[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 23 (Friday, February 2, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7409-7410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02065]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

[Docket No. BOEM-2024-0006]


Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment for 
Additional Site Assessment Activities on Beacon Wind, LLC's Renewable 
Energy Lease OCS-A 0520

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announces the 
availability of the draft environmental assessment (EA) to analyze the 
reasonably foreseeable impacts from additional site assessment plan 
(SAP) activities in Lease Area OCS-A 0520 offshore Massachusetts. 
Beacon Wind, LLC (Beacon Wind), the leaseholder, requests to conduct 
additional site assessment activities in the lease area that were not 
analyzed in the initial EA titled ``Commercial Wind Lease Issuance and 
Site Assessment Activities on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf 
Offshore Massachusetts'' (2014 EA). The draft EA analyzes the potential 
environmental impacts of the proposed site assessment activities, which 
consist of 35 deployments and removals of a single suction bucket 
foundation at 26 locations within the Lease Area to gather information 
to support the engineering design of wind turbine and offshore 
substation foundations that would potentially be installed within the 
Lease Area for a future Beacon Wind project. This notice of 
availability (NOA) announces the start of the public review and comment 
period, as well as the dates and times for public meetings on the draft 
EA. After BOEM holds the public meetings and addresses public comments 
submitted during the review period, BOEM will publish a final EA. The 
EA will inform BOEM's decision whether to approve the site assessment 
plan amendment for additional site assessment activities.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than March 4, 2024. BOEM's 
virtual public meetings will be held on the following dates at the 
times (eastern time) indicated.
    <bullet> Friday, February 23, 2024; 1:00 p.m.
    <bullet> Wednesday, February 28, 2024; 5:00 p.m.
    Registration for the virtual public meeting is required and may be 
completed at https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/beacon-wind. Meeting information will be sent to registrants via their 
email address provided during registration.

ADDRESSES: The draft EA and detailed information about the proposed 
site assessment activities can be found on BOEM's website at: https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/beacon-wind. Comments 
can be submitted in any of the following ways:
    <bullet> Orally or in written form during any of the public 
meetings identified in this NOA.
    <bullet> In written form by mail or any other delivery service, 
enclosed in an envelope labeled ``Beacon Wind SAP EA'' and addressed to 
Chief, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, Bureau of Ocean Energy 
Management, 45600 Woodland Road, Mailstop VAM-OREP, Sterling, VA 20166.
    <bullet> Through the regulations.gov web portal: Navigate to 
https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket No. BOEM-2024-0006. 
Click on the ``Comment'' button below the document link. Enter your 
information and comment, then click ``Submit Comment.''
    For more information about submitting comments, please see 
``Information on Submitting Comments'' under the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION heading below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Lee Wolfson, BOEM Office of 
Renewable Energy Programs, 45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, Virginia 
20166, (703) 787-1433 or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2e424f5b5c4f424b4b00594142485d41406e4c414b4300494158"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e28e839790838e8787cc958d8e84918d8ca2808d878fcc858d94">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Proposed Action: The draft EA analyzes two alternatives: the 
proposed action, which is approving the additional site assessment 
activities proposed in the Beacon Wind SAP Amendment to the Lease Area, 
and the no action alternative. The EA considers the reasonably 
foreseeable environmental consequences associated with the deployment 
and recovery of suction bucket foundations to further assess the site 
conditions and gather information to support the engineering design of 
wind turbine and offshore substation foundations that would potentially 
be installed within the Lease Area for the proposed Beacon Wind 
project. BOEM prepared an EA for this proposed action in order to 
assist the

[[Page 7410]]

agency's planning and decision-making (40 CFR 1501.5(b)).
    Availability of the draft EA: The draft EA and associated 
information are available on BOEM's website at: https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/beacon-wind. If you require a digital 
copy on a flash drive or paper copy, BOEM may provide one upon request, 
if supplies are available. You may request a flash drive or paper copy 
of the draft EA by contacting Laura Lee Wolfson at (703) 787-1662 or 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#412d203433202d24246f362e2d27322e2f01232e242c6f262e37"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="523e332720333e37377c253d3e34213d3c12303d373f7c353d24">[email protected]</span></a>.
    Cooperating Agencies: The following Federal agency will participate 
as cooperating agency in the preparation of the EA: the Bureau of 
Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

Information on Submitting Comments

a. Freedom of Information Act

    BOEM will protect privileged or confidential information that you 
submit when required by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). 
Exemption 4 of FOIA applies to trade secrets and commercial or 
financial information that is privileged or confidential. If you wish 
to protect the confidentiality of such information, clearly label it 
and request that BOEM treat it as confidential. BOEM will not disclose 
such information if BOEM determines under 30 CFR 585.114(b) that it 
qualifies for exemption from disclosure under FOIA. Please label 
privileged or confidential information ``Contains Confidential 
Information'' and consider submitting such information as a separate 
attachment.
    BOEM will not treat as confidential any aggregate summaries of such 
information or comments not containing such privileged or confidential 
information. Information that is not labeled as privileged or 
confidential may be regarded by BOEM as suitable for public release.

b. Personally Identifiable Information

    BOEM discourages anonymous comments. Please include your name and 
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) that you include, may be made publicly 
available. All comments from identified individuals, businesses, and 
organizations will be available for public viewing on regulations.gov. 
Note that BOEM will make available for public inspection all comments, 
in their entirety, submitted by organizations and businesses, or by 
individuals identifying themselves as representatives of organizations 
or businesses.
    For BOEM to consider withholding your PII from disclosure, you must 
identify any information contained in 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 notice, your comment is subject to FOIA. If your 
comment is requested under FOIA, BOEM will withhold your information 
only if it determines that one of FOIA's exemptions to disclosure 
applies. Such a determination will be made in accordance with the 
Department's FOIA regulations and applicable law.

c. Section 304 of the NHPA (54 U.S.C. 307103(a))

    After consultation with the Secretary, BOEM is required to withhold 
the location, character, or ownership of historic resources if it 
determines that disclosure may, among other things, risk harm to the 
historic resources or impede the use of a traditional religious site by 
practitioners. Tribal entities should designate information that falls 
under section 304 of NHPA as confidential.
    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4231 et seq. (NEPA, as amended) and 40 CFR 
1506.6.

Karen Baker,
Chief, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, Bureau of Ocean Energy 
Management.
[FR Doc. 2024-02065 Filed 2-1-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4340-98-P


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