Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 12, 2023 / Notices 86145 

Jefferson County 

John G. Epping Bottling Works, 702, 708, 

712, and 718 Logan Street, Louisville, 

SG100009726 

Martin County 

Inez Deposit Bank, 25 Main Street, Inez, 

SG100009727 

Muhlenberg County 

Taylor, Edward, House, 215 East Main Cross 

Street, Greenville, SG100009728 

Perry County 

Memorial Gym, 491 L.O. Davis Drive, 

Hazard, SG100009729 

Russell County 

H.M. Smith General Merchandise and 

Fonthill Post Office, 279 South KY SR 76, 

Fonthill, SG100009730 

Trigg County 

Smith, George and Nellie White, House, 11 

Jefferson Street, Cadiz, SG100009731 

MINNESOTA 

Hennepin County 

District No. 99 School, 10980 West River 

Road, Champlin, SG100009722 

MISSISSIPPI 

Warren County 

Gilland-Hudon House, 1810 Cherry Street, 

Vicksburg, SG100009721 

OHIO 

Cuyahoga County 

Euclid Avenue Temple/Liberty Hill Baptist 

Church, (Twentieth-Century African 

American Civil Rights Movement in Ohio 

MPS), 8206 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, 

MP100009713 

Seneca County 

Camp Pittenger Historic District, 8877 S 

Township Road 131, McCutchenville 

vicinity, SG100009723 

VIRGINIA 

Norfolk Independent City 

Granby Street Suburban Institutional 

Corridor, Granby Street, Newport Avenue, 

Seekel Street, Thole Street, Norfolk, 

SG100009735 

WISCONSIN 

Walworth County 

Adkins, Henry D. L. and Jennie, House, 24 

North Church Street, Elkhorn, 

SG100009715 

A request for removal has been made 

for the following resource(s): 

GEORGIA 

Burke County 

Haven Memorial Methodist Episcopal 

Church, Barron St., S of Jct. of Barron and 

6th Sts., Waynesboro, OT96000397 

Additional documentation has been 

received for the following resource(s): 

ALABAMA 

Barbour County 

Lore, Seth and Irwinton Historic District 

(Boundary Increase), Roughly bounded by 

Browder St., Van Buren Ave., Washington 

St., and Sanford Ave., Eufaula, 

AD86001534 

ARIZONA 

Pima County 

Winterhaven Historic District (Additional 

Documentation), 2911 East Farr Street, 

Tucson, AD05001466 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

District of Columbia 

Terrell, Mary Church, House (Additional 

Documentation), 326 T St. NW, 

Washington, AD75002055 

NORTH CAROLINA 

Craven County 

New Bern Historic District (Boundary 

Increase) (Additional Documentation), 

Roughly 2 blks of N Craven, blk on Pasteur 

St., roughly along Bern, West, Cedar Sts. 

and Trent Court, New Bern, AD03000965 

VIRGINIA 

Petersburg Independent City 

Pocahontas Island Historic District, 

Pocahontas, Witten, Rolfe, Logan, and 

Sapony Sts., Petersburg (Independent City), 

AD06000977 

Authority: Section 60.13 of 36 CFR 

part 60. 

Sherry A. Frear, 

Chief, National Register of Historic Places/ 

National Historic Landmarks Program. 

[FR Doc. 2023–27180 Filed 12–11–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312–52–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[Docket No. BOEM–2023–0062] 

Atlantic Wind Lease Sale 10 for 

Commercial Leasing for Wind Power 

Development on the U.S. States 

Central Atlantic Outer Continental 

Shelf—Proposed Sale Notice 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management, Interior. 

ACTION: Proposed sale notice; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM) proposes to hold 

Atlantic Wind Lease Sale 10 and offer 

one or more lease areas (Lease Areas) for 

commercial wind power development 

on the U.S. Central Atlantic Outer 

Continental Shelf (OCS). The Lease 

Areas are located in the previously 

identified wind energy areas (WEAs) A– 

2 and C–1 offshore the State of Delaware 

and the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

This proposed sale notice (PSN) 

contains information pertaining to the 

areas available for leasing, certain lease 

provisions and conditions, auction 

details, criteria for evaluating competing 

bids, and procedures for lease award, 

appeals, and lease execution. BOEM 

proposes a multiple factor bidding 

format using a simultaneous clock 

auction. BOEM will use new auction 

software for the lease sale, with 

attendant and minor changes in the 

auction rules used in previous OCS 

wind lease auctions. Any lease resulting 

from this sale does not constitute 

approval of any offshore wind energy 

facilities. Lessees must first submit 

project-specific plans to BOEM and 

obtain BOEM’s approval before they 

may start any construction of an OCS 

wind energy facility. BOEM will subject 

such plans to environmental, technical, 

and public reviews prior to deciding 

whether the proposed development 

should be authorized. 

DATES: BOEM must receive your 

comments no later than February 12, 

2024. 

For prospective bidders who want to 

participate in this lease sale, unless you 

have received confirmation from BOEM 

that you are qualified to participate in 

the Central Atlantic auction, BOEM 

must receive your qualification 

materials no later than February 12, 

2024 and, prior to the auction, BOEM 

must confirm your qualification to bid 

in the auction. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments in 

any of the following ways: 

• Electronically: Visit https://

www.regulations.gov. In the entry 

entitled, ‘‘Enter Keyword or ID,’’ enter 

[BOEM–2023–0062] then click ‘‘search.’’ 

Follow the instructions to submit 

comments. 

• Mail or delivery service: Enclose 

comment in an envelope labeled, 

‘‘Comments on Central Atlantic Wind 

Lease Sale PSN’’ and send to: Bridgette 

Duplantis, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management, Office of Renewable 

Energy Programs, 45600 Woodland 

Road, VAM–OREP, Sterling, Virginia 

20166. 

• For prospective bidders who want 

to participate in this lease sale: Submit 

your qualification materials in an 

envelope labeled, ‘‘Qualification 

Materials for Central Atlantic Wind 

Energy Lease Sale’’ to Bureau of Ocean 

Energy Management, Office of 

Renewable Energy Programs, 45600 

Woodland Road, VAM–OREP, Sterling, 

Virginia 20166 or electronically to 

renewableenergy@boem.gov. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
86146 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 12, 2023 / Notices 

For more information about 

submitting comments, see Sections XX, 

‘‘Public Participation,’’ and XXI, 

‘‘Protection of Privileged and 

Confidential Information,’’ under the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION caption 

below. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Bridgette Duplantis, Bureau of Ocean 

Energy Management, 

bridgette.duplantis@boem.gov or (504) 

736–7502. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

a. Call for Information and 

Nominations: On April 29, 2022, BOEM 

published the ‘‘Call for Information and 

Nominations-Commercial Leasing for 

Wind Power Development on the 

Central Atlantic Outer Continental 

Shelf’’ (Call). The Call consisted of six 

areas labelled A–F. BOEM received 66 

comments from the general public; 

Federal, State, and local agencies; the 

fishing industry; industry groups; 

developers; non-governmental 

organizations (NGOs); universities; and 

other stakeholders. Comments can be 

viewed at https://www.regulations.gov/ 

document/BOEM-2022-0023-0001/ 

comment. Three developers nominated 

areas for a commercial wind energy 

lease within the Call Area. 

b. Area Identification: After 

modifying the Area Identification (Area 

ID) process in a Notice to Stakeholders, 

which is available at https://

www.boem.gov/newsroom/notesstakeholders/boem-enhances-itsprocesses-identify-future-offshore-windenergy-areas, BOEM used this process to 

support identification of Draft WEAs in 

the Central Atlantic. After the close of 

the Call comment period on June 28, 

2022, BOEM initiated the Area ID 

process by reviewing the input received 

on the Call. BOEM and the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration’s National Centers for 

Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) Team 

used an ocean planning tool to identify 

the eight Draft WEAs on the U.S. Central 

Atlantic OCS using the methodology 

outlined in the BOEM and NCCOS Draft 

Report: Development of the Central 

Atlantic Wind Energy Areas, which can 

be found at https://www.boem.gov/sites/ 

default/files/documents/renewableenergy/state-activities/BOEM_NCCOS_

JointReport_DraftWEAs.pdf. 

On November 16, 2022, BOEM 

opened a 30-day public comment period 

on eight draft WEAs on the OCS 

offshore the U.S. Central Atlantic coast, 

covering approximately 1.7 million 

acres. BOEM considered the following 

non-exclusive information sources 

when identifying the draft WEAs: 

comments and nominations received on 

the Call; information from the Central 

Atlantic Intergovernmental Renewable 

Energy Task Force; input from 

Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and 

North Carolina State agencies; input 

from Federal agencies; comments from 

stakeholders and ocean users, including 

the maritime community, offshore wind 

developers, and the commercial and 

recreational fishing industry; state and 

local renewable energy goals; and 

information on domestic and global 

offshore wind market and technological 

trends. BOEM’s draft WEA 

recommendations did not reflect a final 

assessment from the Department of 

Defense (DOD) regarding compatibility 

of the draft WEAs with DOD needs. 

After the close of the draft WEA 

comment period on December 16, 2022, 

BOEM finalized the Area ID process 

after reviewing the input received from 

all stakeholders mentioned above and 

the DOD assessment. BOEM announced 

the final WEAs on July 31, 2023, by 

designating three WEAs within the Call 

Area. The first WEA (A–2) is 101,767 

acres and located approximately 26 

nautical miles (nm) from Delaware Bay. 

The second WEA (B–1) is 78,285 acres 

and located 23.5 nm offshore Ocean 

City, Maryland. The third WEA (C–1) is 

176,506 acres and located 

approximately 35 nm from the mouth of 

the Chesapeake Bay. The final WEAs 

comprise 356,558 acres and would 

support approximately 4.3–8.1 GW of 

energy production if fully developed. 

BOEM, DOD (the Departments of the Air 

Force and Navy), and the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration 

(NASA) agreed to undertake an in-depth 

review of WEA B–1 to determine if the 

impacts to military and NASA 

operations could be acceptable and/or 

mitigated. The Central Atlantic Area 

Identification process and 

documentation can be found at https:// 

www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/stateactivities/central-atlantic. 

c. Environmental Reviews: On August 

1, 2023, BOEM published a notice of 

intent to prepare an environmental 

assessment (EA) to consider potential 

environmental consequences of site 

characterization activities (e.g., 

biological, archaeological, geological, 

and geophysical surveys and core 

samples) and site assessment activities 

(e.g., installation of meteorological 

buoys) that are expected to take place 

after issuance of wind energy leases in 

the Call Area. When scoping the EA, 

BOEM sought comments on the issues 

and alternatives that should inform the 

EA. BOEM received 104 comment 

submissions, which can be found at 

https://www.regulations.gov under 

Docket No. BOEM–2023–0034. In 

addition to the preparation of the Draft 

EA, including compliance with 

threatened and endangered species 

requirements for certain data collection 

activities associated with OCS leasing 

(https://www.boem.gov/sites/default/ 

files/documents/renewable-energy/ 

OSW-surveys-NLAA-programmatic.pdf), 

BOEM has initiated other required 

consultations under the Endangered 

Species Act, the Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act, and the Coastal Zone Management 

Act. The EA and associated 

consultations will inform BOEM’s 

decision whether to proceed with the 

final sale notice (FSN). BOEM will 

solicit comments on the EA before it is 

finalized. BOEM will conduct 

additional environmental reviews upon 

receipt of a lessee’s Construction and 

Operations Plan (COP) if the proposed 

leases reach that stage of development. 

II. Areas Proposed for Leasing 

BOEM proposes two areas for leasing. 

Lease Area A–2, OCS–A 0557, which 

consists of 101,443 acres and is 

approximately 26.4 nm from Delaware 

Bay; and Lease Area C–1, OCS–A 0558, 

which consists of 176,505 acres and is 

approximately 35 nm from the mouth of 

the Chesapeake Bay. 

Lease area name Lease area ID Acres 

A–2 ..................................................................................................................................................................... OCS–A 0557 101,443 

C–1 .................................................................................................................................................................... OCS–A 0558 176,505 

Total ............................................................................................................................................................ .............................. 277,948 

Descriptions of the proposed Lease 

Areas can be found in Addendum A of 

the proposed leases, which can be found 

on BOEM’s website at: https://

www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/stateactivities/central-atlantic. As described 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 12, 2023 / Notices 86147 

1RAM is the technical process designed to 

minimize the adverse impact of obstruction 

interference on a radar system. 

in Section I (b), the Federal team 

consisting of BOEM, DOD, and NASA 

reviewed the constraints associated with 

Area B–1, and conducted an analysis of 

the mitigations that would be necessary 

to keep that Area viable during an initial 

Central Atlantic offshore wind sale. The 

team identified the magnitude and cost 

of collective mitigation needed to 

accommodate offshore wind 

construction and operations in this area. 

After this review, BOEM decided to 

remove WEA B–1 from consideration as 

part of the upcoming Central Atlantic 

lease sale due to the significant costs 

and mitigation that would be required. 

a. Map of the Area Proposed for 

Leasing: A map of the Lease Areas, and 

GIS spatial files X, Y (eastings, 

northings) UTM Zone 18, NAD83 

Datum, and geographic X, Y (longitude, 

latitude), NAD83 Datum can be found 

on BOEM’s website at: https://

www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/stateactivities/central-atlantic. 

b. Potential Future Restrictions to 

Ensure Navigational Safety: Potential 

bidders are advised that portions of the 

Lease Areas may not be available for 

future development (i.e., installation of 

wind energy facilities) because of 

navigational safety concerns. BOEM 

may require additional mitigation 

measures at the COP stage when the 

lessee’s site-specific navigational safety 

risk assessment is available to inform 

BOEM’s decision-making. 

c. Potential Future Restrictions to 

Mitigate Potential Conflicts with 

Department of Defense Activities: Those 

interested in bidding should be aware of 

potential conflicts with DOD’s existing 

uses of the OCS. BOEM coordinates 

with DOD throughout the leasing 

process and the Military Aviation and 

Installation Assurance Siting 

Clearinghouse conducted a DOD 

assessment of the Call Area. The 

assessment identified the following 

potential issues that may require 

mitigation. 

i. Air Surveillance and Radar: The 

North American Aerospace Defense 

Command (NORAD) mission may be 

affected by the development of the 

Lease Area(s). Considering both the 

expected height of offshore turbines and 

future cumulative wind turbine effects, 

adverse impacts can be mitigated 

through the use of Radar Adverseimpact Management (RAM) 1 and 

overlapping radar coverage. For projects 

where RAM mitigation is acceptable, 

BOEM anticipates including the 

following project approval conditions: 

(1) Lessee will notify NORAD when 

the project is within 30–60 days of 

completion of commissioning of the last 

wind turbine generator (WTG) (meaning 

every WTG in the Project is installed 

with potential for blade rotation), and 

again when the project is complete and 

operational, for RAM scheduling; 

(2) Lessee will contribute funds to 

DOD in the amount of no less than 

$80,000 toward the cost of DOD’s 

execution of the RAM procedures for 

each radar system affected; and 

(3) Lessee will curtail wind turbine 

operations for national security or 

defense purposes as described in the 

lease. 

ii. Advanced Dynamic Aircraft 

Measurement System (ADAMS) 

operations: The Department of the Navy 

identified ADAMS operations that could 

be impacted by development off the 

coast of Norfolk, Virginia, and may 

require curtailment or other mitigation. 

iii. U.S. Air Force and U.S. Air Force 

Air National Guard operations: The U.S. 

Air Force noted that the airspace above 

both proposed Lease Areas has a floor 

of 1,000 feet above sea level. The U.S. 

Air Force requested BOEM limit 

structure heights to no higher than 1,000 

feet above sea level. 

BOEM may require the lessee to enter 

into an agreement with DOD to 

implement these conditions and 

mitigate any identified impacts. BOEM 

will further coordinate with DOD and 

the lessee to deconflict potential 

impacts throughout the project review 

stage, which may result in adding 

mitigation measures or terms and 

conditions as part of any plan approval. 

d. Proposed Restrictions Related to 

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA) Wallops Island 

Flight Facility Operations: NASA and 

the Missile Defense Agency identified 

potential impacts to operations 

originating from the Wallops Island 

Flight Facility. BOEM has included 

stipulations in proposed Lease OCS–A 

0558 (NASA Operations, section 11) to 

avoid and minimize this potential 

conflict with wind energy development. 

e. Potential Future Restrictions to 

Mitigate Potential Conflicts with Sand 

Resources: Potential bidders are advised 

that BOEM has developed sand resource 

areas in aliquots offshore the Mid 

Atlantic (MMIS Application (https://

mmis.doi.gov/BOEMMMIS/)). OCS sand 

resource areas are composed of sand 

deposits found on or below the surface 

of the OCS seabed. If it is determined 

that significant OCS sand resources may 

be impacted by a proposed activity, 

BOEM may require you to undertake 

measures deemed economically, 

environmentally, and technically 

feasible to protect the resources to the 

maximum extent practicable, including 

minimizing, avoiding, and mitigating 

impact to these resources. Measures 

may include modification of proposed 

transmission corridor locations. There is 

potential for sand resources to exist in 

aliquots not currently identified. BOEM 

and/or BSEE will not approve future 

requests for in-place decommissioning 

of cables in sand resource areas unless 

BOEM’s Marine Minerals Program has 

determined that the cable corridor does 

not unduly interfere with other uses of 

the OCS, specifically sand resource use. 

III. Participation in the Proposed Lease 

Sale 

a. Bidder Participation: Entities that 

have been notified by BOEM that their 

qualification is pending or that they are 

qualified to participate in the upcoming 

Central Atlantic auction through their 

response to the Call, or by separate 

submission of qualification materials, 

are not required to take any additional 

action to affirm their interest. Those 

entities are listed below: 

Company name Company No. 

Avangrid Renewables, LLC .. 15019 

US Mainstream Offshore, Inc 15089 

OW North America Ventures 

LLC .................................... 15133 

energyRe Offshore Wind 

Holdings, LLC ................... 15171 

All other entities wishing to 

participate in this proposed Central 

Atlantic auction must submit the 

required qualification materials to 

BOEM by the end of the 60-day 

comment period for this PSN. 

b. Affiliated Entities: On the Bidder’s 

Financial Form (BFF), discussed below, 

eligible bidders must list any other 

eligible bidders with whom they are 

affiliated. For the purpose of identifying 

affiliated entities, a bidding entity is any 

individual, firm, corporation, 

association, partnership, consortium, or 

joint venture (when established as a 

separate entity) that is participating in 

the same auction. BOEM considers 

bidding entities to be affiliated when: 

i. They own or have common 

ownership of more than 50 percent of 

the voting securities, or instruments of 

ownership or other forms of ownership, 

of another bidding entity. Ownership of 

less than 10 percent of a bidding entity 

constitutes a presumption of noncontrol that BOEM may rebut. 

ii. They own or have common 

ownership of 10 through 50 percent of 

the voting securities or instruments of 

ownership, or other forms of ownership, 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
86148 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 12, 2023 / Notices 

of another bidding entity, and BOEM 

determines that there is control upon 

consideration of factors including the 

following: 

(1) The extent to which there are 

common officers or directors. 

(2) With respect to the voting 

securities, or instruments of ownership 

or other forms of ownership: the 

percentage of ownership or common 

ownership, the relative percentage of 

ownership or common ownership 

compared to the percentage(s) of 

ownership by other bidding entities, if 

a bidding entity is the greatest single 

owner, or if there is an opposing voting 

bloc of greater ownership. 

(3) Shared ownership, operation, or 

day-to-day management of a lease, grant, 

or facility as those terms are defined in 

BOEM’s regulations at 30 CFR 585.112. 

iii. They are both direct or indirect 

subsidiaries of the same parent 

company. 

iv. If, with respect to any lease(s) 

offered in this auction, they have 

entered into an agreement prior to the 

auction regarding the shared ownership, 

operation, or day-to-day management of 

such lease. 

v. Other evidence indicates the 

existence of power to exercise control, 

or that multiple bidders collectively 

have the power to exercise control over 

another bidding entity or entities. 

Affiliated entities are not permitted to 

compete against each other in the 

auction. Where two or more affiliated 

entities have qualified to bid in the 

auction, the affiliated entities must 

decide prior to the auction which one (if 

any) will participate in the auction. If 

two or more affiliated entities attempt to 

participate in the auction, BOEM will 

disqualify those bidders from the 

auction. 

BOEM solicits comments from 

stakeholders on this definition and will 

consider this feedback to potentially 

update its definition of affiliated entities 

in the Final Sale Notice (FSN). 

IV. Questions for Stakeholders 

Stakeholders are encouraged to 

comment on any matters related to this 

proposed lease sale that are of interest 

or concern. In addition, BOEM has 

identified the following issues as 

particularly important, and we 

encourage commenters to address these 

issues specifically: 

a. Number, size, orientation, and 

location of the proposed Lease Areas: 

BOEM is requesting comment on the 

number of leases that should be offered 

within the Lease Areas, the size and 

orientation of the Lease Areas, and any 

portions of the Lease Areas that should 

be prioritized for inclusion or exclusion 

from this lease sale. 

b. Considerations for the delineation 

of a Lease Area: These delineation 

considerations may include comparable 

commercial viability and size; 

prevailing wind direction and 

minimizing wake effects; maximized 

energy generating potential; possible 

setbacks at Lease Area boundaries; 

distance to shore, port infrastructure 

and electrical grid interconnections; and 

fair return to the Federal Government 

pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf 

Lands Act through competition for 

commercially viable Lease Areas. BOEM 

welcomes additional comments 

regarding other considerations for how 

best to delineate Lease Areas. 

i. Lease Area C–1: BOEM is 

specifically requesting comment on the 

need for a buffer or setback between 

proposed Lease Area C–1 (Lease OCS– 

A 0558) and the existing Lease Area 

OCS–A 0483 to the West. Comments on 

the need for a buffer, the size or distance 

of the buffer between leases, and the 

method for implementing a buffer 

between Lease Areas are requested. A 

buffer from the existing Lease Area 

could be accomplished through removal 

of lease blocks from proposed Lease 

Area C–1 or through a lease stipulation 

that prohibits surface structures within 

a specified distance of Lease OCS–A 

0483. BOEM has included such lease 

stipulation (Siting Conditions, section 

10) in Addendum ‘‘C’’ of proposed 

Lease OCS–A 0558. 

c. Existing uses and how they may be 

affected by the development of the 

proposed Lease Areas: BOEM asks 

commenters to submit technical and 

scientific data in support of their 

comments. 

d. Bidding Credit for Workforce 

Training or Supply Chain Development: 

Are there additional activities that 

should qualify for this bidding credit or 

are there other changes to the structure 

of the credit that will best aid in 

developing a sustained and robust U.S. 

offshore wind workforce and/or energy 

supply chain? 

e. Fisheries Compensatory Mitigation 

Fund Credit: BOEM seeks comment on 

its proposal for a fisheries compensatory 

mitigation fund and the associated 

bidding credit as described in Section 

XII. 

f. Potential future bidding credit for 

Conservation Programs: While this 

bidding credit is not being considered 

for the Central Atlantic, BOEM is 

requesting comments on a conservation 

program bidding credit, which would 

allow a bidder to receive a credit in 

exchange for a commitment to advance 

conservation for threatened and 

endangered species, migratory birds, or 

North Atlantic right whales (NARWs). 

The Contribution to advance 

conservation programs would need to 

result in demonstrable benefits to: (i) 

species conservation and/or recovery 

goals; and/or (ii) net positive impacts 

associated with habitat restoration, 

enhancement, or preservation for these 

species. 

Specifically, BOEM is considering for 

future sales a credit that would include 

one or more of the following: (i) 

contributions supporting the 

development and operation of a nearreal-time acoustic surveillance system to 

detect and report the location of NARWs 

that would directly inform adaptive 

management strategies for the protection 

of NARWs; (ii) establishment of an ondemand gear program that would 

provide, exchange, or otherwise replace 

gear used in Federal- and Statepermitted commercial fisheries that 

deploy vertical lines with on-demand 

gear that would avoid entanglements 

with NARWs; (iii) programs that reduce 

underwater ambient noise caused by the 

operation of vessels; (iv) programs that 

meet recovery objectives for threatened 

and endangered bird species; and/or (v) 

restoration, enhancement, or protection 

of migratory bird breeding, resting, 

feeding, or migratory habitats. BOEM is 

seeking stakeholder feedback on the 

following: 

i. What portion of the total bidding 

credits should go towards a 

conservation program? 

ii. Eligible activities or projects 

authorized under a conservation 

bidding credit. 

iii. Documentation and enforcement 

mechanisms. 

g. Limits on the Number of Lease 

Areas per Bidder: BOEM is proposing to 

allow each qualified entity to bid for 

one Lease Area at a time and ultimately 

acquire only one Lease Area. 

h. New national security stipulations 

related to foreign interest: BOEM has 

included new lease stipulations (4.4 and 

4.5) for an Atlantic renewable energy 

lease related to foreign entities and 

national security. Stipulation 4.4 

requires the lessee to provide the names 

of entities who own, or will engage in 

activities at, an OCS facility, and the 

names of any foreign entities allowed 

access to such facilities, to DOD for 

review at least 14 days prior to the 

lessee taking any actions in the Lease 

Area. Stipulation 4.5 requires an 

assignor and assignee to notify the 

Committee on Foreign Investment in the 

United States as part of the assignment 

process. BOEM requests comment on 

both of these proposed lease 

stipulations. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 12, 2023 / Notices 86149 

V. Proposed Lease Sale Deadlines and 

Milestones 

This section describes the major 

deadlines and milestones in the auction 

process from publication of this PSN to 

execution of a lease issued pursuant to 

this sale. 

a. The PSN Comment Period: 

i. Submit Comments: The public is 

invited to submit comments during this 

60-day period, which will expire on 

February 12, 2024. All comments 

received or postmarked during the 

comment period will be made available 

to the public and considered by BOEM 

prior to publication of the FSN. 

ii. Public Auction Seminar: BOEM 

will host a public seminar to discuss the 

lease sale process and the auction 

format. The time and place of the 

seminar will be announced by BOEM 

and published on the BOEM website at 

https://www.boem.gov/renewableenergy/state-activities/central-atlantic. 

No registration or RSVP is required to 

attend. 

iii. Submit Qualification Materials: 

Unless you have already received 

confirmation from BOEM that you are 

qualified to participate in the Central 

Atlantic auction, all qualification 

materials must be received by BOEM by 

February 12, 2024. This requirement 

includes the submission of materials 

sufficient to establish a company’s legal, 

technical, and financial qualifications 

pursuant to 30 CFR 585.106–107. 

BOEM’s qualification guidelines 

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

Renewable-Energy-QualificationGuidelines/ provide guidance on the 

types of information you should submit 

to BOEM. BOEM will inform you if you 

are qualified to participate in the 

auction. 

iv. Confidential information. If you 

wish to protect the confidentiality of 

your comments or qualification 

materials, clearly mark the relevant 

sections and request that BOEM treat 

them as confidential. Please label 

privileged or confidential information 

with the caption ‘‘Contains Confidential 

Information’’ and consider submitting 

such information as a separate 

attachment. Treatment of confidential 

information is addressed in section XXI 

entitled, ‘‘Protection of Privileged or 

Confidential Information.’’ Information 

that is not labeled as privileged or 

confidential will be regarded by BOEM 

as suitable for public release. 

b. End of PSN Comment Period to 

FSN Publication: 

i. Review Comments: BOEM will 

review all comments submitted in 

response to the PSN during the 

comment period. 

ii. Finalize Qualifications Reviews: 

Prior to the publication of the FSN, 

BOEM will complete any outstanding 

reviews of bidder qualification materials 

submitted during the PSN comment 

period. The final list of eligible bidders 

will be published in the FSN. 

iii. Prepare the FSN: BOEM will 

prepare the FSN by updating 

information contained in the PSN where 

necessary. 

iv. Publish FSN: BOEM will publish 

the FSN in the Federal Register at least 

30 calendar days before the date of the 

sale. 

c. FSN Waiting Period: During the 

period between FSN publication and the 

lease auction, qualified bidders would 

be required to take several steps to 

remain eligible to participate in the 

auction. 

i. Bidder’s Financial Form: Each 

bidder must submit a BFF to BOEM to 

participate in the auction. The BFF must 

include each bidder’s Conceptual 

Strategy for each non-monetary bidding 

credit for which that bidder wishes to be 

considered. BOEM must receive each 

bidder’s BFF no later than the date 

listed in the FSN. BOEM could consider 

extensions to this deadline only if 

BOEM determines that the failure to 

timely submit a BFF was caused by 

events beyond the bidder’s control. The 

proposed BFF can be downloaded at: 

https://www.boem.gov/renewableenergy/state-activities/central-atlantic. 

(1) Once BOEM has processed a 

bidder’s BFF, the bidder would be 

allowed to log into https://www.pay.gov 

and submit a bid deposit. For purposes 

of this auction, BOEM would not 

consider BFFs submitted by bidders for 

previous lease sales. An original signed 

BFF may be mailed to BOEM’s Office of 

Renewable Energy Programs for 

certification. A signed copy of the form 

may be submitted in PDF format to 

renewableenergy@boem.gov. A faxed 

copy will not be accepted. Your BFF 

submission should be accompanied 

with a transmittal letter on company 

letterhead. 

(2) The BFF must be executed by an 

authorized representative listed on the 

bidder’s legal qualifications in the BFF, 

in accordance with 18 U.S.C. 1001 

(fraud and false statements). 

(3) Additional information regarding 

the BFF may be found below in Section 

IX entitled, ‘‘Bidder’s Financial Form.’’ 

ii. Bid Deposit: Each qualified bidder 

must submit a bid deposit of $5,000,000 

in order to bid for one (1) Lease Area. 

Further information about bid deposits 

can be found below in Section X ‘‘Bid 

Deposit.’’ 

d. Notification of Eligibility for NonMonetary Credits: Prior to the Mock 

Auction, BOEM would notify each 

bidder of its determination of eligibility 

for bidding credits for each auction in 

which the bidder is participating. 

e. Mock Auction: BOEM will hold a 

Mock Auction that is open only to 

qualified bidders who have met the 

requirements and deadlines for auction 

participation, including submission of 

the bid deposit. Final details of the 

Mock Auction will be provided in the 

FSN. 

f. The Auction: BOEM, through its 

contractor, will hold an auction as 

described in the FSN. The auction will 

take place no sooner than 30 calendar 

days following the publication of the 

FSN in the Federal Register. The 

estimated timeframes described in this 

PSN assume the auction will take place 

approximately 45 calendar days after 

the publication of the FSN. Final dates 

will be included in the FSN. BOEM will 

announce the provisional winners of the 

lease sale after the auction ends. 

g. From the Auction to Lease 

Execution: 

i. Refund Non-Winners: Once the 

provisional winners have been 

announced, BOEM will provide the 

non-winners with a written explanation 

of why they did not win and will return 

their bid deposits. 

ii. Department of Justice (DOJ) 

Review: DOJ will have up to 30 calendar 

days to conduct an antitrust review of 

the auction, pursuant to 43 U.S.C. 

1337(c). 

iii. Delivery of the Lease: BOEM will 

send three lease copies to each 

provisional winner, with instructions on 

how to execute the lease. Once the lease 

has been fully executed, a provisional 

winner becomes an auction winner. The 

first year’s rent is due 45 calendar days 

after the auction winners receive the 

lease copies for execution. 

iv. Return the Lease: Within ten 

business days of receiving the lease 

copies, the auction winners must post 

financial assurance, pay any 

outstanding balance of their winning 

bids (i.e., winning monetary bid minus 

applicable bid deposit and value of the 

bidding credit, as applicable), and sign 

and return the three executed lease 

copies. The winners may request 

extensions and BOEM may grant such 

extensions if BOEM determines the 

delay was caused by events beyond the 

requesting winner’s control, pursuant to 

30 CFR 585.224(e). 

v. Execution of Lease: Once BOEM 

has received the signed lease copies and 

verified that all other required materials 

have been received, BOEM will make a 

final determination regarding its 

issuance of the leases and will execute 

the leases, if appropriate. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
86150 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 12, 2023 / Notices 

VI. Withdrawal of Blocks 

BOEM reserves the right to withdraw 

all or portions of the Lease Areas prior 

to executing the leases with the winning 

bidders. 

VII. Lease Terms and Conditions 

BOEM has made available the 

proposed terms, conditions, and 

stipulations for the commercial leases 

that would be offered through this 

proposed sale. BOEM reserves the right 

to require compliance with additional 

terms and conditions associated with 

the approval of a site assessment plan 

(SAP) and COP. The proposed lease is 

on BOEM’s website at: https://

www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/stateactivities/central-atlantic. Each lease 

would include the following 

attachments: 

a. Addendum A (‘‘Description of 

Leased Area and Lease Activities’’); 

b. Addendum B (‘‘Lease Term and 

Financial Schedule’’); 

c. Addendum C (‘‘Lease-Specific 

Terms, Conditions, and Stipulations’’); 

and 

d. Addendum D (‘‘Project Easement’’). 

VIII. Lease Financial Terms and 

Conditions 

This section provides an overview of 

the required annual payments and 

financial assurances under the lease. 

Please see the proposed lease, 

particularly Addendum ‘‘B,’’ for more 

detailed information, including any 

changes from past practices. 

a. Rent: Pursuant to 30 CFR 

585.224(b) and 585.503, the first year’s 

rent payment of $3 per acre is due 

within 45 calendar days after the lessee 

receives the lease copies from BOEM. 

Thereafter, annual rent payments are 

due on the anniversary of the effective 

date of the lease (the ‘‘Lease 

Anniversary’’). Once commercial 

operations under the lease begin, BOEM 

will charge rent only for the portions of 

the Lease Area remaining undeveloped 

(i.e., non-generating acreage). For 

example, for the 101,443 acres Lease 

Area of OCS–A 0557 (A–2), the rent 

payment would be $304,329 per year 

until commercial operations begin. 

If the lessee submits an application 

for relinquishment of a portion of its 

leased area within the first 45 calendar 

days after receiving the lease copies 

from BOEM and BOEM approves that 

application, no rent payment would be 

due on the relinquished portion of the 

Lease Area. Later relinquishments of 

any portion of the Lease Area would 

reduce the lessee’s rent payments 

starting in the year following BOEM’s 

approval of the relinquishment. 

The lessee also must pay rent for any 

project easement associated with the 

lease. Rent commences on the date that 

BOEM approves the COP that describes 

the project easement (or any 

modification of such COP that affects 

the easement acreage), as outlined in 30 

CFR 585.507. If the COP revision results 

in increased easement acreage, 

additional rent would be required at the 

time the COP revision is approved. 

Annual rent for a project easement is the 

greater of $5 per acre per year or $450 

per year. 

b. Operating Fee: For purposes of 

calculating the initial annual operating 

fee payment under 30 CFR 585.506, 

BOEM applies an operating fee rate to 

a proxy for the wholesale market value 

of the electricity expected to be 

generated from the project during its 

first 12 months of operations. This 

initial payment will be prorated to 

reflect the period between the 

commencement of commercial 

operations and the Lease Anniversary. 

The initial annual operating fee 

payment will be due within 90 calendar 

days of the commencement of 

commercial operations. Thereafter, 

subsequent annual operating fee 

payments will be due on or before the 

Lease Anniversary. 

The subsequent annual operating fee 

payments will be 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 

will be the product of the project’s 

annual nameplate capacity, the total 

number of hours in a year (8,760), the 

capacity factor, and the annual average 

price of electricity derived from a 

regional wholesale power price index. 

For example, the annual operating fee 

for a 976 megawatt (MW) wind facility 

operating at a 40 percent capacity (i.e., 

capacity factor of 0.4) with a regional 

wholesale power price of $40 per 

megawatt hour (MWh) and an operating 

fee rate of 0.02 would be calculated as 

follows: 

i. Operating Fee Rate: The operating 

fee rate is the share of the imputed 

wholesale market value of the projected 

annual electric power production due to 

the Office of Natural Resources Revenue 

(ONRR) as an annual operating fee. For 

the Lease Areas, BOEM proposes to set 

the fee rate at 0.02 (2 percent) for the 

entire life of commercial operations. 

ii. Nameplate Capacity: Nameplate 

capacity is the maximum rated electric 

output, expressed in MW, which the 

turbines of the wind facility under 

commercial operations can produce at 

their rated wind speed as designated by 

the turbine’s manufacturer. 

iii. Capacity Factor: BOEM proposes 

to set the capacity factor at 0.4 (i.e., 40 

percent) for the year in which the 

commercial operations date occurs and 

for the first six years of commercial 

operations on the lease. At the end of 

the sixth year, BOEM may adjust the 

capacity factor to reflect the 

performance over the previous five 

years based upon the actual metered 

electricity generation at the delivery 

point to the electrical grid. BOEM may 

make similar adjustments to the 

capacity factor once every five years 

thereafter. 

iv. Wholesale Power Price Index: 

Under 30 CFR 585.506(c)(2)(i), the 

wholesale power price, expressed in 

dollars per MWh, is determined at the 

time each annual operating fee payment 

is due. For the leases offered in this sale 

the following table provides the 

proposed price data. A similar price 

dataset may also be used and may be 

posted by BOEM at boem.gov for 

reference. 

Lease area name Wholesale 

power price 

A–2, OCS–A 0557 ................ PJM DPL. 

C–1, OCS–A 0558 ................ PJM DOM. 

c. Financial Assurance: Within ten 

business days after receiving the lease 

copies and pursuant to 30 CFR 585.515- 

.516, the provisional winner would be 

required to provide an initial leasespecific bond or other BOEM-approved 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1EN12DE23.012</GPH>

Annual Operating Fee= 976 MW X 8,760 hrs X 0.4 x 

year 

~:h Power Price x 0.02 = $2,735,923.20 
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 12, 2023 / Notices 86151 

financial assurance instrument in the 

amount of $100,000. BOEM encourages 

the provisional winner to discuss 

financial assurance requirements with 

BOEM as soon as possible after the 

auction has concluded. 

BOEM would base the amount of all 

SAP, COP, and decommissioning 

financial assurance on cost estimates for 

meeting all accrued lease obligations at 

the respective stages of development. 

The required amount of supplemental 

and decommissioning financial 

assurance will be determined on a caseby-case basis. 

The financial terms described above 

can be found in Addendum ‘‘B’’ of the 

lease, which is available at: https://

www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/stateactivities/central-atlantic. 

IX. Bidder’s Financial Form 

Each bidder is required to provide the 

information listed in the BFF referenced 

in this PSN. A copy of the proposed 

form is available at: https://

www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/stateactivities/central-atlantic. BOEM 

recommends that each bidder designate 

an email address in its BFF that the 

bidder will use to create an account in 

https://www.pay.gov (if it has not 

already done so). BOEM will not 

consider previously submitted BFFs for 

previous lease sales to satisfy the 

requirements of this auction. BOEM 

may consider BFFs submitted after the 

deadline set in the FSN if BOEM 

determines that the failure to timely 

submit the BFF was caused by events 

beyond the bidder’s control. The BFF is 

required to be executed by an 

authorized representative listed in the 

qualification package on file with 

BOEM. 

X. Bid Deposit 

Each qualified bidder must submit a 

bid deposit no later than the date listed 

in the FSN. Typically, the deadline is 

approximately 30 calendar days after 

the publication of the FSN. BOEM may 

consider extensions to this deadline 

only if BOEM determines that the 

failure to timely submit the bid deposit 

was caused by events beyond the 

bidder’s control. 

Following the auction, bid deposits 

will be applied against the winning bid 

and other obligations owed to BOEM. If 

a bid deposit exceeds that bidder’s total 

financial obligation, BOEM will refund 

the balance of the bid deposit to the 

bidder. BOEM will refund bid deposits 

to the unsuccessful bidders once BOEM 

has announced the provisional winners. 

If BOEM offers a lease to a provisional 

winner and that bidder fails to timely 

return the signed lease, establish 

financial assurance, or pay the balance 

of its bid, BOEM will retain the bidder’s 

$5,000,000 bid deposit for the Lease 

Area. In such a circumstance, BOEM 

reserves the right to offer a lease to the 

next highest bidder as determined by 

BOEM. 

XI. Minimum Bid 

The minimum bid is the lowest dollar 

amount per acre that BOEM will accept 

as a winning bid and is the amount at 

which BOEM will start the bidding in 

the auction. BOEM proposes a 

minimum bid of $100.00 per acre for 

this lease sale. 

XII. Auction Procedures 

a. Multiple-Factor Bidding Auction: 

As authorized under 30 CFR 

585.220(a)(4) and 585.221(a)(6), BOEM 

proposes to use a multiple-factor 

auction format, with a multiple-factor 

bidding system, for this lease sale. 

Under BOEM’s proposal, the bidding 

system for this lease sale would be a 

multiple-factor combination of 

monetary and non-monetary factors. 

The bid made by a particular bidder in 

each round would represent the sum of 

the monetary factor (cash bid) and the 

value of any non-monetary factors in the 

form of bidding credits. BOEM proposes 

to start the auction using the minimum 

bid price for the Lease Area and to 

increase prices incrementally until no 

more than one active bidder per Lease 

Area remains in the auction. 

BOEM is proposing to grant bidding 

credits to bidders that commit to one or 

both of the following: 

i. Supporting workforce training 

programs for the offshore wind industry 

or developing a domestic supply chain 

for the offshore wind industry, or a 

combination of both; or 

ii. Establishing and contributing to a 

fisheries compensatory mitigation fund 

or contributing to an existing fund to 

mitigate potential negative impacts to 

commercial and for-hire recreational 

fisheries caused by OCS offshore wind 

development in the Central Atlantic. 

These bidding credits are intended to: 

i. Enhance, through training, the 

offshore wind workforce and/or 

enhance the establishment of a domestic 

supply chain for offshore wind 

manufacturing, assembly, or services, 

both of which will contribute to the 

expeditious and orderly development of 

offshore wind resources on the OCS; 

ii. Support the expeditious and 

orderly development of OCS resources 

by mitigating potential direct impacts 

from proposed projects and encouraging 

the investment in infrastructure 

germane to the offshore wind industry; 

and 

iii. Minimize potential economic 

effects on commercial fisheries 

impacted by potential offshore wind 

development, as cooperation with 

commercial fisheries impacted by OCS 

operations will enable development of 

the Lease Area to advance. 

b. Changes to Auction Rules: BOEM 

will be employing new auction software 

for the Central Atlantic lease sale. The 

auction format remains an ascending 

clock auction with multi-factor bidding. 

Three primary changes have been made 

to the ascending clock auction rules in 

the new software. 

The first change is that if a bidder 

decides to bid on a different Lease Area 

in a subsequent round of the auction, it 

will be allowed to submit an intra-round 

bid for the Lease Area it bid on in the 

previous round and, simultaneously, 

submit a bid for another Lease Area. 

This allows a bidder to possibly switch 

to another Lease Area if the price of the 

first Lease Area exceeds its specified 

intra-round bid price. 

The second change is that the 

determination of provisional winners 

will no longer use a two-stage process. 

The auction rules are implemented in a 

way such that, when the auction 

concludes, the bidder who remains on 

a Lease Area after the final round 

becomes its provisional winner. There 

will be no additional processing to 

determine if any other Lease Areas can 

be awarded to other bidders. 

The third change is that the upcoming 

auctions will use a ‘second price’ rule. 

A given Lease Area will be won by the 

bidder that submitted the highest bid 

amount for the Lease Area, but the 

winning bidder will pay the highest bid 

amount at which there was competition 

(i.e., the ‘second price’). 

All potential bidders should review 

the complete Auction Procedures for 

Offshore Wind Lease Sales (Version 1) 

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

renewable-energy/lease-and-grantinformation. 

c. The Auction: Using an online 

bidding system to host the auction, 

BOEM will start the bidding for the 

Lease Areas as described below. 

Lease area name Lease area ID Acres Minimum bid 

A–2 ............................................................................................................................. OCS–A0557 101,443 $10,144,300 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
86152 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 12, 2023 / Notices 

2FIDO-keys are produced by many 

manufacturers, such as Yubico and Google. They 

are widely available and can easily be purchased 

from Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, or any other 

seller of electronics. The latest generation of the 

FIDO standard is FIDO2, and you should obtain the 

key compliant with FIDO2 authentication standard. 

Depending on the computer you use, you might 

need to obtain an adapter as FIDO-keys require a 

USB port. 

Lease area name Lease area ID Acres Minimum bid 

C–1 ............................................................................................................................ OCS–A0558 176,505 17,650,500 

Each auction will be conducted in a 

series of rounds. Before each round, the 

auction system will announce a clock 

price for each Lease Area offered in the 

auction. In Round 1, the clock prices 

(also known as the ‘opening prices’) are 

the minimum bid prices, and each 

bidder can bid for one Lease Area at 

those prices. After Round 1, the 

processed demand for a bidder is the 

Lease Area for which it bid in Round 1. 

After any round, if there is no processed 

demand for a bidder, the bidder’s 

eligibility drops to zero, and the bidder 

can no longer bid in the auction. 

Starting in Round 2, each Lease Area 

is assigned a range of prices for the 

round. The start-of-round price is the 

lowest price in the range, and the clock 

price is the highest price in the range. 

A bidder still eligible to bid after the 

previous round can either continue 

bidding at the new round’s clock price 

for the Lease Area for which the 

bidder’s processed demand is one or 

submit a bid to exit (reduce demand for) 

that Lease Area at any price in the range 

for that round. A bid to reduce demand 

at some price indicates that the bidder 

is not willing to acquire that Lease Area 

at a price exceeding the specified bid 

price. A bidder that submits a bid to 

reduce demand for a Lease Area can 

optionally bid on another Lease Area. If 

an eligible bidder does not place a bid 

for that Lease Area during the round, 

the auction system will consider this a 

request to exit that Lease Area at the 

start-of-round price. 

If an eligible bidder does not place a 

bid for that Lease Area during the 

round, the auction system will consider 

this a request to exit that Lease Area at 

the start-of-round price. 

After each round, the auction system 

processes the bids and determines each 

bidder’s processed demand for each 

Lease Area and the posted prices for all 

the Lease Areas. The posted price is the 

price determined for each Lease Area 

after processing of all bids for a round. 

The posted price for a Lease Area in 

each round is the start-of-round price 

for that Lease Area in the next round. 

Because of the ‘one-per-customer’ rule, 

a bidder will have at most one bid on 

one Lease Area. 

After the bids are processed, if each 

Lease Area has received one or fewer 

bids, the auction will end and each 

bidder on a Lease Area will become a 

provisional winner for that Lease Area. 

Otherwise, the auction will continue 

with a new round in which the start-ofround price for a Lease Area equals the 

posted price of the previous round. 

The provisional winners of the 

auction will pay the ‘‘second price’’ 

amounts of their provisionally winning 

bids, or risk forfeiting their bid deposits. 

A provisional winner will be 

disqualified if it is subsequently found 

to have violated auction rules or BOEM 

regulations, or otherwise engaged in 

conduct detrimental to the integrity of 

the competitive auction. If a bidder 

submits a bid that BOEM determines to 

be a provisionally winning bid, the 

bidder must sign the applicable lease 

documents, post financial assurance, 

and submit the outstanding balance of 

its winning bid (i.e., winning monetary 

bid minus the applicable bid deposit 

and the value of bidding credits, as 

applicable) within ten business days of 

receiving the lease copies, pursuant to 

30 CFR 585.224. BOEM reserves the 

right to not issue the lease to the 

provisionally winning bidder if that 

bidder fails to: timely execute three 

copies of the lease and return them to 

BOEM, timely post adequate financial 

assurance, timely pay the balance of its 

winning bid, or otherwise comply with 

applicable regulations or the terms of 

the FSN. In any of these cases, the 

bidder will forfeit its bid deposit. 

BOEM will publish the names of the 

provisional winners and the 

provisionally winning bid amounts 

shortly after the conclusion of the sale. 

Full bid results, including round-byround results of the entire sale, will be 

published on BOEM’s website after a 

review of the results and announcement 

of the provisional winner. 

Additional Information Regarding the 

Auction Format: 

i. Authorized Individuals and Bidder 

Authentication: An entity that is eligible 

to participate in the auction will 

identify on its BFF up to three 

individuals who will be authorized to 

bid on behalf of the company, including 

their names, business telephone 

numbers, and email addresses. All 

individuals will log into the auction 

system using login.gov. Prior to the 

auction, all the individuals listed on the 

BFF form must obtain a FIDO-compliant 

security key,2 and must register this 

security key on login.gov using the same 

email address that was listed in the BFF. 

The login.gov registration, together with 

the FIDO-compliant security key, will 

enable the individual to log into the 

auction website. BOEM will provide 

information on this process on its 

website. 

After BOEM has processed the bid 

deposits, the auction contractor will 

send an email to the authorized 

individuals, inviting them to practice 

logging into the auction website on a 

specific day in advance of the mock 

auction. The login.gov login process, 

along with the authentication for the 

auction helpdesk, will also be tested 

during the mock auction. 

If an eligible bidder fails to submit a 

bid deposit or does not participate in 

the first round of the auction, BOEM 

will deactivate that bidder’s login 

information. 

ii. Timing of Auction: The FSN will 

provide specific information regarding 

when bidders can enter the auction 

system and when the auction will start. 

iii. Messaging Service: 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 

could change the schedule at any time, 

including during the auction. If BOEM 

changes the schedule during an auction, 

it will use the messaging feature to 

notify bidders that a revision has been 

made and will direct bidders to the 

relevant page. BOEM will also use the 

messaging system for other updates 

during the auction. 

Bidders could place bids at any time 

during the round. At the top of the 

bidding page, a countdown clock shows 

how much time remains in each round. 

Bidders will have until the scheduled 

time to place bids. Bidders should do so 

according to the procedures described 

in the FSN and the Auction Procedures 

for Offshore Wind Lease Sales. 

Information about the round results will 

be made available only after the round 

has closed, so there is no strategic 

advantage to placing bids early or late 

in the round. 

The Auction Procedures for Offshore 

Wind Lease Sales will elaborate on the 

auction procedures described in this 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 12, 2023 / Notices 86153 

3 Google Authenticator must be installed from 

either the Apple App Store or the Google Play 

Store. 4 Installing the app is only required if the Google 

Authenticator is not already installed on the 

smartphone or tablet. 

5https://www.bia.gov/sites/default/files/dup/

assets/as-ia/ieed/Primer%20on%20Buy%20Indian

%20Act%20508%20Compliant%202.6.18

(Reload).pdf. 6Tier-1 denotes the primary offshore wind 

components such as the blades, nacelles, towers, 

foundations, and cables. Tier 2 subassemblies are 

the systems that have a specific function for a Tier 

1 component. Tier 3 subcomponents are commonly 

available items that are combined into Tier 2 

subassemblies, such as motors, bolts, and gears. 

PSN. In the event of any inconsistency 

between the Auction Procedures for 

Offshore Wind Lease Sales, the Bidder 

Manual, and the FSN, the FSN is 

controlling. 

iv. Alternate Bidding Procedures: 

Redundancy is the most effective way to 

mitigate technical and human issues 

during an auction. Bidders should 

strongly consider authorizing more than 

one individual to bid in the auction and 

confirm during the Mock Auction that 

each authorized individual is able to 

access the auction system. A 4G card or 

other form of wireless access may prove 

helpful if the bidder’s primary internet 

connection should fail. As a last resort, 

an authorized individual facing 

technical issues may request to submit 

its bid by telephone. To be authorized 

to place a telephone bid, an authorized 

individual must call the help desk 

number listed in the auction manual 

before the end of the round. BOEM will 

authenticate the caller’s identity. The 

caller must also explain the reasons why 

a telephone bid is necessary. BOEM 

may, in its sole discretion, permit or 

refuse to accept a request for the 

placement of a bid using this alternate 

telephonic bidding procedure. The 

auction help desk requires codes from 

the Google Authenticator app as part of 

its procedure for identifying individuals 

who call for assistance. Prior to the 

auction, all individuals listed on the 

BFF should download the Google 

AuthenticatorTM mobile app 3 onto their 

smartphone or tablet.4 The first time the 

individual logs into the auction system, 

the system will provide a QR token to 

be read into the Google AuthenticatorTM

app. This token is unique to the 

individual and enables the Google 

AuthenticatorTM app to generate timesensitive codes that will be recognized 

by the auction system. When an 

individual calls the auction help desk, 

the current code from the app must be 

provided to the help desk representative 

as part of the user authentication 

process. BOEM will provide information 

on this process on its website. 

d. 17.0 Percent Bidding Credit for 

Workforce Training or Supply Chain 

Development or a Combination of Both: 

This proposed bidding credit would 

allow a bidder to receive a credit of 17.0 

percent in exchange for a commitment 

to make a qualifying monetary 

contribution (‘‘Contribution’’), in the 

same amount as the bidding credit 

received, to programs or initiatives that 

support workforce training programs for 

the U.S. offshore wind industry or 

development of a U.S. domestic supply 

chain for the offshore wind industry, or 

both, as described in the BFF 

Addendum and the lease. To qualify for 

this credit, the bidder must commit to 

the bidding credit requirements on the 

BFF and submit a conceptual strategy as 

described in the BFF Addendum. 

e. 

i. As proposed, the Contribution to 

workforce training must result in a 

better trained and/or larger domestic 

offshore wind workforce that would 

provide for more efficient operations via 

increasing the supply of fully trained 

personnel. Training of existing lessee 

employees, lessee contractors, or 

employees of affiliated entities would 

not qualify. 

ii. The Contribution to domestic 

supply chain development must result 

in overall benefits to the U.S. offshore 

wind supply chain available to all 

potential purchasers of offshore wind 

services, components, or subassemblies, 

not solely the lessee’s project; and 

either: (i) the demonstrable 

development of new domestic capacity 

(including vessels) or the demonstrable 

buildout of existing capacity; or (ii) an 

improved offshore wind domestic 

supply chain by reducing the upfront 

capital or certification cost for 

manufacturing offshore wind 

components, including the building of 

facilities, the purchasing of capital 

equipment, and the certifying of existing 

manufacturing facilities. 

iii. Contributions cannot be used to 

satisfy private cost shares for any 

Federal tax or other incentive programs 

where cost sharing is a requirement. No 

portion of the Contribution may be used 

to meet the requirements of any other 

bidding credits for which the lessee 

qualifies. 

iv. Bidders interested in obtaining a 

bidding credit could choose to 

contribute to workforce training 

programs, domestic supply chain 

initiatives, or a combination of both. 

The Conceptual Strategy must describe 

verifiable actions that the lessee will 

take that would allow BOEM to confirm 

compliance when the documentation for 

satisfying the bidding credit is 

submitted. The Contribution must be 

tendered in full, and the lessee must 

provide documentation evidencing it 

has made the Contribution and 

complied with applicable requirements, 

no later than the date the lessee submits 

its first Facility Design Report (FDR). 

v. As proposed, Contributions to 

workforce training would need to 

promote and support one or more of the 

following purposes: (i) Union 

apprenticeships, labor management 

training partnerships, stipends for 

workforce training, or other technical 

training programs or institutions 

focused on providing skills necessary 

for the planning, design, construction, 

operation, maintenance, or 

decommissioning of offshore wind 

energy projects in the United States; (ii) 

Maritime training necessary for the 

crewing of vessels to be used for the 

construction, servicing, and/or 

decommissioning of wind energy 

projects in the United States; (iii) 

Training workers in skills or techniques 

necessary to manufacture or assemble 

offshore wind components, 

subcomponents, or subassemblies 

(examples of areas involving these skills 

and techniques include welding; wind 

energy technology; hydraulic 

maintenance; braking systems; 

mechanical systems, including blade 

inspection and maintenance; or 

computers and programmable logic 

control systems); (iv) Tribal offshore 

wind workforce development programs 

or training for employees of an Indian 

Economic Enterprise 5 in skills 

necessary in the offshore wind industry; 

or (v) Training in any other job skills 

that the lessee can demonstrate are 

necessary for the planning, design, 

construction, operation, maintenance, or 

decommissioning of offshore wind 

energy projects in the United States. 

vi. As proposed, Contributions to 

domestic supply chain development 

must promote and support one or more 

of the following: (i) Development of a 

domestic supply chain for the offshore 

wind industry, including manufacturing 

of components and sub-assemblies and 

the expansion of related services; (ii) 

Domestic Tier 2 and Tier 3 offshore 

wind component suppliers and 

domestic Tier-1 supply chain efforts, 

including quay-side fabrication; 6 (iii) 

Technical assistance grants to help U.S. 

manufacturers re-tool or certify (e.g., 

ISO–9001) for offshore wind 

manufacturing; (iv) Development of 

Jones Act-compliant vessels for the 

construction, servicing, and/or 

decommissioning of wind energy 

projects in the United States; (v) 

Purchase and installation of lift cranes 

or other equipment capable of lifting or 

moving foundations, towers, and 


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nacelles quayside, or lift cranes on 

vessels with these capabilities; (vi) Port 

infrastructure directly related to 

offshore wind component 

manufacturing or assembly of major 

offshore wind facility components; (vii) 

Establishing a new or existing bonding 

support reserve or revolving fund 

available to all businesses providing 

goods and services to offshore wind 

energy companies, including 

disadvantaged businesses and/or Indian 

Economic Enterprises; or (viii) Other 

supply chain development efforts that 

the lessee can demonstrate advance the 

manufacturing of offshore wind 

components or subassemblies or the 

provision of offshore wind services in 

the United States. 

vii. Documentation: If a lease is issued 

pursuant to a winning bid that includes 

a bidding credit for workforce training 

or supply chain development, the lessee 

would be required to provide 

documentation showing that the lessee 

has met the financial commitment 

before the lessee submits the first FDR 

for the lease. The documentation must 

allow BOEM to objectively verify the 

amount of the Contribution and the 

beneficiary(ies) of the Contribution. 

At a minimum, the documentation 

would need to include: all written 

agreements between the lessee and 

beneficiary(ies) of the Contribution, 

which must detail the amount of the 

Contribution(s) and how it will be used 

by the beneficiaries of the 

Contribution(s) to satisfy the goals of the 

bidding credit for which the 

Contribution was made; all receipts 

documenting the amount, date, financial 

institution, and the account and owner 

of the account to which the 

Contribution was made; and sworn 

statements by the entity that made the 

Contribution and the beneficiary(ies) of 

the Contribution attesting that all 

information provided in the above 

documentation is true and accurate. The 

documentation would need to describe 

how the funded initiative or program 

has advanced, or is expected to advance, 

U.S. offshore wind workforce training or 

supply chain development. The 

documentation must also provide 

qualitative and/or quantitative 

information that includes the estimated 

number of trainees or jobs supported, or 

the estimated leveraged supply chain 

investment resulting or expected to 

result from the Contribution. The 

documentation would need to contain 

any information called for in the 

Conceptual Strategy that the lessee 

submitted with its BFF and to allow 

BOEM to objectively verify (i) the 

amount of the Contribution and the 

beneficiary(ies) of the Contribution, and 

(ii) compliance with the bidding credit 

criteria provided in Addendum ‘‘C’’ of 

the lease. If the lessee’s implementation 

of its Conceptual Strategy changes due 

to market needs or other factors, the 

lessee would need to explain the 

changed approach. BOEM would 

reserve all rights to determine that the 

bidding credit has not been satisfied if 

changes from the lessee’s Conceptual 

Strategy result in the lessee not meeting 

the criteria for the bidding credit 

described in Addendum ‘‘C’’ of the 

lease. 

viii. Enforcement: The commitment 

for the bidding credit would be made in 

the BFF and would be included in a 

lease addendum that would bind the 

lessee and all future assignees of the 

lease. If BOEM were to determine that 

a lessee or assignee had failed to satisfy 

the requirements of the bidding credit, 

or if a lessee were to relinquish or 

otherwise fail to develop the lease by 

the tenth anniversary date of lease 

issuance, the amount corresponding to 

the bidding credit awarded would be 

immediately due and payable to ONRR 

with interest from the lease Effective 

Date. The interest rate would be the 

underpayment interest rate identified by 

ONRR. The lessee would not be 

required to pay said amount if the lessee 

satisfied its bidding credit requirements 

but failed to develop the lease by the 

tenth Lease Anniversary. BOEM could, 

at its sole discretion, extend the 

documentation deadline beyond the 

first FDR submission or extend the lease 

development deadline beyond the 10- 

year timeframe. 

f. Eight percent Bidding Credit for 

Fisheries Compensatory Mitigation 

Fund: The second bidding credit 

proposed would allow a bidder to 

receive a credit of 8.0 percent of its bid 

in exchange for a commitment to 

establish and contribute to a fisheries 

compensatory mitigation fund, or to 

contribute to a similar existing fund, to 

compensate for potential negative 

impacts to commercial and for-hire 

recreational fisheries. The term 

‘‘commercial fisheries’’ refers to 

commercial and processing businesses 

engaged in the act of catching and 

marketing fish and shellfish for sale 

from the Central Atlantic. The term ‘‘forhire recreational fisheries’’ refers to 

charter and headboat fishing operations 

involving vessels-for-hire engaged in 

recreational fishing in the Central 

Atlantic that are hired for a charter fee 

by an individual or group of individuals 

for the exclusive use of that individual 

or group of individuals. Lessees are 

encouraged to contribute to a regional 

fund, such as the initiative by eleven 

East Coast states to establish a regional 

fund that would provide financial 

compensation for economic loss from 

offshore wind development off the 

Atlantic Coast. At a minimum, the 

compensation must address the 

following: 

i. Gear loss or damage; and 

ii. Lost fishing income in Central 

Atlantic wind energy Lease Areas. 

The fisheries compensatory mitigation 

fund would assist commercial and forhire recreational fisheries directly 

impacted by income or gear losses due 

to offshore wind activities on offshore 

wind leases or easements and is 

intended to address the impacts 

identified in BOEM’s environmental 

and project reviews. The compensatory 

mitigation must cover impacts that 

result directly from the preconstruction, 

construction, operations and 

decommissioning of an offshore wind 

project being developed on Central 

Atlantic wind energy leases or 

easements. The fund must be 

established and the Contribution made 

before the lessee submits the lease’s first 

FDR or before the fifth Lease 

Anniversary, whichever is sooner. To 

qualify for this credit, the bidder must 

commit to the bidding credit 

requirements on the BFF and submit a 

conceptual strategy as described in the 

BFF Addendum. 

(1) Bidders committing to use the 

fisheries compensatory mitigation fund 

bidding credit must submit their 

Conceptual Strategy along with their 

BFF, further described below and in the 

BFF Addendum. The Conceptual 

Strategy would describe the actions that 

the lessee intends to take that would 

allow BOEM to verify compliance when 

the lessee seeks to demonstrate 

satisfaction of the requirements for the 

bidding credit. The lessee would be 

required to provide documentation 

showing that the lessee has met the 

commitment and complied with the 

applicable bidding credit requirements 

before the lessee submits the lease’s first 

FDR or before the fifth Lease 

Anniversary, whichever is sooner. 

(2) As proposed, gear loss, damage, 

and fishing income loss claims should 

be prioritized at each phase of offshore 

wind project development, including 

impacts from surveys conducted before 

the establishment of the fund. BOEM 

encourages lessees to coordinate with 

other lessees to establish or contribute 

to a regional fund. A regional fund 

should be flexible enough to incorporate 

future contributions from future lease 

auctions and actuarially sound enough 

to recognize the multi-decade life of 

offshore wind projects in the Central 

Atlantic. While the fund’s first priority 

is to compensate for gear loss or damage 


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and income loss, funds that have been 

determined to be excess based on an 

actuarial accounting may be used to: 

a. Promote participation of fishers and 

fishing communities in the project 

development process or other programs 

that better enable the fishing and 

offshore wind industries to co-exist; 

b. Offset the cost of gear upgrades and 

transitions for operating within a wind 

facility. 

Any fund established or selected by 

the lessee to meet this bidding credit 

requirement must include a process for 

evaluating the actuarial status of funds 

at least every five years and publicly 

reporting information on fund 

disbursement and administrative costs 

at least annually. 

(3) The fisheries compensatory 

mitigation fund must be independently 

managed by a third party and designed 

with fiduciary governance and strong 

internal controls while minimizing 

administrative expenses. The 

Contribution may be used for fund 

startup costs, but the Fund should 

minimize costs by leveraging existing 

processes, procedures, and information 

from BOEM Fisheries Mitigation 

Guidance, the Eleven Atlantic States’ 

Fisheries Mitigation Project, or other 

sources. 

(4) Documentation: As proposed, if a 

lease is awarded pursuant to a winning 

bid that includes a fisheries 

compensatory mitigation fund bidding 

credit, the lessee must provide written 

documentation to BOEM that 

demonstrates that it completed the fund 

Contribution before it submits the 

lease’s first FDR or before the fifth Lease 

Anniversary, whichever is sooner. The 

documentation must enable BOEM to 

objectively verify the Contribution has 

met all applicable requirements as 

outlined in Addendum ‘‘C’’ of the lease. 

At a minimum, this documentation 

must include: 

a. The procedures established to 

compensate for gear loss or damage 

resulting from all phases of the project 

development on the Lease Area (preconstruction, construction, operation, 

and decommissioning); 

b. The fisheries compensatory 

mitigation fund charter, including the 

governance structure, audit and public 

reporting procedures, and standards for 

paying compensatory mitigation for 

impacts to fishers from development on 

wind energy Lease Areas in the Central 

Atlantic; 

c. All receipts documenting the 

amount, date, financial institution, and 

the account and owner of the account to 

which the Contribution was made; and 

d. Sworn statements by the entity that 

made the Contribution, attesting to: 

i. The amount and date(s) of the 

Contribution; 

ii. That the Contribution is being (or 

will be) used in accordance with the 

bidding credit requirements in the lease; 

and 

iii. That all information provided is 

true and accurate. 

The documentation must contain any 

information specified in the Conceptual 

Strategy that was submitted with the 

BFF. If the lessee’s implementation of 

its Conceptual Strategy changes due to 

market needs or other factors, the lessee 

would need to explain this change. 

BOEM reserves the right to determine 

that the bidding credit has not been 

satisfied if changes from the lessee’s 

Conceptual Strategy result in the lessee 

not meeting the criteria for the bidding 

credit described in Addendum ‘‘C’’ of 

the lease. 

(5) Enforcement: The commitment to 

the fisheries compensatory mitigation 

fund bidding credit will be made in the 

BFF. It will be included in Addendum 

‘‘C’’ of the lease and will bind the lessee 

and all future assignees of the lease. If 

BOEM were to determine that a lessee 

or assignee had failed to satisfy the 

commitment at the time the first FDR is 

submitted, or by the fifth Lease 

Anniversary, whichever is sooner, the 

amount corresponding to the bidding 

credit awarded would be immediately 

due and payable to ONRR with interest 

from the lease effective date. The 

interest rate would be the 

underpayment interest rate identified by 

ONRR. The lessee would not be 

required to pay said amount if the lessee 

satisfied its bidding credit requirements 

by the time the first FDR is submitted, 

or the fifth Lease Anniversary, 

whichever is sooner. BOEM may, at its 

sole discretion, extend the 

documentation deadline beyond the 

first FDR or beyond the 5-year 

timeframe. 

XIII. Rejection or Non-Acceptance of 

Bids 

BOEM reserves the right and authority 

to reject any and all bids that do not 

satisfy the requirements and rules of the 

auction, the FSN, or applicable 

regulations and statutes. 

XIV. Anti-Competitive Review 

Bidding behavior in this sale is 

subject to Federal antitrust laws. 

Following the auction, but before the 

acceptance of bids and the issuance of 

the lease, BOEM must ‘‘allow the 

Attorney General, in consultation with 

the Federal Trade Commission, thirty 

days to review the results of [the] lease 

sale.’’ 43 U.S.C. 1337(c)(1). If a 

provisional winner is found to have 

engaged in anti-competitive behavior in 

connection with this lease sale, BOEM 

may reject its provisionally winning bid. 

Compliance with BOEM’s auction 

procedures and regulations is not an 

absolute defense against violations of 

antitrust laws. 

Anti-competitive behavior 

determinations are fact specific. 

However, such behavior may manifest 

itself in several different ways, 

including, but not limited to: 

a. An express or tacit agreement 

among bidders not to bid in an auction, 

or to bid a particular price; 

b. An agreement among bidders not to 

bid against each other; or 

c. Other agreements among bidders 

that have the potential to affect the final 

auction price. 

Pursuant to 43 U.S.C. 1337(c)(3), 

BOEM may decline to award a lease if 

the Attorney General, in consultation 

with the Federal Trade Commission, 

determines that awarding the lease may 

be inconsistent with antitrust laws. 

For more information on whether 

specific communications or agreements 

could constitute a violation of Federal 

antitrust law, please see https://

www.justice.gov/atr and consult legal 

counsel. 

XV. Process for Issuing the Lease 

Once all post-auction reviews have 

been completed to BOEM’s satisfaction, 

BOEM will issue three unsigned copies 

of the lease to the provisional winner. 

Within ten business days after receiving 

the lease copies, the provisional winner 

must: 

a. Execute and return the lease copies 

on the bidder’s behalf; 

b. File financial assurance, as required 

under 30 CFR 585.515–537; and 

c. Pay by electronic funds transfer 

(EFT) the balance of the winning bid 

(winning monetary bid minus the 

applicable bid deposit and value of 

bidding credit, as applicable). BOEM 

would require bidders to use EFT 

procedures (not https://www.pay.gov, 

the website bidders used to submit bid 

deposits) for payment of the balance of 

the bonus bid, following the detailed 

instructions contained the ‘‘Instructions 

for Making Electronic Payments’’ 

available on BOEM’s website at: https:// 

www.boem.gov/sites/default/files/ 

documents/renewable-energy/stateactivities/EFT-Payment-Instructions.pdf. 

BOEM will not execute the lease until 

the three requirements above have been 

satisfied. BOEM may extend the 10- 

business-day deadline if BOEM 

determines the delay was caused by 

events beyond the provisional winner’s 

control. 


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If the provisional winner does not 

meet these requirements or otherwise 

fails to comply with applicable 

regulations or the terms of the FSN, 

BOEM reserves the right to not issue the 

lease to that bidder. In such a case, the 

provisional winner would forfeit its bid 

deposit. Also, in such a case, BOEM 

reserves the right to offer the lease to the 

next highest bidder as determined by 

BOEM. 

Within 45 calendar days after 

receiving the lease copies, the 

provisional winner must pay the first 

year’s rent using the ‘‘ONRR Renewable 

Energy Initial Rental Payments’’ form 

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

public/form/start/27797604/. 

Subsequent annual rent payments 

must be made following the detailed 

instructions contained in the 

‘‘Instructions for Making Electronic 

Payments,’’ available on BOEM’s 

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

renewable-energy/state-activities/ 

central-atlantic. 

XVI. Non-Procurement Debarment and 

Suspension Regulations 

Pursuant to 43 CFR part 42, subpart 

C, an OCS renewable energy lessee must 

comply with the Department of the 

Interior’s non-procurement debarment 

and suspension regulations at 2 CFR 

parts 180 and 1400. The lessee must 

also communicate this requirement to 

persons with whom the lessee does 

business relating to this lease by 

including this requirement as a term or 

condition in their contracts and other 

transactions. 

XVII. Final Sale Notice 

The development of the FSN will be 

informed through the EA, related 

consultations, and comments received 

during the PSN comment period. The 

FSN will provide the final details 

concerning the offering and issuance of 

an OCS commercial wind energy lease 

for the Lease Areas in the Central 

Atlantic. The FSN will be published in 

the Federal Register at least 30 calendar 

days before the lease sale is conducted 

and will provide the date and time of 

the auction. 

XVIII. Changes to Auction Details 

BOEM has the discretion to change 

any auction detail specified in the FSN, 

including the date and time, if events 

outside BOEM’s control have been 

found to interfere with a fair and proper 

lease sale. Such events may include, but 

are not limited to, natural disasters (e.g., 

earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and 

blizzards), wars, riots, act of terrorism, 

fire, strikes, civil disorder, Federal 

Government shutdowns, cyberattacks 

against relevant information systems, or 

other events of a similar nature. In case 

of such events, BOEM would notify all 

qualified bidders via email, phone, and 

BOEM’s website at: https://

www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/stateactivities/central-atlantic. Bidders 

should call BOEM’s Auction Manager at 

(703) 787–1121 if they have concerns. 

XIX. Appeals 

The appeals and reconsideration 

procedures are provided in BOEM’s 

regulations at 30 CFR 585.225 and 

585.118(c). BOEM’s decision on a bid is 

the final action of the Department, 

except that an unsuccessful bidder may 

apply for reconsideration by the 

Director under 30 CFR 585.225 as 

follows: 

a. If BOEM rejects your bid, BOEM 

will provide a written statement of the 

reasons and will refund any money 

deposited with your bid, without 

interest. 

b. You may ask the BOEM Director for 

reconsideration, in writing, within 15 

business days of bid rejection. The 

Director will send you a written 

response either affirming or reversing 

the rejection. 

XX. Public Participation 

BOEM will make all comments 

publicly available on https://

www.regulations.gov under the docket 

number and will consider each 

comment prior to publication of the 

FSN. BOEM does not consider 

anonymous comments; please include 

your name, address, and telephone 

number or email address as part of your 

comment. You should be aware that 

your entire comment, including your 

name, address, and any other personally 

identifiable information (PII) included 

in your comment, may be made publicly 

available at any time. 

For BOEM to consider withholding 

from disclosure your PII, you must 

identify, in a cover letter, any 

information contained in the submittal 

of your comments that, if released, 

would constitute a clearly unwarranted 

invasion of your personal privacy. You 

must also briefly describe any possible 

harmful consequences of the disclosure 

of information, such as embarrassment, 

injury, or other harm. 

Even if BOEM withholds your 

information in the context of this PSN, 

your comment is subject to the Freedom 

of Information Act (FOIA). If your 

submission is requested under the 

FOIA, your information will only be 

withheld if a determination is made that 

one of the FOIA’s exemptions to 

disclosure applies. Such a 

determination will be made in 

accordance with the Department’s FOIA 

regulations and applicable law. 

Note that BOEM will make available 

for public inspection, in their entirety, 

all comments submitted by 

organizations and businesses, or by 

individuals identifying themselves as 

representatives of organizations or 

businesses. 

XXI. Protection of Privileged and 

Confidential Information 

BOEM will protect privileged and 

confidential information that you 

submit consistent with FOIA and 30 

CFR 585.113. Exemption 4 of FOIA 

applies to ‘‘trade secrets and 

commercial or financial information 

obtained from a person’’ that is 

privileged or confidential. (5 U.S.C. 

552(b)(4)). If you wish to protect the 

confidentiality of such information, 

clearly mark it ‘‘Contains Privileged or 

Confidential Information’’ and consider 

submitting such information as a 

separate attachment. BOEM will not 

disclose such information, except as 

required by FOIA. Information that is 

not labeled as privileged or confidential 

may be regarded by BOEM as suitable 

for public release. Further, BOEM will 

not treat as confidential aggregate 

summaries of otherwise nonconfidential information. 

a. Access to Information (54 U.S.C. 

307103): BOEM may, after consultation 

with the Secretary of the Interior, 

withhold the location, character, or 

ownership of historic properties if it 

determines that disclosure may, among 

other things, cause a significant 

invasion of privacy, risk harm to the 

historic resources, or impede the use of 

a traditional religious site by 

practitioners. Tribes and other 

interested parties should designate 

information that they wish to be held as 

confidential and provide the reasons 

why BOEM should do so. 

Authority: 43 U.S.C. 1337(p); 30 CFR 

585.211 and 585.216. 

Elizabeth Klein, 

Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 2023–27200 Filed 12–11–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4340–98–P 


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