstrate the 

commercial potential of the existing 

floating offshore Hywind technology, 

while responding to a corresponding 

Request for Proposal issued by the 

Maine Public Utilities Commission. The 

company’s long-term objective, not 

represented in this leasing request by 

Statoil NA, is to construct a full-scale, 

deepwater floating wind turbine facility 

that leverages economies of scale as well 

as technical and operational 

enhancements developed in the Hywind 

Maine project. The full-scale project 

would be subject to a subsequent and 

separate leasing and environmental 

review process. 

BOEM will publish a Request for 

Interest (RFI) concurrently with this 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 155 / Friday, August 10, 2012 / Notices 47877 

NOI to determine whether competitive 

interest exists for the area requested by 

Statoil NA, as required by 43 

U.S.1337(p)(3). The RFI also requests 

that interested and affected parties 

comment and provide information about 

site conditions and multiple uses within 

the area identified in the notice that 

would be relevant to the proposed 

project or its impacts. Comments 

received on the RFI will be included as 

part of the scoping process for the EIS. 

If BOEM determines there is no 

competition, Statoil NA would submit a 

construction and operations plan (COP) 

to BOEM that describes the proposed 

construction, activities, and 

decommissioning plans for all proposed 

facilities and includes the results of any 

site characterization surveys that have 

been conducted, such as geophysical, 

geotechnical, archaeological, and 

biological surveys. See 30 CFR 585.620– 

585.629. However, if BOEM determines 

there is competition, then it will 

proceed with the competitive leasing 

process outlined in 30 CFR 585.211– 

225. In the event there is competition, 

BOEM is likely to proceed under the 

‘‘Smart from the Start’’ initiative, as it 

has elsewhere on the Atlantic OCS, by 

preparing an environmental assessment 

(EA) that analyzes the potential impacts 

of lease issuance and associated site 

characterization and assessment 

activities. Implementation of this 

process, including the preparation of 

such NEPA analysis would necessitate 

issuance of a new NOI. Whether 

following competitive or noncompetitive procedures, BOEM will 

comply with all applicable requirements 

of National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) prior to making a decision on 

whether or not to issue a lease and 

approve, disapprove, or approve with 

modifications the associated plan(s). 

Statoil NA’s October 12, 2011 

application and map of the proposed 

lease area can be found at the following 

URL: http://www.boem.gov/RenewableEnergy-Program/State-Activities/ 

Maine.aspx. 

2. Proposed Action and Scope of 

Analysis 

This notice starts the formal scoping 

process for the EIS under 40 CFR 150.7, 

and solicits information regarding 

important environmental issues, 

alternatives, and mitigation that should 

be considered in the EIS. BOEM will use 

responses to this NOI and the EIS public 

input process to satisfy the public 

involvement requirements of the 

National Historic Preservation Act (16 

U.S.C. 470f), as provided in 36 CFR 

800.2(d)(3), and is seeking information 

from the public on the identification of 

historic properties that might be 

impacted by the Statoil NA project. The 

analyses contained within the EIS will 

also support compliance with other 

environmental statutes (e.g., Endangered 

Species Act, Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act, and 

Marine Mammal Protection Act). 

The proposed action that will be the 

subject of the EIS is the issuance of a 

commercial lease and the approval or 

approval with modification of the COP 

for Statoil NA’s Hywind Maine project 

offshore Maine. In addition to the no 

action alternative (i.e., no issuance of a 

commercial lease or approval of the 

COP), other alternatives may be 

considered, such as exclusion of certain 

areas from project siting or modification 

of project activities. The EIS will 

consider the reasonably foreseeable 

environmental consequences associated 

with the project, including the impacts 

of site characterization surveys that may 

be undertaken by Statoil NA and the 

construction, operations, maintenance, 

and decommissioning of the four WTGs 

that would be serially interconnected 

with infield cables and with a subsea 

export cable to shore. After a COP is 

submitted and a draft EIS issued, the 

public will have further opportunity to 

comment. 

3. Cooperating Agencies 

BOEM invites Federal, state, and local 

government agencies, as well as tribal 

governments, to consider becoming 

cooperating agencies in the preparation 

of this EIS. Council on Environmental 

Quality (CEQ) regulations implementing 

the procedural provisions of NEPA 

defines cooperating agencies as those 

with ‘‘jurisdiction by law or special 

expertise’’ (40 CFR 1508.5). Potential 

cooperating agencies should consider 

their authority and capacity to assume 

the responsibilities of a cooperating 

agency and remember that an agency’s 

role in the environmental analysis 

neither enlarges nor diminishes the final 

decision-making authority of any other 

agency involved in the NEPA process. 

Upon request, BOEM will provide 

potential cooperating agencies with a 

draft Memorandum of Agreement that 

includes a schedule with critical action 

dates and milestones, mutual 

responsibilities, designated points of 

contact, and expectations for handling 

pre-decisional information. Agencies 

should also consider the ’’Factors for 

Determining Cooperating Agency 

Status’’ in Attachment 1 to CEQ’s 

January 30, 2002, Memorandum for the 

Heads of Federal Agencies: Cooperating 

Agencies in Implementing the 

Procedural Requirements of the NEPA. 

A copy of this document is available at: 

http://ceg.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/ 

cooperating/ 

cooperatingagenciesmemorandum.html 

and at: http://ceg.hss.doe.gov/nepa/regs/ 

cooperating/ 

cooperatingagencymemofactors.html. 

BOEM, as the lead agency, will not 

provide financial assistance to 

cooperating agencies. Even if an 

organization is not a cooperating 

agency, opportunities will exist to 

provide information and comments to 

BOEM during the normal public input 

phases of the NEPA/EIS process. 

4. Public Scoping Meetings 

Public scoping meetings will be held 

in Maine later this year. Specific times 

and venues will be posted on the BOEM 

Web site and published in the Federal 

Register per 40 CFR 1506.6. 

Dated: August 1, 2012. 

Tommy P. Beaudreau, 

Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 2012–19592 Filed 8–9–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–VH–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[Docket No. BOEM–2012–0003] 

Potential Commercial Leasing for Wind 

Power on the Outer Continental Shelf 

(OCS) Offshore Maine; Request for 

Interest 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM), Interior. 

ACTION: Public Notice of an Unsolicited 

Request for a Commercial OCS Wind 

Lease, Request for Interest, and Request 

for Public Comment 

SUMMARY: The purpose of this public 

notice is to: (1) Describe the proposal 

submitted to BOEM by Statoil North 

America (Statoil NA) to acquire an OCS 

wind lease; (2) solicit public input 

regarding the proposal, its potential 

environmental consequences, and the 

use of the area in which the proposed 

project would be located; and (3) solicit 

submissions of indications of 

competitive interest for a commercial 

lease for wind energy development on 

the OCS off the coast of Maine for the 

area identified in this notice. 

On October 12, 2011, BOEM received 

an unsolicited request from Statoil NA 

for a commercial wind lease on the OCS 

offshore Maine. Statoil NA’s proposed 

project, ‘‘Hywind Maine,’’ would 

consist of four 3-megawatt (MW) wind 

turbine generators (WTG) configured for 

a total of 12-MW in water depths greater 

than 100 meters and be located 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES