76132 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 17, 2024 / Notices 

information, views, and suggestions 

from interested parties regarding our 

proposed Federal action, including, 

without limitation, adequacy of the 

HCP, whether the HCP meets 

requirements for permits at 50 CFR parts 

13 and 17, and adequacy of the EAS 

pursuant to the requirements of NEPA. 

Public Availability of Comments 

All comments and materials we 

receive become part of the public record 

associated with this action. Before 

including your address, phone number, 

email address, or other personally 

identifiable information in your 

comments, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personally identifiable information— 

may be made publicly available at any 

time. While you can ask us in your 

comment to withhold your personally 

identifiable information from public 

review, we cannot guarantee that we 

will be able to do so. All submissions 

from organizations or businesses, and 

from individuals identifying themselves 

as representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses, will be 

made available for public disclosure in 

their entirety at https://

www.regulations.gov. 

Next Steps 

After the public comment period ends 

(see DATES), we will evaluate the permit 

application, associated documents, and 

any comments received to determine 

whether the permit application meets 

the requirements of section 10(a)(2)(B) 

of the ESA. We will also evaluate 

whether issuance of the requested 

permit would comply with section 7 of 

the ESA by conducting an intra-Service 

consultation under section 7(a)(2) of the 

ESA on the proposed action. The final 

NEPA and permit determinations will 

not be completed until after the end of 

the 30-day comment period and will 

fully consider all comments received 

during the comment period. If we 

determine that all requirements are met, 

we will issue an ITP under section 

10(a)(1)(B) of the ESA to the applicant 

for the take of the covered species, 

incidental to otherwise lawful covered 

activities. 

Authority 

We provide this notice in accordance 

with the requirements of section 10(c) of 

the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) and its 

implementing regulations (50 CFR 

17.32), and NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

seq.) and its implementing regulations 

(40 CFR 1500–1508 and 43 CFR 46). 

Bridget Fahey, 

Deputy Regional Director, Pacific Region, U.S. 

Fish and Wildlife Service. 

[FR Doc. 2024–20625 Filed 9–16–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[Docket No. BOEM–2024–0026] 

Atlantic Wind Lease Sale 11 for 

Commercial Leasing for Wind Power 

Development on the U.S. Gulf of Maine 

Outer Continental Shelf—Final Sale 

Notice 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management, Interior. 

ACTION: Final sale notice; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: This Final Sale Notice (FSN) 

contains information pertaining to the 

areas available for commercial wind 

power leasing during Atlantic Wind 

Lease Sale 11 (ATLW–11) on the U.S. 

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the 

Gulf of Maine. Specifically, this FSN 

details certain provisions and 

conditions of the leases, auction details, 

the lease form, criteria for evaluating 

competing bids, and procedures for 

award, appeal, and lease execution. The 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

(BOEM) will offer eight leases for sale 

using an ascending clock auction with 

multiple-factor bidding: Lease OCS–A 

0562, OCS–A 0563, OCS–A 0564, OCS– 

A 0565, OCS–A 0566, OCS–A 0567, 

OCS–A 0568, and OCS–A 0569 (lease 

areas). The first two lease areas (lease 

areas OCS–A 0562 and OCS–A 0563) 

comprise the North Region, and the 

remaining six lease areas comprise the 

South Region. Bidders are limited to 

bidding on no more than two lease areas 

at a time, and may not include in their 

bid more than one lease area in the 

North Region at a time. BOEM will use 

the BOEM Auction System for the lease 

sale. The lease areas are in the 

previously identified wind energy areas 

located in the Gulf of Maine offshore the 

States of Maine and New Hampshire 

and the Commonwealth of 

Massachusetts. The issuance of any 

lease resulting from this sale will not 

constitute approval of project-specific 

plans to develop offshore wind energy. 

Such plans, if submitted by the lessee, 

will be subject to environmental, 

technical, and public reviews prior to a 

BOEM decision on whether the 

proposed activity should be authorized. 

DATES: BOEM will hold an online mock 

auction for potential bidders starting at 

9:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) 

on October 24, 2024. The monetary 

auction will be held online and will 

begin at 9:00 a.m. EDT on October 29, 

2024. Additional details are provided in 

the section entitled, ‘‘Deadlines and 

Milestones for Bidders.’’ 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Zachary Jylkka, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management, Zachary.Jylkka@boem.gov 

or (978) 491–7732; or Gina Best, Bureau 

of Ocean Energy Management, 

Gina.Best@boem.gov or (703) 787–1341. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

a. Request for Interest (RFI): On 

August 19, 2022, BOEM published an 

RFI for the Gulf of Maine in the Federal 

Register (see 87 FR 51129). BOEM 

received 51 unique comments on the 

RFI. Five developers nominated areas 

for a commercial wind energy lease 

within the RFI Area. 

b. Call for Information and 

Nominations (Call): On April 26, 2023, 

BOEM published a ‘‘Call for Information 

and Nominations for Commercial 

Leasing for Wind Power Development 

on the Gulf of Maine’’ (see 88 FR 

25427). BOEM received 127 unique 

comments on the Call. Seven developers 

nominated areas for a commercial wind 

energy lease within the Call Area. 

c. Area Identification (Area ID): An 

Area ID determination is a required 

regulatory step under the renewable 

energy competitive leasing process used 

to identify areas for environmental 

analysis and consideration for leasing. 

After the close of the Call comment 

period, BOEM initiated the Area ID 

process using information and input 

from stakeholders received up to that 

point. 

BOEM and the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) 

National Centers for Coastal Ocean 

Science (NCCOS) collaborated in 

employing an ocean planning tool (the 

NCCOS model) to help identify an area 

that appears suitable for floating 

offshore wind energy leasing and 

development in the Gulf of Maine. The 

Area ID process seeks to identify and 

minimize potential conflicts in ocean 

space as well as to mitigate interactions 

with other users and adverse 

interactions with the environment; the 

NCCOS model supports that effort. 

BOEM employed the NCCOS model 

during two distinct steps of the Area ID 

process: first, to model relative 

suitability within the boundaries of the 

Call Area to identify the draft Wind 

Energy Area (WEA); and second, to 


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1Available at https://www.boem.gov/sites/ 

default/files/documents/renewable-energy/stateactivities/Gulf_of_Maine_Draft%20WEA_Report_

NCCOS_0.pdf. 

model the relative suitability within the 

boundaries of the draft WEA. After 

modifying the Area ID process in a 

Notice to Stakeholders, which is 

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

newsroom/notes-stakeholders/boemenhances-its-processes-identify-futureoffshore-wind-energy-areas, on October 

19, 2023, BOEM announced the Gulf of 

Maine draft WEA and opened a 30-day 

public comment period. The 

methodology used to delineate the Gulf 

of Maine draft WEA is outlined in the 

‘‘Draft NCCOS Report: A Wind Energy 

Area Siting Analysis for the Gulf of 

Maine Call Area.’’ 1 The draft WEA 

covered approximately 3.5 million 

acres. BOEM considered the following 

non-exclusive information sources 

when identifying the draft WEA: 

comments and nominations received on 

the Call; information from the Gulf of 

Maine Intergovernmental Renewable 

Energy Task Force (Task Force); input 

from federally recognized Tribes; input 

from State and federal agencies; 

comments from stakeholders and ocean 

users, including the maritime 

community, offshore wind developers, 

and the commercial and recreational 

fishing industry; input from state and 

local governments on renewable energy 

goals; and information on domestic and 

global offshore wind market and 

technological trends. 

BOEM completed the Area ID process 

after considering additional input 

received from stakeholders during the 

draft WEA comment period. BOEM 

published the final WEA on March 15, 

2024. The final WEA comprises 

approximately 2 million acres and 

represents an 80% reduction from the 

size of the Call Area and a 43% 

reduction from the draft WEA. The final 

WEA has the potential to support 

generation of 32 gigawatts (GW) of clean 

energy, surpassing current State goals 

for offshore wind energy in the Gulf of 

Maine (13–18 GW, based on 

Massachusetts’ and Maine’s offshore 

wind goals and estimates provided by 

the regional grid operator, ISO-New 

England). The size of the final WEA 

allows BOEM to consider additional 

ways to reduce conflicts with users and 

resources, while also supporting the 

region’s renewable energy goals. For 

additional information, the Gulf of 

Maine Area ID documentation can be 

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

renewable-energy/state-activities/ 

maine/gulf-maine. 

d. Proposed Sale Notice: On April 30, 

2024, BOEM announced the Proposed 

Sale Notice (PSN) for the Gulf of Maine, 

which initiated a 60-day comment 

period lasting from May 1, 2024, 

through July 1, 2024. The eight 

proposed lease areas totaled 969,999 

acres (944,422 developable acres), 

accounting for approximately half of the 

final WEA. In identifying these areas 

from the final WEA, BOEM prioritized 

avoidance of offshore fishing grounds 

and identification of vessel transit 

routes, while retaining sufficient acreage 

to support the region’s offshore wind 

energy goals (13–18 GW based on 

information from Massachusetts, Maine, 

and ISO-New England). BOEM 

conducted several meetings focused 

primarily on the PSN, including: five 

virtual public meetings; one virtual 

meeting with Gulf of Maine Tribes; four 

in-person public meetings; and one inperson Task Force meeting. Additional 

information on these meetings is located 

on the BOEM website: https://

www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/stateactivities/gulf-maine-proposed-salenotice-psn-public-meetings. 

e. Environmental Reviews: On March 

18, 2024, BOEM published a notice of 

intent to prepare an environmental 

assessment (EA) to consider potential 

environmental impacts 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 (89 

FR 19354). When scoping the EA, 

BOEM sought comments on the issues 

and alternatives that should inform the 

EA. BOEM received 38 comment 

submissions, which can be found at 

https://www.regulations.gov in docket 

no. BOEM–2024–0020. On June 21, 

2024, BOEM published a notice of 

availability (NOA) of a draft EA in the 

Federal Register (89 FR 52086). BOEM 

received 164 comment submissions, 

which can be found at https://

www.regulations.gov in docket no. 

BOEM–2024–0030. In addition to the 

preparation of the draft EA, BOEM has 

initiated required consultations under 

the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the 

Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

Conservation and Management Act 

(MSFCMA), and the Coastal Zone 

Management Act. The draft EA can be 

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

renewable-energy/state-activities/ 

gomeclea. On September 9, 2024, BOEM 

published a NOA of a final EA in the 

Federal Register (Docket Number 

BOEM–2024–0030). The final EA can be 

found here: https://www.boem.gov/ 

renewable-energy/state-activities/gome_

FinalEA. BOEM completed ESA 

consultation with the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service on August 26, 2024. 

Consultation with the National Marine 

Fisheries Service (NMFS) for MSFCMA 

and ESA have not been completed prior 

to publication of this notice. BOEM has 

provided NMFS with a Biological 

Assessment for ESA consultation and an 

Essential Fish Habitat Assessment for 

MSFCMA consultation. Based on the 

assessments that BOEM prepared for 

these consultations, BOEM does not 

expect impacts that are significantly 

different in kind or magnitude from 

those it has identified in previous wind 

lease sales. BOEM will not execute any 

leases in the Gulf of Maine prior to the 

completion of all consultations. The EA 

and associated consultations informed 

BOEM’s decision on whether to proceed 

with this FSN. BOEM will conduct 

additional environmental reviews upon 

receipt of a lessee’s construction and 

operations plan (COP) if leases issued as 

a result of this sale reach that stage of 

development. 

II. List of Eligible Bidders 

BOEM has determined that the 

following 14 entities are legally, 

technically, and financially qualified to 

bid in the ATLW–11 auction, pursuant 

to 30 CFR 585.107 and 585.108: 

Company name Company No. 

Avangrid Renewables, LLC .. 15019 

Equinor Wind US LLC .......... 15058 

US Mainstream Renewable 

Power Inc .......................... 15089 

Diamond Wind North America, LLC ............................. 15113 

Hexicon USA, LLC ............... 15151 

Seaglass Offshore Wind II, 

LLC .................................... 15155 

TotalEnergies SBE US, LLC 15165 

Pine Tree Offshore Wind, 

LLC .................................... 15167 

energyRe Offshore Wind 

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

OW Gulf of Maine LLC ......... 15175 

Repsol Renewables North 

America, Inc ...................... 15180 

Maine Offshore Wind Development LLC ...................... 15181 

Corio USA Projectco LLC ..... 15182 

Invenergy NE Offshore Wind 

LLC .................................... 15197 

a. Affiliated Entities: On the Bidder’s 

Financial Form (BFF), discussed in 

sections III(a)(i) and X 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 


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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 between 10 and 50 percent 

of the voting securities or instruments of 

ownership, or other forms of ownership, 

of another bidding entity, and BOEM 

determines that there is control upon 

consideration of factors including the 

following: 

a. The extent to which there are 

common officers or directors. 

b. 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. 

c. 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 585.113. 

iii. They are both direct, or indirect, 

subsidiaries of the same parent 

company. 

iv. 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, 

such as evidence that one bidding entity 

has power to exercise control over the 

other, 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. 

III. Deadlines and Milestones for 

Bidders 

This section describes the major 

deadlines and milestones in the auction 

process from publication of this FSN to 

execution of a lease issued pursuant to 

this sale. 

a. FSN Waiting Period: During the 

period between FSN publication and the 

lease auction, qualified bidders must 

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 bidding credit for 

which that bidder wishes to be 

considered. BOEM must receive each 

bidder’s BFF on or before September 27, 

2024, and it is each bidder’s 

responsibility to ensure BOEM’s timely 

receipt. If a bidder does not submit a 

BFF by this deadline, BOEM, in its sole 

discretion, may grant an extension to 

that bidder only if BOEM determines 

the bidder’s failure to timely submit a 

BFF was caused by events beyond the 

bidder’s control. The BFF can be 

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

renewable-energy/state-activities/ 

maine/gulf-maine. Once BOEM has 

processed a bidder’s BFF, the bidder is 

allowed to log into pay.gov and submit 

a bid deposit. For purposes of this 

auction, BOEM will not consider BFFs 

submitted for previous lease sales. An 

original signed BFF may be mailed to 

BOEM’s Office of Renewable Energy 

Programs. A signed copy of the form 

may be submitted via email in PDF 

format to renewableenergy@boem.gov. A 

faxed copy will not be accepted. BFF 

submissions should be accompanied 

with a transmittal letter on company 

letterhead. The BFF must be executed 

on paper with a wet signature or with 

a digital signature affixed by an 

authorized representative listed on the 

bidder’s current legal qualification card 

on file with BOEM, subject to 18 U.S.C. 

1001 (Fraud and False Statements). 

Further information about the BFF can 

be found in the ‘‘Bidder’s Financial 

Form’’ Section X of this notice. 

ii. Bid Deposit: Once BOEM has 

processed a BFF and provided the 

appropriate information to the Office of 

Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR), 

ONRR will populate the Bid Deposit 

Forms and notify the bidders of access 

to pay.gov for the bid deposits. The 

bidder must log into https://

www.pay.gov to submit a bid deposit. 

To participate in the mock auction and 

the monetary auction, each qualified 

bidder must provide a bid deposit of 

$2,000,000 per lease area sought for a 

maximum of two lease areas no later 

than October 11, 2024. BOEM will grant 

extensions to this deadline only if 

BOEM, in its sole discretion, determines 

that the failure to timely submit the bid 

deposit was caused by events beyond 

the bidder’s control. Further 

information about bid deposits can be 

found in the ‘‘Bid Deposit,’’ Section X, 

of this notice. 

b. Conducting the Auction: 

i. Affirmative Action: Prior to bidding 

in the monetary auction, each bidder 

must file the Equal Opportunity 

Affirmative Action Representation Form 

BOEM–2032 (February 2020, available 

on BOEM’s website at http://

www.boem.gov/BOEM-2032/) and the 

Equal Opportunity Compliance Report 

Certification Form BOEM–2033 

(February 2020, available on BOEM’s 

website at http://www.boem.gov/BOEM2033/) with the BOEM Office of 

Renewable Energy Programs. The forms 

can be submitted digitally via email to 

renewableenergy@boem.gov or mailed to 

the BOEM Office of Renewable Energy 

Programs. This certification is required 

by 41 CFR part 60 and Executive Order 

(E.O.) 11246, issued September 24, 

1965, as amended by E.O. 11375, issued 

October 13, 1967, and by E.O. 13672, 

issued July 21, 2014. Both forms must 

be on file with BOEM for the bidder(s) 

prior to the execution of any lease 

contract. 

ii. Notification of Eligibility for 

Bidding Credits: BOEM will notify each 

bidder of its eligibility for bidding 

credits prior to the Mock Auction. 

iii. Mock Auction: BOEM will hold a 

Mock Auction on October 24, 2024, 

beginning at 9:00 a.m. EDT, which is 

open only to qualified bidders who have 

met the requirements and deadlines for 

auction participation, including 

submission of the bid deposit. The 

Mock Auction is intended to give 

bidders an opportunity to clarify 

auction rules, test the functionality of 

the auction software, and identify any 

potential issues that may arise during 

the auction. 

iv. The Auction: On October 29, 2024, 

BOEM, through its contractor, will 

commence the multiple-factor auction. 

The first round of the auction will start 

at 9:00 a.m. EDT. The auction will 

proceed electronically according to a 

schedule to be distributed by the BOEM 

Auction Manager at the beginning of the 

auction, subject to any revisions (which 

will be communicated to bidders during 

the auction). BOEM anticipates that the 

auction will last one or two business 

days, but the auction may continue for 

additional business days, as necessary, 

until the auction ends in accordance 

with the procedures described in the 


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‘‘Auction Procedures’’ section of this 

notice. 

v. Announce Provisional Winners: 

BOEM will announce the provisional 

winners of the lease sale after the 

auction ends. 

c. 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 30 days in which 

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 cash bid less 

applicable bid deposits), and sign and 

return the three executed lease copies. 

A winner may request in writing an 

extension of the 10-business-day time 

limit and BOEM, in its discretion, may 

grant such extensions, pursuant to 30 

CFR 585.225(d). 

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. 

IV. Areas Offered for Leasing 

In response to comments received on 

the PSN and consultation with Tribes 

and Federal agencies, BOEM is offering 

eight lease areas totaling 850,082 acres 

for sale through this notice (Figure 1). 

The eight areas in the PSN have been 

reduced by approximately 12% to 

address ocean user conflicts in response 

to comments and input from ocean 

users, including the fishing industry, 

the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and 

navigation interests, and NMFS. 

BOEM’s designation of the eight lease 

areas offered in the FSN is informed by 

extensive coordination with BOEM’s 

intergovernmental task force members, 

consultation and engagement with 

Tribes, stakeholder engagement, a 

partnership with NOAA’s NCCOS to 

utilize spatial modeling to inform the 

identification of WEAs, and 

consideration of the 262 comments that 

BOEM received in response to the PSN. 

Based on the information gained 

through that coordination and comment 

review, BOEM has decided to remove 

from current leasing consideration 

several areas that overlap with a 

combination of offshore fishing activity, 

vessel transit, seafloor features 

identified by NMFS as potentially 

sensitive to impacts from offshore wind 

facility construction, and areas of 

relatively higher densities of North 

Atlantic right whale sightings and 

detections. The eight areas BOEM is 

offering for lease are described in Table 

1. Descriptions of the proposed lease 

areas may be found in Addendum A of 

each of the proposed leases, located on 

BOEM’s website at https://

www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/stateactivities/maine/gulf-maine. Several 

leases are subject to a lease stipulation 

that would prohibit surface or 

subsurface development in portions of 

the lease that are adjacent to corridors 

BOEM created between leases to 

facilitate existing and future vessel 

transit (see Addendum C, Section 10 of 

the lease). For those leases, the total 

‘‘developable acres’’ are less than the 

total ‘‘lease acres’’ as described in Table 

1. 

TABLE 1—GULF OF MAINE LEASE AREAS, ACRES, AND ASSIGNED REGION

Lease area ID Region Total acres Developable 

acres 

Net change 

from PSN 

(developable 

acres) 

OCS–A 0562 .............................................................................................. North ................... 97,854 97,854 ¥23,485 

OCS–A 0563 .............................................................................................. North ................... 105,682 105,682 ¥26,687 

OCS–A 0564 .............................................................................................. South .................. 98,565 93,756 ¥11,743 

OCS–A 0565 .............................................................................................. South .................. 103,191 103,191 ¥12,099 

OCS–A 0566 .............................................................................................. South .................. 96,075 96,075 ¥31,313 

OCS–A 0567 .............................................................................................. South .................. 117,780 113,208 ¥4,183 

OCS–A 0568 .............................................................................................. South .................. 124,897 116,363 ¥7,026 

OCS–A 0569 .............................................................................................. South .................. 106,038 101,757 0 

Total ..................................................................................................... ............................. 850,082 827,886 ¥116,536 

Average ............................................................................................... ............................. 106,260 103,486 ¥14,567 


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2BOEM does not have the authority to designate 

transit lanes. The United States Coast Guard’s 

(USCG) authority to provide safe access routes for 

the movement of vessel traffic is found in the Ports 

and Waterways Safety Act. See 46 U.S.C. 70003. 

Figure 1—Gulf of Maine Lease Areas 

a. Habitat Avoidance: Several 

commentors recommended BOEM 

remove proposed lease areas due to 

concerns about overlap with or 

proximity to sensitive benthic habitat. 

These comments contributed to the 

decision to remove the portions of four 

lease areas. Lease area 0562’s (and to a 

lesser extent, 0563’s) proximity to the 

Jeffreys Bank Habitat Management Area 

contributed to the decision to remove 

the northern portion of those lease 

areas. In addition, NMFS recommended 

BOEM avoid leasing in areas of 

potential hardbottom and high 

bathymetric change potentially suitable 

for coral habitat, as shown in the results 

of the spring 2024 R/V Connecticut 

surveys within lease areas 0567 and 

0568. These data contributed to 

removals of acreage in the northeastern 

portion of 0567 and southeastern 

portion of 0568. BOEM also considered 

a comment from the wind industry 

requesting that BOEM focus any 

adjustments to lease boundaries on 

reductions to bathymetric heterogeneity. 

b. Facilitating Fishing Activity: 

Throughout the Gulf of Maine planning 

and leasing process BOEM has 

prioritized avoidance of areas with high 

fishing vessel activity, revenue, and 

landings. Understanding that the best 

available commercial and recreational 

fishing data still have limitations and 

caveats, BOEM has engaged extensively 

with the fishing industry, fishing 

communities, and Tribes to bolster 

BOEM’s understanding of the historic 

and current uses of the lease areas. 

These engagements and data analyses, 

combined with PSN comments, 

contributed to the decision to remove 

portions of seven lease areas: northern 

portion of 0562 and 0563 (herring and 

groundfish fishing effort); western edge 

of 0564, eastern edge of 0565, western 

portion of 0566, northeastern portion of 

0567, and northwestern portion of 0568 

(groundfish fishing effort). 

c. Vessel Transit Considerations: As 

noted in the PSN, BOEM is aware of the 

overlap of lease areas 0562 and 0563 (as 

proposed in the PSN) with a portion of 

the USCG proposed Gulf of Maine 

fairway as described in the Maine, New 

Hampshire, Massachusetts Port Access 

Route Study (MNMPARS). While that 

fairway has not yet been established, 

ongoing consultation with the USCG, 

along with comments received through 

the PSN regarding concerns with transit, 

North Atlantic right whale detections, 

fishing effort, and habitat concerns, all 

contributed to BOEM’s decision to 

remove the portion of lease areas 0562 

and 0563 that previously overlapped 

with the proposed fairway. 

d. As part of the PSN, BOEM also 

created three corridors between leases to 

facilitate existing and future transit 

through proposed lease areas.2 These 

areas occur in a Northwest to Southeast 

direction, as well as in an East and West 

direction, and have a minimum width of 

2.5 nautical miles (nm). Commenters 

generally supported these transit areas; 

however, several commenters also 

requested corridors be created between 

lease areas 0562 and 0563, as well as 

between 0565 and 0566. BOEM did not 

incorporate a corridor between 0562 and 

0563, given the lease areas’ relative 

isolation (no immediate surrounding 

lease areas) and the reduction in lease 

area size due to the avoidance of the 

proposed Gulf of Maine fairway 

(described above). Additionally, the 

Surface Structure Layout and 

Orientation lease stipulation (see 

Addendum C, Section 10 of the lease) 

applies to lease areas 0562 and 0563. 

BOEM has removed portions of lease 

areas 0565 and 0566 creating an 

approximate 3.5 nm wide corridor 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1EN17SE24.041</GPH>

Gulf of Maine 

Final Lease Areas 

No Surface or 

Subsurface Occupancy 

Gulf of Maine Final 

Lease Areas 

10 20 30 40km 

I I I I I 1 I j 

5 10 15 20nm 

0 

-

B©EM 

Map Date: 0812112024 

Projection: UTM NAD83. Zooe 19N 
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 17, 2024 / Notices 76137 

3See: ABS (American Bureau of Shipping). 2012. 

Floating Wind Turbines. Final Report: BSEE TAP 

669 (Contract M11PC00004). 

4 See: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/deep-seacorals/mapSites.htm. 

5https://www.boem.gov/cop-guidelines; https://

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

renewable-energy/state-activities/ 

BOEM%20NOI%20Checklist.pdf. 

primarily to facilitate existing 

groundfishing activities (see Facilitating 

Fishing Activity section, above); 

however, this will also facilitate future 

transit through those lease areas. 

e. Map of the Area Proposed for 

Leasing: In addition to Figure 1, maps of 

the lease areas, and various GIS spatial 

files may be found on BOEM’s website 

at https://www.boem.gov/renewableenergy/state-activities/maine/gulfmaine. 

V. New and Modified Lease 

Stipulations 

BOEM has modified or added several 

lease stipulations in Addendum C of 

each lease related to avoiding and 

minimizing potential future user 

conflicts and environmental impacts 

and project design. This section 

summarizes the major updates, but is 

not an exhaustive list of every change. 

a. Changes related to the 

Modernization Rule: Since the 

publication of the PSN, the Renewable 

Energy Modernization Rule (89 FR 

42602) has become effective, resulting 

in updates to BOEM’s regulations. As a 

result, BOEM has modified the lease 

form for this sale to comport with those 

new regulations in three ways: simple 

citation and language updates; removing 

references to lease ‘‘terms’’ and 

replacing them with references to lease 

‘‘periods’’ under 30 CFR 585.235; and 

revising the stipulations in Addendum 

C to adhere to the EA’s standard 

operating conditions in a regulatory 

scheme where a lessee is no longer 

required to submit a Site Assessment 

Plan to install a meteorological and/or 

oceanographic buoy under 30 CFR 

585.600(a)(1). 

b. Surface Structure Layout and 

Orientation: BOEM has modified the 

lease stipulation ‘‘Surface Structure 

Layout and Orientation’’ (see 

Addendum C, Section 10 of the lease), 

which requires lessees with directly 

adjacent leases (e.g., OCS–A 0562 and 

0563) to design a surface structure 

layout that contains two common lines 

of orientation across the adjacent leases 

(as described in Navigation and Vessel 

Inspection Circular 02–23). If the lessees 

cannot agree on such a layout, each 

lessee would be required to incorporate 

a setback area from the boundary of the 

adjacent lease within which area surface 

and subsurface structures are 

prohibited. 

Based on comments received on the 

PSN, BOEM has decided to increase the 

previous setback distance from 1 nm to 

1.25 nm. This would create a minimum 

2.5 nm distance between the proposed 

facilities of each lessee along the lease 

boundary. Given uncertainties with how 

potential lessees will propose to 

construct their floating wind projects, 

BOEM reserves the right to require 

additional mitigations at the COP 

approval stage, including increases to 

this setback distance.3

The previous 1 nm setback distance 

was based on USCG recommendations 

to alert mariners and search and rescue 

operations of a layout change between 

adjacent leases, not to create a corridor 

for navigation. However, BOEM 

recognizes that if future leaseholders of 

lease areas 0562 and 0563 do not choose 

to implement two common lines of 

orientation, a de facto corridor would be 

created and, therefore, vessels would 

likely use it for navigation and 

potentially for fishing activities. 

Therefore, BOEM increased the setback 

distance and included a provision to 

prohibit surface and subsurface 

occupancy in those setback areas, so 

that the combined setback area matches 

the width and provisions of the BOEM 

designated corridors between the leases 

in the southern region of the final WEA. 

c. Habitat Impact Minimization 

Measures: BOEM recognizes that there 

are documented deep sea coral locations 

within one of the lease areas (0567),4

and recent surveys conducted by NOAA 

in spring 2024 indicated there may be 

additional habitat suitable for corals in 

lease areas 0567 and 0568. In response 

to these data, as well as PSN comments 

related to protection of living bottom 

habitat, BOEM has included a new lease 

stipulation requiring lessees to use the 

best available information to avoid and 

minimize bottom-disturbing activities to 

sensitive biological resources or habitats 

to the maximum extent practicable. 

Lessees are required to conduct 

geophysical surveys prior to 

geotechnical surveys to identify 

potential munitions of concern, 

unexploded ordinances, and 

archaeological resources. Information 

about sensitive biological resources 

gained through these surveys will 

become part of the best available 

information lessees must use when 

conducting bottom disturbing activities. 

Additional information on this topic can 

be found in Section VI: Potential Future 

Restrictions below. 

d. Baseline Monitoring: In the PSN, 

BOEM proposed and requested 

comments on a potential lease 

stipulation that would require lessees to 

conduct baseline data collection 

activities for endangered and threatened 

marine mammals and their habitats in 

support of developing their COPs. 

BOEM received many comments in 

support and has decided to include a 

new stipulation requiring lessees to 

collect a minimum of three years of 

passive acoustic monitoring data for 

large whales in the Gulf of Maine North 

Atlantic Right Whale Critical Habitat to 

support the submission of the COP. The 

stipulation also includes requirements 

concerning data collection, 

transparency, and sharing. While this 

pre-COP requirement does not extend 

beyond large whales, BOEM refers 

lessees to additional baseline 

monitoring requirements, as outlined in 

BOEM’s ‘‘Information Guidelines for a 

Renewable Energy Construction and 

Operations Plan (COP)’’ and ‘‘Final 

Information Needed for Issuance of a 

Notice of Intent (NOI) Under the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) for a Construction and 

Operations Plan (COP).’’ 5

e. Hosted Engagement Opportunities: 

BOEM recognizes the importance of 

engagement with Tribes, stakeholders, 

and oceans users at all stages of the 

process and acknowledges comments 

received in response to the PSN that 

advocate for additional engagement 

opportunities. BOEM may initiate and 

host meetings after the lease sale to 

facilitate early and continuous 

engagement between Tribes, lessees, 

stakeholders, ocean users, and Federal 

partners. Therefore, BOEM has 

introduced a lease stipulation, 

Addendum C, 3.1.2, that requires 

lessees to engage in meeting planning 

and participate in the meetings in a 

meaningful manner. These provisions, 

combined with the enhanced 

engagement and progress reporting 

framework, are designed to encourage 

development of Gulf of Maine leases in 

a manner that reflects the community 

they are within. 

VI. Potential Future Restrictions 

a. Stellwagen Bank National Marine 

Sanctuary: Several of the Gulf of Maine 

lease areas are adjacent to the 

Stellwagen Bank National Marine 

Sanctuary. BOEM recognizes that future 

development within the lease areas may 

necessitate installation of energy 

transmission cables within the 

sanctuary boundaries in identified cable 

corridors. Under the authority of the 

National Marine Sanctuaries Act, NOAA 

may consider authorizing installation of 

energy transmission cables within 


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6RAM is the technical process designed to 

minimize the adverse impact of obstruction 

interference on a radar system. 

7See: https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/news/ 

research-expedition-explores-gulf-of-maine-nearproposed-offshore-wind-energy-lease-areas/. 

sanctuary boundaries through one or 

more of the following mechanisms— 

General Permits, Authorizations, 

Certifications, and Special Use Permits. 

b. Potential Future Restrictions to 

Mitigate Potential Conflicts with 

Department of Defense (DoD) Activities: 

Potential bidders should be aware of 

potential conflicts with DoD’s existing 

uses of the OCS. BOEM has coordinated 

with DoD throughout the leasing 

process. This included consultation 

with the Military Aviation and 

Installation Assurance Siting 

Clearinghouse, which conducted a DoD 

assessment of the Gulf of Maine Draft 

WEA. The assessment identified 

potential impacts, which are described 

below. 

• Air Surveillance and Radar: The 

North American Aerospace Defense 

Command (NORAD) mission may be 

affected by development of the lease 

areas. Similar impacts have been 

encountered with other lease areas 

along the Atlantic Coast and have been 

largely if not entirely mitigated. 

Considering both the expected height of 

offshore turbines and future cumulative 

wind turbine effects, adverse impacts 

can be mitigated through the use of 

Radar Adverse-impact Management 

(RAM) 6 and overlapping radar coverage. 

For projects where RAM mitigation is 

acceptable, BOEM anticipates including 

the following project approval 

conditions: 

—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; 

—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 

—Lessee will curtail wind turbine 

operations for national security or 

defense purposes as described in the 

lease. 

• Department of Navy operations: 

While the Navy did not identify any 

conflicts with the Final WEA, 

mitigations to resolve potential conflicts 

with ship testing may be necessary 

depending on the specific projects 

proposed within the lease areas. 

BOEM may require the lessee to enter 

into an agreement with DoD to 

implement any necessary conditions 

and mitigate any identified impacts. 

BOEM will further coordinate with DoD 

and the lessee to eliminate potential 

conflicts throughout the project review 

stage, which may result in adding 

mitigation measures or terms and 

conditions as part of any plan approval. 

c. Potential Future Restrictions to 

Mitigate Conflicts with Sand Resources: 

Potential bidders are advised that BOEM 

has identified sand resource areas in 

aliquots offshore the Gulf of Maine 

(Marine Minerals Information System 

(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. There are also 

potential sand resources in other areas 

in the Gulf of Maine not currently 

identified in MMIS datasets (e.g., Sand 

Resources and Atlantic OCS Aliquots 

with Sand Resources). If it is 

determined that accessible and 

significant OCS sand resources may be 

impacted by a proposed activity, BOEM 

may require lessees to undertake 

measures deemed economically, 

environmentally, and technically 

feasible to protect the resources to the 

maximum extent practicable, including 

minimizing, avoiding, and mitigating 

impacts to these resources. Measures 

may include modification of proposed 

transmission corridor locations if 

warranted. Neither BOEM nor the 

Bureau of Safety and Environmental 

Enforcement will approve future 

requests for in-place decommissioning 

of submarine cables in sand resource 

areas unless BOEM has determined that 

the submarine cables do not unduly 

interfere with other uses of the OCS, 

specifically sand resource use. 

d. Potential Future Restrictions to 

Mitigate Possible Conflicts with DeepSea Corals and Biologically Sensitive 

Benthic Habitat: Potential bidders are 

advised that in the Gulf of Maine final 

WEA, NOAA has identified the 

presence of deep-sea corals and 

sponges, as well as hardbottom habitat 

areas suitable for sensitive deep-sea 

coral and sponge species. In addition, 

data collected during a spring 2024 

research expedition within lease areas 

0567 and 0568 indicates that there are 

additional areas that may contain 

sensitive or vulnerable hard-bottom 

features suitable for coral and sponge 

habitat.7

BOEM has included a new lease 

stipulation for the leases within this 

FSN to require lessees to avoid or 

minimize bottom disturbing activities 

that may affect sensitive biological 

resources or habitats during any site 

assessment and site characterization 

activities to the maximum extent 

practicable. Furthermore, any site 

assessment and site characterization 

activities authorized by a lease would be 

subject to the protections for live-bottom 

features included in BOEM’s 

programmatic consultation with the 

NMFS under ESA Section 7 (Addendum 

C, 5.2 in the leases). BOEM will conduct 

additional environmental review upon 

receipt of a lessee’s COP and, as a 

condition of approval, may require 

avoidance measures to reduce potential 

impacts to sensitive benthic species and 

habitat within the lease area. 

e. Existing Submarine Cable 

Infrastructure within Lease Areas: 

Potential bidders are advised that 

several lease areas overlap with existing 

submarine cable infrastructure. Lease 

areas 0564 and 0565 overlay the Amitie ́

system and lease areas 0565 and 0566 

overlay the EXA Atlantic system. The 

locations of these cables are available on 

the Northeast Ocean Data Portal. Lessees 

will be required to engage with 

submarine cable operators early in the 

project development process with the 

goal of deconflicting project plans 

before COPs are developed (see 

Addendum C, 3.1 of the leases). 

f. Potential Impacts to Coastal 

Communities and National Park Service 

Properties: Potential bidders are advised 

that the National Park Service (NPS) has 

indicated that there are units and 

programs of the NPS System that would 

likely be affected by activities and 

development of the lease areas (e.g., air, 

visual, and nighttime resources). Future 

lessees will be required to engage with 

NPS, as required by the lease’s Progress 

Report requirements and Agency 

Communication Plan, to ensure early 

and active information sharing, focused 

discussion of potential issues, and 

collaborative identification of solutions 

and mitigations. BOEM will also 

continue to work closely with NPS 

through regular interagency 

consultation and through collaborative 

work on future NEPA and National 

Historic Preservation Act analysis. 

Future lessees will also be required to 

engage with coastal communities on 

similar potential impacts. 

VII. Lease Terms and Conditions 

Along with this FSN, BOEM has made 

available the commercial lease forms 

that will be used to issue the leases from 

this 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 leases may be 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 17, 2024 / Notices 76139 

found on BOEM’s website at: https://

www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/stateactivities/maine/gulf-maine. Each lease 

includes 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’’). 

Addenda A, B, and C provide detailed 

descriptions of lease terms, conditions, 

and stipulations. Addendum D will be 

completed at the time of COP approval 

or approval with modifications. 

VIII. Lease Financial Terms and 

Conditions 

This section provides an overview of 

the required annual payments and 

financial assurances under the lease. 

Potential bidders should review the 

lease for more detailed information, 

including any changes from past 

practices. 

a. Rent: Pursuant to 30 CFR 585.225(f) 

and 585.503, the first year’s rent 

payment of $3 per acre is due within 45 

days after the winning bidder receives a 

copy of the executed lease from BOEM. 

Lease area acreage is delineated in 

Addendum A of the lease and, if 

applicable, includes portions of a lease 

that do not allow surface occupancy. 

Thereafter, annual rent payments are 

due on each anniversary of the effective 

date of the lease (the ‘‘lease 

anniversary’’) until your lease begins 

commercial operations. For example, for 

the 97,854 acres of Lease OCS–A 0562, 

the rent payment would be $293,562 per 

year until commercial operations begin. 

Once commercial operations begin, 

BOEM will charge rent only for the 

portions of the lease area remaining 

undeveloped (i.e., non-generating 

acreage), as described in the lease. 

If the lessee submits an application 

for relinquishment of a portion of its 

leased area within the first 45 days after 

receiving the executed lease 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. 

A lease issued under 30 CFR part 585 

confers on the lessee the right to one or 

more project easements, without further 

competition, for the purpose of 

installing gathering, transmission, and 

distribution cables, pipelines, and 

appurtenances on the OCS as necessary 

for the full enjoyment of the lease. A 

lessee must apply for the project 

easement as part of the COP or SAP, as 

provided under Subpart F of 30 CFR 

part 585. 

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. Annual rent for a project 

easement $5 per acre per year, subject 

to a minimum of $450 per year. If the 

COP revision results in increased 

easement acreage, additional rent would 

be due at the time the COP revision is 

approved. 

b. Operating Fee: For purposes of 

calculating the initial annual operating 

fee 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 must be 

paid within 90 days of the 

commencement of commercial 

operations. Thereafter, subsequent 

annual operating fees must be paid on 

or before the lease anniversary. 

The subsequent annual operating fees 

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 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: The capacity 

factor relates to the amount of energy 

delivered to the grid during a period of 

time compared to the amount of energy 

the wind facility would have produced 

at full capacity during that same period 

of time. BOEM will set the capacity 

factor at 0.4 (i.e., 40 percent) for the year 

in which the commercial operations 

begin and for the first 6 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 5 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 5 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, 

BOEM will use the ISO New England 

.H.INTERNAL_HUB. A similar price 

dataset may also be used and may be 

posted by BOEM at https://

www.boem.gov for reference. 

c. Financial Assurance: Within 10- 

business days after receipt of the 

unsigned copy of the lease, the 

provisional winner must file financial 


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

year 

$4oh Power Price x 0.02 = $2,735,923.20 MW 
76140 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 17, 2024 / Notices 

assurance in accordance with 30 CFR 

585.225(b)(2). The provisional winner 

must provide an initial lease-specific 

bond or other BOEM-approved financial 

assurance instrument in the amount of 

12 months’ rent. The provisional winner 

may meet financial assurance 

requirements by posting a surety bond 

or other financial assurance instrument 

or alternative as provided in 30 CFR 

585.526 through 585.529. BOEM 

encourages the provisional winners to 

discuss financial assurance 

requirements with BOEM as soon as 

possible after the auction has 

concluded. 

BOEM will base the amount of 

financial assurance (for all SAP, COP, 

and decommissioning activities) 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 case-by-case basis. 

The payment terms described above 

can be found in Addendum B of the 

lease, which is available at: https://

www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/stateactivities/maine/gulf-maine. 

IX. Bidder’s Financial Form 

Each bidder must submit to BOEM the 

information listed in the BFF referenced 

in this FSN. A copy of the form is 

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

renewable-energy/state-activities/ 

maine/gulf-maine. In its BFF, each 

bidder must designate the email address 

that it will use to create an account in 

https://www.pay.gov account. BOEM 

must receive BFFs, including 

Conceptual Strategies, no later than 

September 27, 2024. If a bidder does not 

submit a BFF for this sale by the 

deadline, BOEM, in its sole discretion, 

may grant an extension to that bidder 

only if BOEM determines the bidder’s 

failure to timely submit a BFF was 

caused by events beyond the bidder’s 

control. The BFF is required to be 

executed by an authorized 

representative listed in the bidder’s 

qualification package on file with 

BOEM. BFFs submitted by bidders for 

previous lease sales will not satisfy the 

requirements of this auction. 

For this sale (ATLW–11), BOEM will 

accept bidders’ BFFs and Conceptual 

Strategies electronically or by mail. 

Instructions for submission can be 

found in the BFF. The BFF must be 

executed on paper with a wet signature 

or with the application of a digital 

signature by an authorized 

representative listed on the legal 

qualification card currently on file with 

BOEM as authorized to bind the 

company. Winning bidders who have 

committed to bidding credit(s) must 

meet the bidding credit requirements no 

later than submission of their first 

Facility Design Report (FDR) or the 

tenth lease anniversary, whichever is 

sooner. 

X. Bid Deposit 

A bid deposit is an advance cash 

payment submitted to BOEM to 

participate in the auction. ONRR will 

notify the bidders that they have access 

to the Bid Deposit Form in pay.gov, and 

bidders must use the Bid Deposit Form 

on the https://www.pay.gov website to 

submit a deposit. Bidders may need to 

create an account in pay.gov to access 

the Bid Deposit Form and submit a 

deposit. Each bidder must submit a bid 

deposit of $2,000,000 for eligibility to 

bid on one lease area, or $4,000,000 for 

eligibility to bid on two lease areas, no 

later than October 11, 2024. Any bidder 

who fails to submit the bid deposit by 

this deadline may be disqualified from 

participating in the auction. BOEM will 

consider extensions to this deadline 

only if BOEM, in its sole discretion, 

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. 

Once BOEM has announced the 

provisional winners, BOEM will 

coordinate with ONRR to refund bid 

deposits to the other bidders. 

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 for the lease area, BOEM may 

require forfeiture of the bidder’s 

$2,000,000 bid deposit for the lease 

area. In such a circumstance, BOEM 

may determine which bid would have 

won in the absence of the bid previously 

determined to be the winning bid and 

may offer a lease to this next highest 

eligible bidder. This process may be 

repeated if needed. 

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 $50.00 per acre for this 

lease sale. 

XII. Auction Procedures 

a. Multiple-Factor Bidding Auction: 

BOEM will use a multiple factor auction 

format for this lease sale. Under 30 CFR 

585.113, multiple factor auction means 

an auction that involves the use of 

bidding credits to incentivize goals or 

actions that support public policy 

objectives or maximize public benefits 

through the competitive leasing auction 

process. For any multiple factor auction, 

the monetary value of the bidding 

credits, if any, is added to the value of 

the cash bids to determine the highest 

bidder. The bid made by a particular 

bidder in each round of this lease sale 

will represent the sum of the monetary 

factor (cash bid) and the value of any 

non-monetary factors in the form of 

bidding credits. Bidders will be limited 

to bidding for two lease areas at a time, 

including at most one lease area in the 

North Region. BOEM will start the 

auction using the minimum bid price 

for each lease area and will increase 

these prices incrementally until no more 

than one bidder remains bidding on 

each lease area in the auction. 

In response to public comments, 

BOEM is not revising the bidding credit 

percentages from those proposed in the 

PSN. The total bidding credits remain at 

25 percent. 

BOEM will grant bidding credits to 

bidders that commit to one or both of 

the following, subject to BOEM’s 

evaluation of the bidder’s BFF and 

Conceptual Strategy: 

i. Supporting workforce training 

programs for the floating offshore wind 

industry or supporting the development 

of a domestic supply chain for the 

floating 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 

Tribal subsistence fishing, commercial 

fisheries, and for-hire recreational 

fisheries caused by offshore wind 

development in the Gulf of Maine. 

These bidding credits are intended to: 

i. Enhance, through training, the 

floating offshore wind workforce and/or 

enhance the establishment of a domestic 

supply chain for floating 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 floating offshore wind 

industry; and 

iii. Minimize potential economic 

effects on Tribal subsistence fishing, 

commercial fisheries, and for-hire 

recreational fisheries impacted by 

potential floating offshore wind 

development, as coordination with 

commercial fisheries, for-hire 

recreational fisheries, and Tribes whose 


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8Bidders specify their demand for a lease area 

with either a 0 or 1 in the auction system. A 

demand of 1 indicates that the bidder is bidding for 

the lease area. Processed demand is the demand, 

either 0 or 1, of a bidder for a lease area following 

the processing of the bids for the round. 

9The Auction Procedures for Offshore Wind 

Lease Sales provides details on how bids are 

prioritized and processed. Note that, in the ATLW– 

11 sale, the processing of any bid to increase 

demand will be subject to the constraints that: (1) 

the number of lease areas for which the bidder’s 

processed demand is one does not exceed the 

bidder’s eligibility for the round; and (2) the 

number of lease areas in the North Region for which 

the bidder’s processed demand is one does not 

exceed one. 

subsistence fishing is impacted by wind 

energy operations in the OCS area of the 

Gulf of Maine will enable development 

of the lease area to advance. 

b. Changes to Auction Rules: BOEM 

will be employing the BOEM Auction 

System for sales held in 2024. The 

auction format remains an ascending 

clock auction with multiple-factor 

bidding. However, there are five main 

changes to the ascending clock auction 

rules in the BOEM Auction System, as 

follows: 

i. If a bidder decides to bid on a 

different lease area in a given round of 

the auction, it may submit a bid to 

reduce demand for the lease area it bid 

on in the previous round and, 

simultaneously, submit a bid to increase 

demand for another lease area. This 

allows a bidder the option to switch to 

another lease area if the price of the first 

lease area exceeds the specified bid 

price. 

ii. Provisional winners will no longer 

be determined using a two-step 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 step. 

iii. The 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’). 

iv. Each bidder’s bidding credit will 

be expressed directly as a percentage of 

the final price for the lease. 

v. Any bid for multiple lease areas 

will be treated as independent bids for 

those lease areas, rather than as a 

package bid. 

All five of these changes are 

applicable to the ATLW–11 sale. 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. 

TABLE 4—GULF OF MAINE PROPOSED LEASE AREAS AND MINIMUM BIDS

Lease area ID Region Acres Minimum bid 

OCS–A 0562 .............................................................................................. North ................................................ 97,854 $4,892,700 

OCS–A 0563 .............................................................................................. North ................................................ 105,682 5,284,100 

OCS–A 0564 .............................................................................................. South ............................................... 98,565 4,928,250 

OCS–A 0565 .............................................................................................. South ............................................... 103,191 5,159,550 

OCS–A 0566 .............................................................................................. South ............................................... 96,075 4,803,750 

OCS–A 0567 .............................................................................................. South ............................................... 117,780 5,889,000 

OCS–A 0568 .............................................................................................. South ............................................... 124,897 6,244,850 

OCS–A 0569 .............................................................................................. South ............................................... 106,038 5,301,900 

BOEM will allow each qualified entity 

to bid for and ultimately win a 

maximum of two leases each, including 

a maximum of one lease area in the 

North Region as shown in Table 4. As 

such, a bidder can bid for and win a 

maximum of two South Region leases, 

or one North Region lease and one 

South Region lease—but cannot bid for 

or win both North Region leases. 

The auction will be conducted in a 

series of rounds. Before each round, the 

auction system will announce the prices 

for each lease area offered in the 

auction. In Round 1, there is a single 

price for each lease area equal to the 

minimum bid price (also known as the 

‘opening price’ or ‘clock price of Round 

1’). Each bidder can bid, at the opening 

prices, for as many lease areas as the 

bidder is eligible, as determined by the 

bidder’s bid deposit, and subject to a 

maximum of one lease area in the North 

Region. After Round 1, the bidder’s 

‘‘processed demand’’ is one for each 

lease area for which the bidder bid in 

Round 1.8 The bidder’s eligibility for 

Round 2 equals the number of lease 

areas for which the bidder bid in Round 

1. 

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 (i) continue 

bidding at the new round’s clock 

price(s) for the lease area(s) for which 

the bidder’s processed demand is one, 

or (ii) submit a bid(s) to reduce demand 

for one (or both) of these lease area(s) at 

any price(s) in the range(s) 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 bids to reduce demand for 

one or two lease areas could bid to 

increase demand for up to the same 

number of other lease areas in the same 

round. 

If an eligible bidder does not place a 

bid during the round for a lease area for 

which the bidder’s processed demand is 

one, the auction system will consider 

this a request to reduce demand for that 

lease area at the round’s start-of-round 

price. The bidder can nonetheless win 

that lease area if it is the last remaining 

bidder for that lease area. 

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 the 

lease areas. The bidder’s eligibility for 

the next round will equal the number of 

lease areas for which the bidder had 

processed demand of one. If, after any 

round, a bidder’s processed demand is 

zero for every lease area, the bidder’s 

eligibility drops to zero and the bidder 

can no longer participate in the auction. 

The posted price is the price determined 

for each lease area after processing of all 

bids for a round. If only one bidder 

remains on a lease area, the posted price 

reflects the ‘‘second price’’ (i.e., the 

highest price at which there was 

competition for the lease area).9

If, after the bids for the round have 

been processed, there is no lease area 

with excess demand (i.e., no lease areas 

have more than one bidder), the auction 

will end. When this occurs, each bidder 

with processed demand of one for a 

lease area will become the provisional 

winner for that lease area. Otherwise, 


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10FIDO 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 each authorized 

individual should obtain a key compliant with the 

FIDO2 authentication standard. FIDO keys are 

typically inserted into a computer’s USB port, so 

the authorized individual should obtain a FIDO key 

compatible with their computer (USB–A or USB– 

C) or a USB adapter, as necessary. 

11 Installing the Google Authenticator app is 

required only if the app has not already been 

installed on the smartphone or tablet. 

12The Google Authenticator app must be 

installed from either the Apple App Store or the 

Google Play Store. 

13 Installing the Google Authenticator app is 

required only if the app has not already been 

installed on the smartphone or tablet. 

the auction will continue with a new 

round in which the start-of-round price 

for each lease area equals the posted 

price of the previous round. 

The increment by which the clock 

price exceeds the start-of-round price 

will be determined based on several 

factors including, but not necessarily 

limited to, the expected time needed to 

conduct the auction and the number of 

rounds that have already occurred. 

BOEM reserves the right to increase or 

decrease the increment as it deems 

appropriate. 

The provisional winner of each lease 

area will pay the final posted price (less 

any applicable bidding credit) or risk 

forfeiting its bid deposit. 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 (if 

any) of its winning bid (i.e., winning bid 

amount minus the applicable bid 

deposit and any applicable bidding 

credits) within 10 business days of 

receipt of the unsigned lease copy from 

BOEM, pursuant to 30 CFR 585.225(b). 

BOEM reserves the right to not issue the 

lease to the provisionally winning 

bidder if that bidder fails to: timely 

execute the lease and return it 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 and 

BOEM reserves the right to offer a lease 

to the next highest eligible bidder as 

determined by BOEM. 

BOEM will publish the names of the 

provisional winners of the lease areas 

and the associated prices shortly after 

the conclusion of the sale. Full bid 

results, including round-by-round 

results of the entire sale, will be 

published on BOEM’s website after a 

review of the results and announcement 

of the provisional winners. 

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, each individual listed on the 

BFF form must register an account on 

Login.gov using the same email address 

that was listed in the BFF and associate 

a phishing-resistant multi-factor 

authentication method with its 

Login.gov account. A Fast Identity 

Online (FIDO)-compliant security key 10

is recommended as a phishing-resistant 

MFA method. The login.gov registration, 

together with the phishing-resistant 

MFA method will enable the individual 

to log into the auction system. 

Information on the login and 

authentication procedures for 2024 

offshore wind lease sales is available 

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

renewable-energy/lease-and-grantinformation. 

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 system 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 auction 

will begin at 9:00 a.m. EDT on October 

29, 2024. Bidders will be able to log into 

the auction system beginning 30 

minutes before the start of the auction. 

BOEM recommends that bidders log in 

earlier than 9:00 a.m. EDT on that day 

to ensure that any login issues are 

resolved prior to the start of the auction. 

iii. Messaging Service: BOEM and the 

auction contractors will use the auction 

system’s 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 the 

auction, it will use the messaging 

service to notify bidders that a revision 

has been made and will direct bidders 

to the relevant page. BOEM will also use 

the messaging service for other updates 

during the auction. 

iv. Bidding Rounds: Bidders are 

allowed to place bids or to change their 

bids at any time during the bidding 

round. At the top of the bidding page, 

a countdown clock shows how much 

time remains in each round. Bidders 

will have until the end of the round 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 elaborates on the 

auction process described in this FSN. 

In the event of any inconsistency among 

the Auction Procedures for Offshore 

Wind Lease Sales, the Bidder Manual, 

and the FSN, the FSN is controlling.11

v. Alternate Bidding Procedures: 

Redundancy is the most effective way to 

mitigate technical and human issues 

during an auction. BOEM strongly 

recommends that bidders consider 

authorizing more than one individual to 

bid in the auction and confirming 

during the Mock Auction that each 

authorized individual is able to access 

the auction system. A mobile hotspot or 

other form of wireless access is helpful 

in case a company’s main 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 contact the help desk, 

at the phone number provided to 

bidders, before the end of the round. 

BOEM will authenticate the caller’s 

identity. The caller must explain the 

reasons why a telephone bid needs to be 

submitted. 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 mobile application 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 Authenticator mobile 

application 12 onto their smartphone or 

tablet.13 The first time the individual 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 17, 2024 / Notices 76143 

14https://www.bia.gov/sites/default/files/dup/ 

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

%20Act%20508%20Compliant

%202.6.18(Reload).pdf. 

15Tier 2: Subassemblies are the systems that have 

a specific function for a Tier 1 component. They 

may include subassemblies of a number of smaller 

parts, such as a pitch system for blades. Tier 2 

manufacturers contract with Tier 1 suppliers as a 

subcontractor or vendor. 

16Tier 3: Subcomponents are commonly available 

items that are combined into Tier 2 subassemblies, 

such as motors, bolts, and gears. Tier 3 

manufacturers are typically vendors that provide 

components to Tier 2 suppliers. 

17Tier 1 components examples include the 

primary offshore wind components such as the 

blades, nacelles, towers, foundations, and cables. 

Tier 1 components are the major products that are 

purchased by an offshore wind project developer, 

such as the wind turbine, foundation, or cables. 

Tier 1 suppliers are primary suppliers that contract 

directly with the project developer. Contributions 

for Tier 1 supply chain development can include 

infrastructure necessary for quayside 

manufacturing, fabrication, or assembly. 

18A disadvantaged business entity would be one 

at least 51% owned and controlled by a socially and 

economically disadvantaged individual or 

individuals as defined by the Small Business 

Administration. 

logs into the auction system, the system 

will provide a QR token to be read into 

the Google Authenticator application. 

This token is unique to the individual 

and BOEM auctions. It enables the 

Google Authenticator application to 

generate time-sensitive codes that must 

be provided to the help desk 

representative as part of the user 

authentication process. 

d. 12.5 Percent Bidding Credit for 

Workforce Training or Supply Chain 

Development or a Combination of Both: 

This bidding credit allows a bidder to 

receive a credit of 12.5 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. floating 

offshore wind industry or development 

of a U.S. domestic supply chain for the 

floating 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. 

i. The Contribution to workforce 

training must result in a better trained 

and/or larger domestic floating offshore 

wind workforce that will 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 will not qualify as an 

appropriate contribution toward 

fulfilling this bidding credit 

commitment. 

ii. The Contribution to domestic 

supply chain development must result 

in overall benefits to the U.S. floating 

offshore wind supply chain available to 

all potential purchasers of floating 

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 floating offshore wind 

domestic supply chain by reducing the 

upfront capital or certification cost for 

manufacturing floating 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 will allow BOEM to confirm 

compliance once the lessee has 

submitted documentation that shows it 

has satisfied the bidding credit 

commitment. 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 FDR. 

v. Contributions to workforce training 

must 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 floating 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 floating wind 

energy projects in the United States; (iii) 

Training workers in skills or techniques 

necessary to manufacture or assemble 

floating 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 floating 

offshore wind workforce development 

programs or training for Tribal citizens 

or employees of an Indian Economic 

Enterprise 14 in skills necessary to 

participate in the floating offshore wind 

industry; or (v) Training in any other job 

skills that the lessee can demonstrate 

are necessary for the assessment, 

planning, design, construction, 

operation, maintenance, environmental 

monitoring, or decommissioning of 

floating offshore wind energy projects in 

the United States OCS. 

vi. 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 floating offshore wind industry, 

including manufacturing of components 

and sub-assemblies and the expansion 

of related services; (ii) domestic Tier 2 15

and Tier 3 16 floating offshore wind 

component suppliers and domestic Tier1 17 supply chain efforts, including 

quay-side fabrication; (iii) technical 

assistance grants to help U.S. 

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

ISO–9001) for floating offshore wind 

manufacturing; (iv) development of 

Jones Act-compliant vessels for the 

construction, servicing, and/or 

decommissioning of floating wind 

energy projects in the United States, 

including semi-submersible barges for 

use during quayside manufacturing, 

assembly, or installation; (v); purchase 

and installation of self-propelled 

modular transporter systems (SPMTs), 

lift cranes capable of installing 

foundations, towers, and nacelles 

quayside, and domestic mooring 

manufacturing facilities; (vi) port 

infrastructure related to floating offshore 

wind component manufacturing and 

preparation of quayside manufacturing 

and assembly areas for the construction 

and deployment of floating foundations, 

or other components of floating offshore 

wind turbines; (vii) establishing a new 

or existing bonding support reserve or 

revolving fund available to all 

businesses providing goods and services 

to floating offshore wind energy 

companies, including disadvantaged 

businesses 18 and/or Indian Economic 

Enterprises; or (viii) other supply chain 

development efforts that the lessee can 

demonstrate further the manufacturing 

of floating offshore wind components or 

subassemblies or the provision of 

floating offshore wind services in the 

United States. 


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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 

must 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 

must 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. floating 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 must 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 

must explain the changed approach. 

BOEM reserves all rights to determine 

that bidding credit criteria have 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 will be made in 

the BFF and would be included in a 

lease addendum that 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 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 will 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. 

e. 12.5 percent Bidding Credit for 

Fisheries Compensatory Mitigation 

Fund: The second bidding credit allows 

a bidder to receive a credit of 12.5 

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 Tribal 

subsistence fishing, commercial 

fisheries, and for-hire recreational 

fisheries in the Gulf of Maine resulting 

from project development under the 

Lease. The term ‘‘Tribal subsistence 

fishing’’ for the purpose of this bidding 

credit refers to a fishery where the fish 

caught are shared and consumed 

directly by the families, kin, and fellow 

Tribal members of the fishers rather 

than being sold. 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 Gulf of Maine. 

The term ‘‘for-hire recreational 

fisheries’’ refers to charter and headboat 

fishing operations involving vessels-forhire engaged in recreational fishing in 

the Gulf of Maine 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 coordinate 

with other lessees to establish or 

contribute to a regional fund. The 

regional fund should ensure leasespecific claims are accounted for. At a 

minimum, the compensation must 

address the following: 

• Tribal subsistence loss; 

• Gear loss or damage; and 

• Lost fishing income in Gulf of 

Maine wind energy lease areas. 

The Fisheries Compensatory 

Mitigation Fund will assist Tribal 

subsistence fishing, commercial 

fisheries, and for-hire recreational 

fisheries directly impacted by Tribal 

subsistence, 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 to Tribal 

subsistence fishing, commercial 

fisheries, and for-hire recreational 

fisheries that result directly from the 

preconstruction, construction, 

operations, and decommissioning of an 

offshore wind project being developed 

in the Gulf of Maine 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. 

Bidders applying for 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 certify the actions that the lessee 

intends to take would allow BOEM to 

verify compliance when the lessee seeks 

to demonstrate satisfaction of the 

requirements for the bidding credit. The 

lessee will 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. 

The fund must compensate Tribal 

subsistence fishers, commercial fishers, 

and for-hire recreational fishers for gear 

loss or damage, as well as any income 

loss claims, and Tribal subsistence loss 

incurred as a result of any stage of 

offshore wind project development (preconstruction, construction, operations, 

and decommissioning) resulting from 

this lease. Loss claims may also result 

from impacts from the development of 

easements associated with this lease 

and/or the conduct of surveys on this 

lease before the establishment of the 

fund. Funds that have been determined 

to be in excess of those needed to 

compensate for gear loss or damage, 

income loss for commercial fisheries 

and for-hire recreational fishing, and 

Tribal subsistence fishing loss as a 

result of lease development, based on 

actuarial accounting, may be used to: 

• support regional fisheries 

compensatory mitigation efforts for 

other Gulf of Maine and Atlantic OCS 

offshore wind projects, 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 17, 2024 / Notices 76145 

• offset the cost of gear and 

navigational aid upgrades and other 

transitions for operating within a wind 

farm; or 

• 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. 

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 5 years and publicly 

reporting information on fund 

disbursement and administrative costs 

at least annually. 

The Fisheries Compensatory 

Mitigation Fund must be independently 

managed by a third party and must 

include trustees or board members from 

fishing stakeholder groups. The Fund 

must include fiduciary governance and 

strong internal controls, and must 

minimize 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’s Draft Guidelines for 

Mitigating Impacts to Commercial and 

Recreational Fisheries on the Outer 

Continental Shelf, the Eleven Atlantic 

States’ Fisheries Mitigation Project, or 

other sources. 

i. Documentation: 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 full 

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. 

ii. At a minimum, this documentation 

must include: 

(1) the procedures established to 

compensate for gear loss or damage 

resulting from all phases of the project 

development on the Lease (preconstruction, construction, operation, 

and decommissioning); 

(2) the procedures established to 

compensate for income loss to 

commercial fisheries and for-hire 

recreational fisheries resulting from all 

phases of the project development on 

the Lease (pre-construction, 

construction, operation, and 

decommissioning); 

(3) the procedures established to 

compensate for Tribal subsistence 

fishing loss resulting from all phases of 

the project development on the Lease 

(pre-construction, construction, 

operation, and decommissioning); 

(4) 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 all phases of 

offshore wind development; 

(5) all receipts documenting the 

amount, date, financial institution, and 

the account and owner of the account to 

which the Contribution was made; and 

(6) 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 

must 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. 

iii. 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 will 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 fifth lease 

anniversary. 

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: 

1. an express or tacit agreement 

among bidders not to bid in an auction, 

or to bid a particular price; 

2. an agreement among bidders not to 

bid against each other; or 

3. 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 provide an unsigned copy of 

the lease to the provisional winner in 

accordance with 30 CFR 585.225. 

Within 10 business days after receipt of 

the unsigned copy, the provisional 

winner must: 

1. execute the lease and return it to 

BOEM; 

2. file financial assurance as required 

under 30 CFR 585.516 through 585.529, 

as applicable; and 

3. pay by electronic funds transfer 

(EFT) the balance owed (the winning 

cash bid less the applicable bid deposit), 

if any. BOEM requires bidders to use 

EFT procedures (not https://

www.pay.gov, the website bidders used 

to submit bid deposits) for payment of 

the balance, following the detailed 


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76146 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 17, 2024 / Notices 

instructions contained in 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 

all three requirements above have been 

satisfied, the provisional winner has 

established financial assurance pursuant 

to 30 CFR 585.516 and 585.225, and 

BOEM has processed the provisional 

winner’s payment. BOEM, at its 

discretion, may extend the 10-businessday deadline for executing a lease, filing 

the required financial assurance, and 

paying the balance owed, pursuant to 30 

CFR 585.225(d). 

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 will forfeit its bid 

deposit. Also, in such a case, BOEM 

reserves the right to offer the lease to the 

next highest eligible bidder as 

determined by BOEM. 

Within 45 calendar days after 

receiving a copy of the executed lease 

from BOEM, the provisional winner 

must pay the first 12 months’ 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 available on 

ONRR’s website at: https://onrr.gov/ 

paying/payment-options?tabs=rentpayments. 

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. 

XVIII. Changes to Auction Details 

BOEM has the discretion to change 

any auction detail specified in this 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 will notify all 

qualified bidders via email, phone, and 

BOEM’s website at https://

www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/stateactivities/maine/gulf-maine. Bidders 

should call BOEM’s Auction Manager at 

(703) 787–1121 if they have concerns. 

XIX. Withdrawal of Blocks 

As provided in BOEM’s regulations at 

30 CFR 585.224(e), BOEM may 

withdraw all or part of a lease area from 

the lease sale between auction closure 

and lease execution. In the event that a 

portion of the lease area is withdrawn, 

the provisional winner has the option to 

refuse the lease without penalty, to 

propose new lease terms for BOEM’s 

concurrence, or to accept the lease with 

the reduced area. 

XX. Appeals 

Procedures for reconsideration of 

rejected bids are provided in BOEM’s 

regulations at 30 CFR 585.224 and 

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

the final action of the Department of the 

Interior, and is not subject to appeals to 

the Office of Hearings and Appeals, but 

an unsuccessful bidder may appeal that 

decision to the BOEM Director as 

provided by 30 CFR 585.118(c). 

XXI. Protection of Privileged and 

Confidential Information 

BOEM will protect privileged or 

confidential information that the lessee 

submits, as authorized by the Freedom 

of Information Act (FOIA), BOEM’s 

regulations at 30 CFR 585.114, or other 

applicable statutes. If the lessee wishes 

to protect the confidentiality of 

information, the lessee should 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 the 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. Labeling 

information as privileged or confidential 

will alert BOEM to more closely 

scrutinize whether it warrants 

withholding. Further, BOEM will not 

treat as confidential aggregate 

summaries of otherwise nonconfidential 

information. 

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

585.210 and 585.214. 

Elizabeth Klein, 

Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 2024–21081 Filed 9–16–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4340–98–P 

INTERNATIONAL TRADE 

COMMISSION 

[Investigation No. 337–TA–1349] 

Components for Certain 

Environmentally-Protected LCD Digital 

Displays and Products Containing the 

Same; Notice of a Commission 

Determination To Grant a Joint Motion 

To Terminate the Investigation on the 

Basis of Settlement; Termination of the 

Investigation 

AGENCY: U.S. International Trade 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the U.S. International Trade 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) has 

determined to grant a joint motion to 

terminate this investigation based on 

settlement. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Joelle P. Justus, Esq., Office of the 

General Counsel, U.S. International 

Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, 

Washington, DC 20436, telephone (202) 

205–2593. Copies of non-confidential 

documents filed in connection with this 

investigation may be viewed on the 

Commission’s electronic docket (EDIS) 

at https://edis.usitc.gov. For help 

accessing EDIS, please email 

EDIS3Help@usitc.gov. General 

information concerning the Commission 

may also be obtained by accessing its 

internet server at https://www.usitc.gov. 

Hearing-impaired persons are advised 

that information on this matter can be 

obtained by contacting the 

Commission’s TDD terminal on (202) 

205–1810. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

January 10, 2023, the Commission 

instituted this investigation based on a 

complaint filed by Samsung Electronics 

Co., Ltd. of the Republic of Korea; 

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. of 

Ridgefield Park, New Jersey; Samsung 

Research America, Inc. of Mountain 

View, California; and Samsung 

International, Inc. of Chula Vista, 

California (collectively, ‘‘Samsung’’). 88 

FR 1404–05 (Jan. 10, 2023). The 

complaint alleged violations of section 

337 based on the importation into the 

United States, the sale for importation, 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1