44150 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 141 / Tuesday, July 23, 2013 / Notices 

INDIANA 

Porter County 

Good Fellow Club Youth Camp, 700 Howe 

Rd., Porter, 13000593 

IOWA 

Cedar County 

Herbert Hoover National Historic Site 

(Boundary Increase), 110 Parkside Dr., 

West Branch, 13000594 

MAINE 

Androscoggin County 

Poland Springs Historic District, 543 Maine 

St., Poland, 13000595 

MINNESOTA 

Goodhue County 

Church of St. Rose of Lima, 8778 County 11 

Blvd., Kenyon, 13000597 

Red Wing Waterworks, 935 Levee Rd., Red 

Wing, 13000598 

NEW YORK 

Chemung County 

Maple Avenue Historic District, 310 to 782 

Maple (west side), 351 to 761 Maple (east 

side), Elmira, 13000599 

Monroe County 

Shantz Button Factory, 340 & 330 Rutgers St., 

795 Monroe Ave., Rochester, 13000600 

TEXAS 

Travis County 

German American Ladies College, 1604 E. 

11th St., Austin, 13000601 

Kappa Kappa Gamma House, 2001 University 

Ave., Austin, 13000602 

WEST VIRGINIA 

Fayette County 

New River Gorge Bridge, U.S. 19 over New 

R., Fayetteville, 13000603 

In the interest of preservation a request for 

a three day comment period has been made 

for the following resource: 

MASSACHUSETTS 

Hampden County 

Hooker Apartments, 2772–2786 Main & 7 

Greenwich Sts., Springfield, 13000596 

A request for removal has been made for 

the following resource: 

SOUTH DAKOTA 

Edmunds County 

Roscoe Community Hall, 202 Mitchell St., 

Roscoe, 84003284 

[FR Doc. 2013–17582 Filed 7–22–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312–51–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[Docket No. BOEM–2013–0019] 

Atlantic Wind Lease Sale 1 (ATLW1) 

Commercial Leasing for Wind Power 

on the Outer Continental Shelf 

Offshore Virginia—Final Sale Notice 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM), Interior. 

ACTION: Final Sale Notice for 

Commercial Leasing for Wind Power on 

the Outer Continental Shelf Offshore 

Virginia. 

SUMMARY: This document is the Final 

Sale Notice (FSN) for the sale of a 

commercial wind energy lease on the 

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore 

Virginia, pursuant to BOEM’s 

regulations at 30 CFR 585.216. BOEM is 

offering Lease OCS–A 0483 for sale 

using an ascending clock auction 

format. The lease area comprises the 

Virginia Wind Energy Area (WEA) 

described in the Call for Information 

and Nominations (Call) published on 

February 3, 2012 (see ‘‘Area Offered for 

Leasing’’ below for a description of the 

WEA and lease area) (77 FR 5545). The 

lease area is identical to that announced 

in the Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) for 

Commercial Leasing for Wind Power on 

the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) 

Offshore Virginia, which was published 

on December 3, 2012, in the Federal 

Register with a 60-day public comment 

period (77 FR 71621). In this FSN, you 

will find information pertaining to the 

area available for leasing, lease 

provisions and conditions, auction 

details, the lease form, criteria for 

evaluating competing bids, award 

procedures, appeal procedures, and 

lease execution. The issuance of the 

lease resulting from this announcement 

would not constitute an approval of 

project-specific plans to develop 

offshore wind energy. Such plans, 

expected to be submitted by the lessee, 

will be subject to subsequent 

environmental and public review prior 

to a decision to proceed with 

development. 

DATES: BOEM will hold a mock auction 

for the eligible bidders on August 28, 

2013. The monetary auction will be held 

online and will begin at 10:30 a.m. on 

September 4, 2013. Additional details 

are provided in the section entitled, 

‘‘Deadlines and Milestones for Bidders.’’ 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin 

C. Trager, BOEM Office of Renewable 

Energy Programs, 381 Elden Street, HM 

1328, Herndon, Virginia 20170, (703) 

787–1320 or erin.trager@boem.gov. 

Authority: This FSN is published 

pursuant to subsection 8(p) of the OCS Lands 

Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(p)) (‘‘the Act’’), as 

amended by section 388 of the Energy Policy 

Act of 2005 (EPAct), and the implementing 

regulations at 30 CFR part 585, including 30 

CFR 585.211 and 585.216. 

Background 

The lease area offered in this FSN is 

the same area as BOEM announced in 

the PSN on December 3, 2012 (77 FR 

71621). BOEM received 15 comment 

submissions in response to the PSN, 

which are available in the Federal 

Register docket for this notice through 

BOEM’s Web site at: http:// 

www.boem.gov/Renewable-EnergyProgram/State-Activities/Virginia.aspx. 

BOEM has also posted a document 

containing responses to comments 

submitted during the PSN comment 

period and listing other changes that 

BOEM has implemented for this lease 

sale since publication of the PSN. This 

Response to Comments and Explanation 

of Changes can be found at the 

following URL: http://www.boem.gov/ 

Renewable-Energy-Program/StateActivities/Virginia.aspx. 

On February 3, 2012, BOEM 

published the Notice of Availability 

(NOA) (77 FR 5560) for the final 

Environmental Assessment (EA) and 

Finding of No Significant Impact 

(FONSI) for commercial wind lease 

issuance and site assessment activities 

on the Atlantic OCS offshore New 

Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and 

Virginia, pursuant to the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 

Consultations ran concurrently with the 

preparation of the EA and included 

consultation under the Endangered 

Species Act (ESA), Magnuson-Stevens 

Fishery Conservation and Management 

Act (MSFCMA), section 106 of the 

National Historic Preservation Act 

(NHPA), and the Coastal Zone 

Management Act (CZMA). The proposed 

lease area identified in this PSN 

matches the Virginia Wind Energy Area 

(WEA) described in the preferred 

alternative in the Commercial Wind 

Lease Issuance and Site Assessment 

Activities on the Atlantic Outer 

Continental Shelf Offshore New Jersey, 

Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia Final 

Environmental Assessment (Regional 

EA), which can be found at: http:// 

www.boem.gov/Renewable-EnergyProgram/Smart-from-the-Start/ 

Index.aspx. 

On May 29, 2012, BOEM initiated 

consultation with the National Marine 

Fisheries Service under the ESA for 

geological and geophysical (G&G) 

activities in support of oil and gas 

exploration and development, 


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renewable energy, and marine minerals 

in the Mid and South Atlantic Planning 

Areas. Formal consultation concluded 

on May 24, 2013, with receipt of a 

Biological Opinion that, along with the 

previous informal consultation, 

informed the development of the 

Virginia commercial wind lease 

package. 

Additional environmental reviews 

will be conducted upon receipt of the 

Lessee’s proposed project-specific plans, 

such as a Site Assessment Plan (SAP) or 

Construction and Operations Plan 

(COP). 

Potential bidders should be aware of 

the following three unsolicited 

nominations under consideration by 

BOEM, situated within or near the 

Virginia WEA. 

Atlantic Grid Holdings LLC Right of 

Way (ROW) Grant Request: On March 

31, 2011, Atlantic Grid Holdings LLC 

submitted an unsolicited application for 

a ROW grant. Following publication of 

a notice to determine competitive 

interest in the grant area and a 60-day 

public comment period, BOEM 

published its determination of no 

competitive interest on May 15, 2012 

(77 FR 28620). The nomination and 

associated notices can be found at: 

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

Regional-Proposals.aspx. 

Virginia Department of Mines, 

Minerals and Energy (DMME) Research 

Lease Request #1: On June 1, 2012, the 

Commonwealth of Virginia, DMME, 

submitted an unsolicited nomination for 

a research lease under 30 CFR 585.238 

for the siting of two meteorological 

ocean and environmental monitoring 

platforms. BOEM announced the 

availability of a Request for Competitive 

Interest: Research Lease for Renewable 

Energy on the Outer Continental Shelf 

Offshore Virginia in the Federal 

Register for a 30-day public comment 

on December 21, 2012 (77 FR 75656). 

No indications of competitive interest 

were submitted in response to the 

request, and a Notice of a Determination 

of No Competitive Interest was 

published March 15, 2013 (78 FR 

16529). 

Virginia DMME Research Lease 

Request #2: On February 8, 2013, the 

Commonwealth of Virginia, DMME, 

submitted an unsolicited nomination for 

a research lease under 30 CFR 585.238 

for the siting of two 6-megawatt (MW) 

wind turbines for demonstration and 

research purposes. The research lease 

request nominates six sub-blocks to the 

west of the Virginia WEA for this 

purpose, in OCS Blocks 6061 and 6111. 

The nomination is under BOEM review. 

List of Eligible Bidders: BOEM has 

determined that the following 

companies are legally, technically, and 

financially qualified pursuant to 30 CFR 

585.106 and 107, and are therefore 

eligible to participate in this lease sale 

as bidders. 

Company name Company 

No. 

Apex Virginia Offshore Wind, LLC 15040 

Virginia Electric and Power Company dba Dominion Virginia 

Power ........................................ 15042 

Energy Management, Inc ............. 15015 

EDF Renewable Development, 

Inc ............................................. 15027 

Fishermen’s Energy, LLC ............. 15005 

IBERDROLA RENEWABLES, Inc. 15019 

Sea Breeze Energy LLC .............. 15044 

Orisol Energy US, Inc ................... 15020 

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 pursuant to this 

sale. 

• Bidder’s Financial Form: Each 

eligible bidder must submit a Bidder’s 

Financial Form to BOEM by August 6, 

2013. Once this information has been 

processed by BOEM, bidders may log 

into pay.gov and leave bid deposits. 

Any bidder that fails to submit the 

Bidder’s Financial Form by this 

deadline may be prevented by BOEM 

from participating in the auction. 

• Bid Deposits: Each bidder must 

submit an adequate bid deposit by 

August 22, 2013. Any bidder that fails 

to submit the bid deposit by this 

deadline may be prevented by BOEM 

from participating in the auction. 

• Mock Auction: BOEM will hold a 

Mock Auction on August 28, 2013. The 

Mock Auction is not an ‘‘in-person’’ 

event. BOEM will contact each eligible 

bidder and provide instructions for 

participation. Only bidders eligible to 

participate in this auction will be 

permitted to participate in the Mock 

Auction. 

• Monetary Auction: On September 4, 

2013, BOEM, through its contractor, will 

hold the monetary auction. The auction 

will start at 10:30 a.m. The auction will 

proceed according to a schedule to be 

distributed by the BOEM Auction 

Manager during the auction. BOEM 

anticipates that the auction will 

continue on consecutive business days, 

as necessary, until the auction ends 

according to the procedures described 

in the Auction Format section of this 

notice. 

• Announce Provisional Winner: 

BOEM will announce the provisional 

winner of the lease sale after the auction 

ends. 

• Refund Non-Winners: BOEM will 

return the bid deposits of any bidders 

that did not win the lease. 

• Department of Justice (DOJ) Review: 

BOEM will afford DOJ 30 calendar days 

to conduct an antitrust review of the 

auction, pursuant to 43 U.S.C. 1337(c), 

which reads, in relevant part: 

Antitrust review of lease sales. (1) 

Following each notice of a proposed 

lease sale and before the acceptance of 

bids and the issuance of leases based on 

such bids, the Secretary [of the Interior] 

shall allow the Attorney General, in 

consultation with the Federal Trade 

Commission, 30 calendar days to review 

the results of such lease sale, except that 

the Attorney General, after consultation 

with the Federal Trade Commission, 

may agree to a shorter review period. 

• Send Lease: BOEM will send three 

copies of the lease to the winner, with 

instructions on how to accept and 

execute the lease. The first 6-months of 

the first year’s rent payment is due 45 

calendar days after the winner receives 

the lease for execution. 

• Return the Lease: The auction 

winner will have 10 business days from 

receiving the lease copies in which to 

post financial assurance, pay any 

outstanding balance of their bonus bids, 

and sign and return the three copies. 

• Execute Lease: Once BOEM has 

received the lease copies and verified 

that all required materials have been 

received, BOEM will make a final 

determination regarding its execution of 

the lease and execute if appropriate. 

• Reject Unsuccessful Bids: Once the 

lease has been executed, BOEM will 

provide unsuccessful bidders a written 

statement of the reasons their bids were 

rejected. 

Area Offered for Leasing: The lease 

area offshore Virginia contains 19 whole 

OCS blocks and 13 sub-blocks. The 

western edge of the proposed lease area 

is approximately 23.5 nautical miles 

(nmi) from the Virginia Beach coastline, 

and the lease area 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 east/ 

west portion is approximately 13 nmi in 

length. The entire area is approximately 

112,799 acres, or 45,648 hectares. A 

description of the lease area and lease 

activities can be found in Addendum 

‘‘A’’ of the lease, which BOEM has made 

available with this notice on its Web site 

at: http://boem.gov/Renewable-EnergyProgram/State-Activities/Virginia.aspx. 

Map of the Area Offered for Leasing: 

A map of the area and a table of the 

boundary coordinates in X, Y (eastings, 


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northings) UTM Zone 18, NAD83 Datum 

and geographic X, Y (longitude, 

latitude), NAD83 Datum can be found at 

the following URL: http://boem.gov/ 

Renewable-Energy-Program/StateActivities/Virginia.aspx. 

A large scale map of this area showing 

boundaries of the area with numbered 

blocks is available from BOEM at the 

following address: Bureau of Ocean 

Energy Management, Office of 

Renewable Energy Programs, 381 Elden 

Street, HM 1328, Herndon, Virginia 

20170, Phone: (703) 787–1300, Fax: 

(703) 787–1708. 

Area Offered As A Single Lease: The 

area available for sale will be auctioned 

as a single lease. One lease will be 

issued pursuant to this lease sale. 

BOEM has decided to auction the area 

as a single zone resulting in a single 

lease in order, among other things, to 

take advantage of the simplicity of this 

type of sale, the importance of which 

was highlighted by comments received 

in response to the Auction Format 

Information Request (76 FR 76174). 

Further discussion about this decision is 

provided in the Response to Comments 

and Explanation of Changes. 

Withdrawal of Blocks: BOEM reserves 

the right to withdraw areas from this 

lease sale prior to its execution of a 

lease. 

Lease Terms and Conditions: BOEM 

has included specific terms, conditions, 

and stipulations for the OCS 

commercial wind lease in the Virginia 

WEA within Addendum ‘‘C’’ of the 

lease. BOEM reserves the right to apply 

additional terms and conditions to 

activities conducted on the lease 

incident to any future approval or 

approval with modifications of a SAP 

and/or COP. This lease, including 

Addendum ‘‘C’’, is available on BOEM’s 

Web site at: http://www.boem.gov/ 

Renewable-Energy-Program/StateActivities/Virginia.aspx. The lease 

consists of an instrument with 18 

sections and the following six 

attachments: 

Addendum ‘‘A’’ (Description of 

Leased Area and Lease Activities); 

Addendum ‘‘B’’ (Lease Term and 

Financial Schedule); 

Addendum ‘‘C’’ (Lease Specific 

Terms, Conditions, and Stipulations); 

Addendum ‘‘D’’ (Project Easement); 

Addendum ‘‘E’’ (Rent Schedule); 

Appendix A to Addendum ‘‘C’’ 

(Incident Report: Protected Species 

Injury or Mortality); and 

Appendix B to Addendum ‘‘C’’ 

(Required Data Elements for Protected 

Species Observer Reports). 

Addenda ‘‘A’’, ‘‘B’’, and ‘‘C’’ provide 

detailed descriptions of lease terms and 

conditions. Addenda ‘‘D’’ and ‘‘E’’ will 

be completed at the time of COP 

approval. 

Plans: Pursuant to 30 CFR 585.601, 

the leaseholder must submit a SAP 

within 6 months of lease issuance. If the 

leaseholder intends to continue its 

commercial lease with an operations 

term, the leaseholder must submit a 

COP at least 6 months before the end of 

the site assessment term. 

Pursuant to 30 CFR 585.629, a 

leaseholder may include in its COP a 

request to develop its commercial lease 

in phases. If a leaseholder requests and 

BOEM approves phased development, 

this approval will not affect the length 

of the preliminary site assessment, or 

commercial terms offered under the 

lease. The COP must describe in 

sufficient detail the activities proposed 

for all phases of commercial 

development, including a schedule 

detailing the proposed timelines for 

phased development. Further, the COP 

must include the results of all site 

characterization surveys, as described in 

30 CFR 585.626(a), necessary to support 

each phase of commercial development. 

The requirements of the SAP remain the 

same as they would under a non-phased 

development scenario, and must meet 

the requirements set forth in the 

regulatory provisions in 30 CFR 

585.605–613 for the full commercial 

lease area. 

Financial Terms and Conditions: This 

section provides an overview of the 

basic annual payments required of the 

Lessee, which will be fully described in 

the lease. 

Rent: The first year’s rent payment of 

$3 per acre for the entire lease area will 

be separated into two 6-month 

payments. The first 6-month payment is 

due within 45 calendar days of the date 

the Lessee receives the lease for 

execution. The second 6-month 

payment is due by the first day of the 

seventh month after the Effective Date of 

the lease. Thereafter, annual rent 

payments are due on the anniversary of 

the Effective Date of the lease, i.e., the 

Lease Anniversary. Once the first 

commercial operations under the lease 

begin, rent will be charged on the part 

of the lease not authorized for 

commercial operations, i.e., not 

generating electricity. However, instead 

of geographically dividing the lease area 

into acreage that is ‘‘generating’’ and 

acreage that is ‘‘non-generating,’’ the 

fraction of the lease accruing rent is 

based on the fraction of the total 

nameplate capacity of the project that is 

not yet in operation. The fraction is the 

ratio of the actual nameplate capacity 

not yet authorized for commercial 

operations at the time payment is due 

divided by the maximum nameplate 

capacity authorized in the Lessee’s most 

recent approved COP. This fraction is 

then multiplied by the amount of rent 

that would be due for the Lessee’s entire 

leased area at the rental rate of $3 per 

acre to obtain the annual rent due for a 

given year. 

For example, for a lease the size of 

112,799 acres (the size of the Virginia 

WEA), the amount of rent payment will 

be $338,397 per year if the entire leased 

area is not yet authorized for 

commercial operations. If the Lessee has 

500 MW authorized under commercial 

operations and its most recent approved 

COP specifies a maximum project size 

of 1000 MW on the entire leased area in 

any year of commercial operations, the 

rent payment will be $169,198. 

The Lessee also must pay rent for any 

project easement associated with the 

lease commencing on the date that 

BOEM approves the COP (or 

modification) that describes the project 

easement. Annual rent for a project 

easement that is 200-feet wide and 

centered on the transmission cable 

would be $70 per statute mile. For any 

additional acreage required, the Lessee 

must also pay the greater of $5 per acre 

per year or $450 per year. 

Operating Fee: The annual operating 

fee reflects a 2% operating fee rate 

applied to a proxy for the wholesale 

market value of electricity production. 

The initial payment is prorated to reflect 

the period between the start of 

commercial operations and the Lease 

Anniversary and is due within 45 days 

of the start of commercial operations; 

thereafter, subsequent annual operating 

fee payments are due on or before each 

Lease Anniversary. The annual 

operating fee payment is 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 is 

the product of the project’s nameplate 

capacity, the total number of hours in 

the year (8,760), a capacity utilization 

factor, and the annual average price of 

electricity derived from a historical 

regional wholesale power price index. 

Operating Fee Rate: The operating fee 

rate is set at 0.02 (i.e., 2%) during the 

entire life of commercial operations. 

Nameplate Capacity: Nameplate 

capacity is the maximum rated electric 

output, expressed in MW, which the 

turbines of the wind farm facility under 

commercial operations can produce at 

their rated wind speed as designated by 

the turbine’s manufacturer. The 

nameplate capacity at the start of each 

year of commercial operations on the 

lease will be specified in the COP. For 

example, if the Lessee has 20 turbines 


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under commercial operations rated by 

the design manufacturer at 5 MW of 

output each, the nameplate capacity of 

the wind farm facility at the rated wind 

speed of the turbines would be 100 MW. 

Capacity Factor: Capacity factor 

represents the share of anticipated 

generation of the wind farm facility that 

is delivered to the interconnection grid 

(i.e., where the Lessee’s facility 

interconnects with the electric grid) 

relative to the wind farm facility’s 

generation at continuous full power 

operation at nameplate capacity, 

expressed as a decimal between zero 

and one. The capacity factor for the year 

in which the commercial operation date 

occurs and for the first six full years of 

commercial operations on the lease is 

set to 0.4 (i.e., 40%) to allow for one 

year of installation and testing followed 

by five years at full availability. At the 

end of the sixth year, the capacity factor 

may be adjusted to reflect the 

performance over the previous five 

years based upon the actual metered 

electricity generation at the delivery 

point to the electrical grid. Similar 

adjustments to the capacity factor may 

be made once every five years thereafter. 

The maximum change in the capacity 

factor from one period to the next will 

be limited to plus or minus 10 percent 

of the previous period’s value. 

Wholesale Power Price Index: The 

wholesale power price, expressed in 

dollars per MW-hour, is determined at 

the time each annual operating fee 

payment is due, based on the weighted 

average of the inflation-adjusted peak 

and off-peak spot price indices for the 

Northeast—PJM West power market for 

the most recent year of data available as 

reported by the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC) as part 

of its annual State of the Markets Report 

with specific reference to the summary 

entitled, ‘‘Electric Market Overview: 

Regional Spot Prices.’’ The wholesale 

power price is adjusted for inflation 

from the year associated with the 

published spot price indices to the year 

in which the operating fee is to be due 

based on the Lease Anniversary using 

annual implicit price deflators as 

reported by the U.S. Department of 

Commerce’s Bureau of Economic 

Analysis (BEA). 

Financial Assurance: Within 10 

business days after receiving the lease 

copies, the provisional winner must 

provide an initial lease-specific bond or 

other approved means of meeting the 

Lessor’s initial financial assurance 

requirements in the amount of $100,000. 

BOEM will base the amount of all SAP, 

COP, and decommissioning financial 

assurance requirements on estimates of 

the cost to meet all accrued lease 

obligations. BOEM will determine the 

amount of supplemental and 

decommissioning financial assurance 

requirements on a case-by-case basis. 

The financial terms can be found in 

Addendum ‘‘B’’ of the lease, which 

BOEM has made available with this 

notice on its Web site at: http:// 

boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-Program/ 

State-Activities/Virginia.aspx. 

Bid Deposit and Minimum Bid: A bid 

deposit is an advance cash deposit 

submitted to BOEM by a potential 

bidder to enable participation in the 

auction. No later than August 22, 2013, 

each bidder must have submitted a bid 

deposit of $450,000. Any bidder that 

fails to submit the bid deposit by the 

deadline described herein may be 

prevented by BOEM from participating 

in the auction. Bid deposits will be 

accepted online via pay.gov. 

Each BOEM lease sale requires a 

separate bid deposit. Therefore, to be 

eligible to participate in this auction, a 

bidder may not rely on a bid submitted 

for another lease sale. If a bidder intends 

to participate in both this lease sale and 

another lease sale, for example ATLW– 

2 for leasing offshore Rhode Island and 

Massachusetts, that bidder must submit 

two separate bid deposits corresponding 

to the two lease sales. In addition, 

BOEM cannot guarantee the return of 

one bid deposit in time for those funds 

to be applied to another lease sale. 

Approximately 112,799 acres are 

offered for sale as Lease OCS–A 0483 in 

this auction. The minimum bid is $2 per 

acre for the lease area. Therefore, the 

minimum acceptable bid, i.e., the 

opening asking price, will be $225,598. 

Each bidder must complete the 

Bidder’s Financial Form that BOEM has 

made available with this notice on its 

Web site at: http://boem.gov/RenewableEnergy-Program/State-Activities/ 

Virginia.aspx. This form must be 

submitted by August 6, 2013, to BOEM, 

pursuant to the instructions posted with 

the form. This form requests that each 

bidder designate an email address, 

which the bidder should use to create 

an account in pay.gov. After 

establishing the pay.gov account, 

bidders may use the Bid Deposit Form 

on the pay.gov Web site to submit a 

deposit. 

Following the auction, bid deposits 

will be applied against any bonus bids 

or other obligations owed to BOEM. If 

the bid deposit exceeds the bidder’s 

total financial obligation, BOEM will 

refund the balance of the bid deposit to 

the bidder. BOEM will also refund the 

bid deposit to unsuccessful bidders. 

Auction Procedures 

Summary 

The sale is being conducted using an 

online bidding system and follows an 

‘‘ascending clock’’ auction format. In 

this format, BOEM sets an initial asking 

price for Lease OCS–A 0483 and 

increases that price incrementally based 

on the number of active bidders in each 

round until no more than a single active 

bidder remains in the auction. A bid 

submitted at the full asking price for the 

lease area in a particular round is 

referred to as a ‘‘live bid’’. During each 

round, active bidders may take one of 

the following actions: (1) Submit a live 

bid indicating that they are interested in 

acquiring the lease area at the current 

round’s stated asking price, or (2) 

submit an Exit Bid (see below for 

discussion of Exit Bids), or (3) exit the 

auction. 

A bidder remains active in the auction 

as long as it continues to meet BOEM’s 

asking price in each round. If more than 

one live bid is received in a round, 

BOEM increases the asking price 

incrementally and conducts another 

auction round. BOEM plans to raise the 

asking price following any round in 

which two or more bidders submitted 

live bids. The auction concludes at the 

end of the round in which the number 

of live bids received falls to one or zero. 

BOEM will base asking price 

increments on a number of factors, 

including: 

• Making the increments sufficiently 

large that the auction will not take an 

unduly long time to conclude; 

• Decreasing the increments as the 

asking price of the lease area nears its 

final price. 

The number of bids in the most recent 

round will be used as an indication of 

how close the lease area’s asking price 

is to its final price. Accordingly, BOEM 

plans to use higher increments when 

there are many live bids, and reduce the 

increments as the auction progresses. 

BOEM intends to use bid increments in 

the range of 20% to 50% in early rounds 

of the auction. At some point, BOEM 

intends to reduce the bid increments to 

the 5% to 20% range. BOEM reserves 

the right during the auction to increase 

or decrease increments if it determines, 

in its sole discretion, that a different 

increment is warranted to enhance the 

efficiency of the auction process. 

Between rounds, BOEM will release 

the following information: 

• The number of live bids in the 

previous round of the auction. 

• The asking price in the upcoming 

round of the auction. 


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Additional auction rounds occur as long 

as two or more bidders continue to 

submit a live bid. 

It is possible that multiple bidders 

will be willing to meet the previous 

round’s asking price, while no bidders 

will be willing to meet the current 

round’s asking price. Due to this 

scenario, bidders exiting the auction are 

allowed to submit an Exit Bid at an offer 

price greater than the asking price in the 

previous round and less than the asking 

price in the current round. Exit bidding 

allows bidders to express precisely the 

maximum price they are willing to offer 

while also minimizing the chance of 

ties. If a bidder exits the auction by 

placing an Exit Bid or choosing not to 

submit a live bid in the current round, 

it will no longer be allowed to submit 

bids in any subsequent round. If a 

bidder leaves the auction without 

submitting an Exit Bid, BOEM will treat 

the previous round’s asking price as the 

bidder’s Exit Bid in the current round. 

Exit Bids are not considered to be live 

bids for purpose of determining whether 

to conclude the auction. 

The winning bid is the highest bid, 

whether that bid is a live bid or an Exit 

Bid. If there is a tie, the winning bidder 

is chosen by a random draw. If a 

winning bidder does not execute a lease 

pursuant to the lease sale, BOEM 

reserves the right to determine which 

bid would have won in the absence of 

the winning bidder, and to offer a lease 

pursuant to this ‘‘next highest’’ bid. 

Additional Information Regarding the 

Auction 

Auction System Technical Supplement 

and Auction Manual 

BOEM has created an Auction System 

Technical Supplement (ASTS) to 

complement the procedures described 

in this notice by providing further 

details about the auction system. This 

document is available on BOEM’s Web 

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

Virginia.aspx. 

Moreover, bidders will be provided 

with an Auction Manual shortly before 

the auction date. This document 

contains further instructions on using 

the auction system, as well as certain 

information that BOEM is not making 

available to the public for security 

reasons, including the Auction Manager 

phone number and URL where the 

auction will be hosted. 

Bidder Authentication 

The Auction Manager will send 

several bidder authentication packages 

to each bidder shortly after BOEM 

processes the Bidder’s Financial Forms. 

One package will contain a token for 

each authorized individual as noted on 

the Bidder’s Financial Form. Tokens are 

digital authentication devices. The 

tokens will be mailed to the address of 

record that BOEM has on file for each 

company, care of the Primary Point of 

Contact indicated on the Bidder’s 

Financial Form. This individual is 

responsible for distributing the tokens to 

the individuals authorized to bid for 

that company. Bidders are to ensure that 

each token is returned within three days 

following the auction. An addressed, 

stamped envelope will be provided to 

facilitate this process. 

The second package contains login 

credentials for authorized bidders. The 

login credentials will be mailed to the 

address provided in the Bidder’s 

Financial Form for each authorized 

individual. Bidders can confirm these 

addresses by calling 703–787–1320. 

This package will contain user login 

information and instructions for 

accessing the Auction Manual and 

Alternative Bidding Form. The login 

information, along with the tokens, will 

be tested during the mock auction. 

Monetary Auction Times 

This section will describe, from a 

bidder’s perspective, how the auction 

will take place. This information will be 

elaborated on and clarified in the Mock 

Auction to be held on August 28, 2013. 

The auction will begin at 10:30 a.m. 

on September 4, 2013. Bidders may log 

in as early as 8:30 a.m. on that day. We 

recommend that bidders log in no later 

than 9:30 a.m. on that day to ensure that 

any login issues have been resolved in 

time. Once bidders have logged in, they 

should review the auction schedule, 

which lists the start times, end times, 

and recess times of each round in the 

auction. Each round is structured as 

follows: 

• Round bidding begins; 

• Bidders enter their bids; 

• Round bidding ends and the Recess 

begins; 

• Sometime during the Recess, 

previous Round results are posted; 

• Bidders review the previous Round 

results and prepare their next Round 

bids; 

• Next Round bidding begins. 

The first round will last about 30 

minutes, though subsequent rounds may 

be closer to 20 minutes in length. 

Recesses are anticipated to last 

approximately 10 minutes. The 

descriptions of the auction schedule and 

asking price increments included with 

this FSN are tentative. Bidders should 

consult the auction schedule on the 

bidding Web site during the auction for 

updated times. Bidding will continue 

until about 5:00 p.m. each day. BOEM 

anticipates the auction will last one or 

two days, but bidders are advised to 

prepare to continue bidding for 

additional business days as necessary to 

resolve the auction. 

BOEM and the auction contractors 

will use the auction platform messaging 

service to keep bidders informed on 

issues of interest during the auction. For 

example, BOEM may change the 

schedule at any time, including during 

the auction. If BOEM changes the 

schedule during the auction, it will use 

the messaging feature to notify bidders 

that a revision has been made, and 

direct bidders to the relevant page. 

BOEM will also use the messaging 

system for other changes and items of 

particular note during the auction. 

Bidders may place bids at any time 

during the round. At the top of the 

bidding page, a countdown clock will 

show how much time remains in the 

round. Bidders have until the scheduled 

time to place bids. Bidders should do so 

according to the procedures described 

in the auction materials and practiced at 

the Mock Auction. No information 

about the round is available until the 

round has closed and results have been 

posted, so there should be no strategic 

advantage to placing bids early or late 

in the round. 

Alternate Bidding Procedures 

Any bidder who is unable to place a 

bid using the online auction should 

follow these instructions: 

• Call BOEM/the BOEM Auction 

Manager at the help desk number 

that is listed in the Auction Manual 

before the end of the round. 

• BOEM will authenticate the caller to 

ensure he/she is authorized to bid 

on behalf of the company. 

• Explain the problem. 

• BOEM may, in its sole discretion, 

accept a bid using the Alternative 

Bidding Procedure. 

• The Alternative Bidding Procedure 

enables a bidder who is having 

difficulties accessing the Internet to 

submit its bid via an Alternative 

Bidding Form that can be faxed to 

the auction manager. 

Æ If the bidder has not placed a bid, 

but calls BOEM before the end of 

the round and notifies BOEM that it 

is preparing a bid using the 

Alternate Bidding Procedure, and 

submits the Alternate Bidding Form 

by fax before the round ends, BOEM 

will likely accept the bid, though 

acceptance or rejection of the bid is 

within BOEM’s sole discretion. 

Æ If the bidder calls during the round, 

but does not submit the bid until 

after the round ends (but before the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 141 / Tuesday, July 23, 2013 / Notices 44155 

round is posted), BOEM may or 

may not accept the bid, in part 

based on how much time remains 

in the recess. Bidders are strongly 

encouraged to submit the 

Alternative Bidding Form before the 

round ends. 

Æ If the bidder calls during the recess 

following the round, but before the 

previous round’s results have been 

posted, BOEM will likely reject its 

bid, even if it has otherwise 

complied with all of BOEM’s 

Alternate Bidding Procedures. 

Æ If the bidder calls to enter a bid 

after results have been posted, 

BOEM will reject the bid. 

Bidders are held accountable for all bids 

placed during the auction. This is true 

if they continued bidding in the last 

round, if they placed an Exit Bid, or if 

they stopped bidding during the 

auction. 

Acceptance, Rejection, or Return of 

Bids: BOEM reserves the right and 

authority to reject any and all bids. In 

any case, no lease will be awarded to 

any bidder, and no bid will be accepted, 

unless (1) the bidder has complied with 

all requirements of the FSN, applicable 

regulations and statutes, including, but 

not limited to, bidder qualifications, bid 

deposits, and adherence to the integrity 

of the competitive bidding process, (2) 

the bid conforms with the requirements 

and rules of the auction, and (3) the 

amount of the bid has been determined 

to be adequate by the authorized officer. 

Any bid submitted that does not satisfy 

any of these requirements may be 

returned to the bidder submitting that 

bid and not considered for acceptance. 

Process for Issuing the Lease: If BOEM 

proceeds with lease issuance, it will 

issue three unsigned copies of the lease 

to the winning bidder. Within 10 

business days after receiving the lease 

copies, the winning bidder must: 

1. Execute the lease on the bidder’s 

behalf; 

2. File financial assurance, as required 

under 30 CFR 585.515–537; and 

3. Pay by electronic funds transfer 

(EFT) the balance of the bonus bid (bid 

amount less the bid deposit). BOEM 

requires bidders to use EFT procedures 

(not to include pay.gov) for payment of 

the balance of the bonus bid, following 

the detailed instructions contained in 

the ‘‘Instructions for Making Electronic 

Payments’’ available on BOEM’s Web 

site at: http://boem.gov/RenewableEnergy-Program/State-Activities/

Virginia.aspx. 

If the winning bidder does not meet 

these three requirements within 10 

business days of receiving the lease 

copies as described above, or if the 

winning bidder otherwise fails to 

comply with applicable regulations or 

the terms of the FSN, the winning 

bidder will forfeit its bid deposit. BOEM 

may extend this 10 business-day time 

period if it determines the delay was 

caused by events beyond the winning 

bidder’s control. 

BOEM will not execute a lease until 

the three requirements above have been 

satisfied, BOEM has accepted the 

winning bidder’s financial assurance, 

and BOEM has processed the winning 

bidder’s payment. The winning bidder 

may meet financial assurance 

requirements by posting a surety bond 

or by setting up an escrow account with 

a trust agreement giving BOEM the right 

to withdraw the money held in the 

account on demand by BOEM. BOEM 

may accept other forms of financial 

assurance on a case-by-case basis in 

accordance with its regulations. BOEM 

encourages provisionally winning 

bidders to discuss the financial 

assurance requirement with BOEM as 

soon as possible after the auction has 

concluded. 

Within 45 calendar days of the date 

that the Lessee receives the lease copies, 

the Lessee must pay the first 6-months’ 

rent using the pay.gov Renewable 

Energy Initial Rental Payment Form 

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

forms/formInstance.html?

agencyFormId=27797604. The Lessee 

must pay the remaining 6-months’ rent 

by the first day of the seventh month 

following the effective date of the lease, 

following the detailed instructions 

contained in the ‘‘Instructions for 

Making Electronic Payments’’ available 

on BOEM’s Web site at: http:// 

www.boem.gov/Renewable-EnergyProgram/State-Activities/Virginia.aspx. 

Anti-Competitive Behavior: In 

addition to the auction rules described 

in this notice, bidding behavior is 

governed by Federal antitrust laws 

designed to prevent anticompetitive 

behavior in the marketplace. 

Compliance with the BOEM’s auction 

procedures will not insulate a party 

from enforcement of the antitrust laws. 

In accordance with the Act at 43 

U.S.C. 1337(c), following the auction, 

and before the acceptance of bids and 

the issuance of leases, BOEM will 

‘‘allow the Attorney General, in 

consultation with the Federal Trade 

Commission, 30 days to review the 

results of the lease sale.’’ 

If a bidder is found to have engaged 

in anti-competitive behavior or 

otherwise violated BOEM’s rules in 

connection with its participation in the 

competitive bidding process, BOEM 

may reject the high bid. 

Anti-competitive behavior 

determinations are fact specific. 

However, such behavior may manifest 

itself in several different ways, 

including, but not limited to: 

• An agreement, either express or 

tacit, among bidders to not bid in an 

auction, or to bid a particular price; 

• An agreement among bidders not to 

bid for the lease area; 

• An agreement among bidders not to 

bid against each other; and 

• Other agreements among bidders 

that have the effect of limiting the final 

auction price. 

BOEM may decline to award a lease 

if doing so would otherwise create a 

situation inconsistent with the antitrust 

laws (e.g., heavily concentrated market, 

etc.). 

For more information on whether 

specific communications or agreements 

could constitute a violation of Federal 

antitrust law, please see: http:// 

www.justice.gov/atr/public/businessresources.html, or consult counsel. 

Bidder’s Financial Form SelfCertification: Each bidder is required to 

sign the self-certification, in accordance 

with 18 U.S.C. 1001 (Fraud and False 

Statements) in the Bidder’s Financial 

Form, which can be found on BOEM’s 

Web site: http://www.boem.gov/ 

Renewable-Energy-Program/StateActivities/Virginia.aspx. The form must 

be filled out and returned to BOEM in 

accordance with the ‘‘Deadlines and 

Milestones for Bidders’’ section of this 

notice. 

Non-Procurement Debarment and 

Suspension Regulations: Pursuant to 

regulations at 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 180 

and 1400 and agree to communicate the 

requirement to comply with these 

regulations to persons with whom the 

Lessee does business as it relates to this 

lease, by including this term as a 

condition in their contracts and other 

transactions. 

Force Majeure: The Program Manager 

of BOEM’s Office of Renewable Energy 

Programs has the discretion to change 

any date, time, and/or location specified 

in the FSN in case of a force majeure 

event that the Program Manager deems 

may interfere with a fair and proper 

lease sale process. Such events may 

include, but are not limited to, natural 

disasters (e.g., earthquakes, hurricanes, 

floods), wars, riots, acts of terrorism, 

fire, strikes, civil disorder or other 

events of a similar nature. In case of 

such events, bidders should call 703– 

787–1320 or access the BOEM Web site 


ehiers on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
44156 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 141 / Tuesday, July 23, 2013 / Notices 

at: http://www.boem.gov/RenewableEnergy-Program/index.aspx. 

Appeals: The appeals procedures are 

provided in BOEM’s regulations at 30 

CFR 585.225 and 585.118(c). Pursuant 

to 30 CFR 585.225: 

(a) If BOEM rejects your bid, BOEM 

will provide a written statement of the 

reasons, and refund any money 

deposited with your bid, without 

interest. 

(b) You will then be able to ask the 

BOEM Director for reconsideration, in 

writing, within 15 business days of bid 

rejection, under 30 CFR 585.118(c)(1). 

We will send you a written response 

either affirming or reversing the 

rejection. 

The procedures for appealing adverse 

final decisions with respect to lease 

sales are described in 30 CFR 

585.118(c). 

Protection of Privileged or 

Confidential Information: BOEM will 

protect privileged or confidential 

information that you submit as required 

by the Freedom of Information Act 

(FOIA). Exemption 4 of FOIA applies to 

trade secrets and commercial or 

financial information that you submit 

that is privileged or confidential. If you 

wish to protect the confidentiality of 

such information, clearly mark it and 

request that BOEM treat it as 

confidential. BOEM will not disclose 

such information, subject to the 

requirements of FOIA. Please label 

privileged or confidential information 

‘‘Contains Confidential Information’’ 

and consider submitting such 

information as a separate attachment. 

However, BOEM will not treat as 

confidential any aggregate summaries of 

such information or comments not 

containing such information. 

Additionally, BOEM may not treat as 

confidential the legal title of the 

commenting entity (e.g., the name of 

your company). Information that is not 

labeled as privileged or confidential will 

be regarded by BOEM as suitable for 

public release. 

Dated: July 1, 2013. 

Tommy P. Beaudreau, 

Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 2013–17663 Filed 7–22–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–MR–P 

INTERNATIONAL TRADE 

COMMISSION 

[Investigation No. 337–TA–849] 

Certain Rubber Resins and Processes 

for Manufacturing Same; Notice of 

Request for Statements on the Public 

Interest 

AGENCY: U.S. International Trade 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the presiding administrative law judge 

has issued a Final Initial Determination 

and Recommended Determination on 

Remedy and Bonding in the abovecaptioned investigation. The 

Commission is soliciting comments on 

public interest issues raised by the 

recommended relief, specifically a 

general exclusion order or a limited 

exclusion order. This notice is soliciting 

public interest comments from the 

public only. Parties are to file public 

interest submissions pursuant to 19 CFR 

210.50(a)(4). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

James A. Worth, Office of the General 

Counsel, U.S. International Trade 

Commission, 500 E Street SW., 

Washington, DC 20436, telephone 202– 

205–3065. Copies of non-confidential 

documents filed in connection with this 

investigation are or will be available for 

inspection during official business 

hours (8:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.) in the 

Office of the Secretary, U.S. 

International Trade Commission, 500 E 

Street SW., Washington, DC 20436, 

telephone 202–205–2000. 

General information concerning the 

Commission may also be obtained by 

accessing its Internet server (http:// 

www.usitc.gov). The public record for 

this investigation may be viewed on the 

Commission’s electronic docket (EDIS) 

at http://edis.usitc.gov. Hearingimpaired persons are advised that 

information on this matter can be 

obtained by contacting the 

Commission’s TDD terminal on (202) 

205–1810. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 provides 

that if the Commission finds a violation 

it shall exclude the articles concerned 

from the United States: 

unless, after considering the effect of such 

exclusion upon the public health and 

welfare, competitive conditions in the United 

States economy, the production of like or 

directly competitive articles in the United 

States, and United States consumers, it finds 

that such articles should not be excluded 

from entry. 

19 U.S.C. 1337(d)(1). A similar 

provision applies to cease and desist 

orders. 19 U.S.C. 1337(f)(1). 

The Commission is interested in 

further development of the record on 

the public interest in these 

investigations. Accordingly, members of 

the public are invited to file 

submissions of no more than five (5) 

pages, inclusive of attachments, 

concerning the public interest in light of 

the administrative law judge’s 

Recommended Determination on 

Remedy and Bonding issued in this 

investigation on June 17, 2013. 

Comments should address whether 

issuance of a general exclusion order or 

a limited exclusion order in this 

investigation would affect the public 

health and welfare in the United States, 

competitive conditions in the United 

States economy, the production of like 

or directly competitive articles in the 

United States, or United States 

consumers. 

In particular, the Commission is 

interested in comments that: 

(i) Explain how the articles 

potentially subject to the recommended 

orders are used in the United States; 

(ii) identify any public health, safety, 

or welfare concerns in the United States 

relating to the recommended orders; 

(iii) identify like or directly 

competitive articles that complainant, 

its licensees, or third parties make in the 

United States which could replace the 

subject articles if they were to be 

excluded; 

(iv) indicate whether complainant, 

complainant’s licensees, and/or third 

party suppliers have the capacity to 

replace the volume of articles 

potentially subject to the recommended 

exclusion order and/or a cease and 

desist order within a commercially 

reasonable time; and 

(v) explain how the general exclusion 

order or limited exclusion order would 

impact consumers in the United States. 

Written submissions must be filed no 

later than by close of business on 

August 14, 2013. 

Persons filing written submissions 

must file the original document 

electronically on or before the deadlines 

stated above and submit 8 true paper 

copies to the Office of the Secretary by 

noon the next day pursuant to section 

210.4(f) of the Commission’s Rules of 

Practice and Procedure (19 CFR 

210.4(f)). Submissions should refer to 

the investigation number (‘‘Inv. No. 

849’’) in a prominent place on the cover 

page and/or the first page. (See 

Handbook for Electronic Filing 

Procedures, http://www.usitc.gov/

secretary/fed_reg_notices/rules/

handbook_on_electronic_filing.pdf). 


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