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prior U.S. officials mismanaged the administration of trust assets.

• Established a trust land consolidation fund for the voluntary buy-back and consolidation of fractionated land interests.

The draft plan we are making available for comment would implement the last of the above elements by carrying out a program of land consolidation within the 10-year deadline established in the agreement. The trust land consolidation fund is intended to remedy the proliferation of thousands of new trust accounts caused by the increasing subdivision or ‘‘fractionation’’ of land interests through succeeding generations. Fractionation is the result of the division among multiple heirs of increasingly smaller land interests. The land consolidation fund and the associated land consolidation program will provide individual American Indians an opportunity to obtain cash payments for fractionated land interests and will make consolidated lands available for use by tribal communities.

The goal of the draft land consolidation plan, developed as a result of consultation with Indian tribal representatives, is to reduce land fractionation as quickly and economically as possible. The draft plan would achieve sufficient capacity and efficiency for the implementation of the land consolidation program under the settlement agreement and includes a land consolidation process consisting of three elements:

• A targeted land fractionation program to focus on areas where land fractionation is greatest; • A willing seller program to enable sales of fractionated interests from interested owners; and

• The availability of cooperative agreements to maximize tribal involvement in the consolidation
process.

Copies of the complete draft plan are available at the address given in the

**ADDRESSES** section of this notice.

Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Dated: January 27, 2012. David J. Hayes, Deputy Secretary of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 2012–2400 Filed 2–2–12; 8:45 am]

**BILLING CODE 4310–10–P**

**DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR**

**Bureau of Ocean Energy Management**

**[BOEM–2012–0006]**

**Commercial Lease of Submerged Lands for Renewable Energy**  **Development on the Outer Continental Shelf** 

**AGENCY :**  Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior.

**ACTION :**  Notice. **SUMMARY :**  The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will use Form 0008 to issue commercial renewable energy leases on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). In the preamble to the April 29, 2009, Final Rule, ‘‘Renewable Energy and Alternate Uses of Existing Facilities on the Outer Continental Shelf,’’ BOEM stated that ‘‘we intend to develop a model lease form through a public process that will invite all interested and affected parties for their input.’’ (74 FR 19638, April 29, 2009).

The BOEM developed a draft of the form included in this Notice, and published it in the Federal Register (76 FR 55090, September 6, 2011) with a 30- day comment period (Draft Form). BOEM has reviewed all the comments received and revised the Draft Form where appropriate. For further information, including summaries of comments and BOEM’s response to those comments, visit BOEM’s Web site,
at http://www.boem.gov/RenewableEnergy-Program/RegulatoryInformation/Index.aspx.

**DATES :**  The lease form will be effective and available for use on February 21,
2012.

**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT :**  Maureen A. Bornholdt, Program Manager, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, at (703) 787–1300 for lease questions.

Dated: January 23, 2012. Tommy P. Beaudreau, Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

**BILLING CODE 4310–VH–P**


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[FR Doc. 2012–2496 Filed 2–2–12; 8:45 am]

**BILLING CODE 4310–VH–C**

**DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR**

**Bureau of Ocean Energy Management**

**[Docket No. BOEM–2011–0093]**

**Commercial Leasing for Wind Power Development on the Outer Continental**  **Shelf (OCS) Offshore Virginia—Call for Information and Nominations** 

**AGENCY :**  Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Interior.

**ACTION :**  Call for Information and Nominations.

**SUMMARY :**  BOEM invites submissions of nominations from parties interested in obtaining one or more commercial leases that would allow a lessee to propose the construction of a wind energy project(s) on the OCS offshore Virginia. Although the publication of this notice is not itself a leasing announcement, the area described herein may be subject to future leasing. BOEM will use the response to this Call for Information and Nominations (Call) to gauge specific interest in the acquisition of commercial wind lease(s) in some or all of the area and to determine whether competitive interest exists in any particular area, as required by 43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(3). Parties wishing to submit a nomination in response to this Call should submit detailed and specific information as described in the section entitled, ‘‘Required Nomination Information.’’

BOEM also requests comments from interested and affected parties regarding site conditions, resources, and multiple uses of the identified area that would be relevant to BOEM’s review of the nominations submitted and any subsequent decision concerning whether to offer all or part of the area for commercial wind leasing. Information that BOEM is requesting is described in the section entitled, ‘‘Requested Information from Interested or Affected Parties.’’

This notice is published pursuant to subsection 8(p)(3) of the OCS Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(3)), which was added by section 388 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct), as well as the implementing regulations at 30 CFR part
585.

The Call Area described in this notice is located on the OCS offshore Virginia. The western edge of the Call Area is approximately 23.5 nautical miles (nmi) from the Virginia Beach coastline, and extends to an eastern edge that is approximately 36.5 nmi from the same location. The longest north/south portion is approximately 10.5 nmi in length and the longest portion of the east/west portion is approximately 13 nmi in length. The area is made up of 19 whole OCS blocks and 13 sub-blocks. The entire area is approximately 112,799 acres, or 45,648 hectares. This area was delineated in consultation with the BOEM Virginia Renewable Energy Task Force. A detailed description of the area is presented later in this notice.

**DATES :**  BOEM must receive your nomination describing your interest in this potential leasing area postmarked by March 19, 2012. BOEM will consider only those nominations received or postmarked by then. Submissions of comments or other submissions of information are also requested by this date.

Submission Procedures: If you are submitting a nomination for a commercial lease in response to this Call, please submit your nomination by mail to the following address: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, 381 Elden Street, HM 1328, Herndon, Virginia 20170–4817. In addition to a paper copy of the nomination, include an electronic copy of the nomination on a compact disc (CD). Nominations must be postmarked by March 19, 2012. BOEM will list the parties that submitted nominations and the location of the proposed lease areas (OCS blocks they nominated) on the BOEM Web site after the 45-day comment period closes.

Comments and other submissions of information may be submitted by either of the following two methods:

1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. In the entry titled ‘‘Enter Keyword or ID,’’ enter BOEM–2011–0093, then click ‘‘search.’’ Follow the instructions to submit public comments and view supporting and related materials available for this notice.

2. By U.S. Postal Service or other delivery service, sending your comments and information to the following address: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, 381 Elden Street, HM 1328, Herndon, Virginia 20170–4817.

All responses will be reported on http://www.regulations.gov.

If you wish to protect the confidentiality of your nominations or comments, clearly mark the relevant sections and request that BOEM treat them as confidential. Please label privileged or confidential information ‘‘Contains Confidential Information’’ and consider submitting such information as a separate attachment. Treatment of confidential information is addressed in the section of this Call entitled, ‘‘Protection of Privileged or Confidential Information.’’ Information that is not labeled as privileged or confidential will be regarded by BOEM as suitable for public release.

**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT :**  Ms. Erin C. Trager, Project Coordinator, BOEM, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, 381 Elden Street, HM 1328, Herndon, Virginia 20170–4817, (703) 787–1320, or Erin.Trager@boem.gov.

**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION :**  Purpose of the Call for Information and Nominations

The OCS Lands Act requires BOEM to award leases competitively, unless BOEM makes a determination that there is no competitive interest (43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(3)). The issuance of this Call is not intended to indicate that BOEM has determined that competitive interest exists in the area identified. Rather, this notice is the first step in the renewable energy leasing process offshore Virginia and the responses to it will assist BOEM in determining whether competitive interest exists in the area. This notice also requests information from interested and affected parties on issues relevant to BOEM’s review of nominations for potential leasing in the

area.

BOEM is issuing a Call instead of a Request for Interest (RFI) to facilitate and expedite the leasing process consistent with the goals and objectives of the Secretary of the Interior’s ‘‘Smart from the Start’’ initiative. If an RFI were issued and the responses to it indicated competitive interest, the applicable regulations would require BOEM to issue a Call, which BOEM believes would be duplicative of the RFI process. Issuance of this Call, without an RFI, is designed to enable BOEM to obtain and analyze the information needed to support consideration of appropriate commercial leasing, while ensuring ample opportunity for input from interested and affected parties.

The responses to this Call could lead to the initiation of a competitive leasing process in some areas of the Call Area ( i.e., where competition exists for certain tracts), and a noncompetitive process in others ( i.e., where no competitive interest exists for certain tracts). The leasing process is described more completely under ‘‘Competitive Leasing Process’’ and ‘‘Noncompetitive Leasing Process’’ below. If BOEM determines that there is no competitive interest in some or all of this area offshore Virginia, BOEM may proceed with the noncompetitive lease process