Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 43 - NATURAL RESOURCES › Part I - Office of the Secretary › Subpart 1 - General › Chapter 10 - Leasing State Lands and Water Bottoms for the Exploration, Development and Production of Wind Energy › Section I-1033 - State Wind Lease Decommissioning

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. Definitions to be used in this Section:
Decommissioning
-ending wind energy
					 operations and returning the lease to a condition that meets the requirements
					 of the Minerals Management Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, as
					 required by
					 R.S.
					 41:1732.C, as well as the requirements of the
					 Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, State Mineral Board and Office of
					 Mineral Resources, and the requirements of any other agencies that have
					 jurisdiction over decommissioning activities.
Facility
-any installation used for wind
					 energy activities that is permanently or temporarily attached to state lands or
					 water bottoms. Facilities may include obstructions.
Obstructions
-structures, equipment or
					 objects that were used in wind energy operations that, if left in place, would
					 hinder other users of the state lands or water bottoms. Obstructions may
					 include, but are not limited to, wind turbines, towers, pads, platforms,
					 templates, pilings, shell mounds, overhead and underground electrical
					 transmission and communications lines, electric transformers, energy storage
					 facilities, telecommunications equipment, power generation facilities, roads,
					 meteorological towers and wind measurement equipment, control buildings,
					 maintenance yards, transmission towers, wires, cables, substations, and related
					 facilities and equipment.
B.
				  Lessees and owners of operating rights are jointly and severally responsible
				  for meeting decommissioning obligations for facilities and obstructions on
				  leases, as the obligations accrue and until each obligation is met. In this
				  Section, the terms
you
or
I
refer to lessees
				  and owners of operating rights, as to facilities installed under the authority
				  of a lease.
C. You accrue
				  decommissioning obligations when you install a facility, create an obstruction
				  to other users of the state lands and water bottoms, are or become a lessee or
				  the owner of operating rights of a lease on which there is a facility or an
				  obstruction, or re-enter a facility or an obstruction that was previously
				  abandoned.
D. When your facilities
				  are no longer useful for operations, you shall get approval from the Office of
				  Mineral Resources before decommissioning facilities and then permanently remove
				  all facilities and obstructions created by your lease operations in a manner
				  that is safe, does not unreasonably interfere with other users of the state
				  lands or water bottoms, and does not cause undue or serious harm or damage to
				  the human, wildlife, aquatic, or coastal environment.
E. You shall submit decommissioning
				  applications and receive approval and submit subsequent reports according to
				  the table in this Subpart.
Decommissioning Applications and Reports
								Table
Decommissioning Applications and Reports
When to Submit
Instructions
1. Final removal application for a facility
Before removing a facility
Include information required under Subpart G
2. Post-removal report for a facility
Within 30 days after you remove a facility
Include information required under Subpart I
3. Site clearance report for a facility
'Within 30 days after you complete site clearance
								verification activities
Include information required under Subpart N
F.
				  You shall remove all facilities within one year after the lease terminates
				  unless you receive approval to maintain a facility to conduct other activities.
				  Before you may remove a facility, you shall submit a final removal application
				  to the Office of Mineral Resources for approval and include the information
				  listed in Subsection G. You shall remove a facility according to the approved
				  application. You shall notify the Office of Mineral Resources at least 48 hours
				  before you begin the removal operations.
G. You shall submit a final removal
				  application to remove a facility to the Office of Mineral Resources for
				  approval. Provide one paper copy and one electronic copy of the final removal
				  application. The final removal application shall include the following, as
				  applicable:
1. applicant identification
				  including lease operator, address, contact person and telephone number, and
				  shore base;
2. facility
				  identification including facility name/ID number, location (lease, area, X-Y
				  coordinates based on the Louisiana Coordinate System of 1927, block name and
				  number), year installed, proposed date of removal (month/year), and water
				  depth;
3. description of the
				  facility you are removing including configuration (attach a photograph or a
				  diagram), size, brief description of soil composition and condition, the
				  maximum removal lift weight and estimated number of main lifts to remove the
				  facility, and any other pertinent information;
4. a description, including anchor pattern,
				  of the vessel(s) you will use to remove any facility from state water
				  bottoms;
5. identification of the
				  purpose, including lease expiration date and reason for removing the
				  facility;
6. a description of the
				  removal method, including a brief description of the method you will use. If
				  you are using explosives, the type of explosives, number and sizes of charges,
				  whether you are using a single shot or multiple shots, if multiple shots, the
				  sequence and timing of detonations, whether you are using a bulk or shaped
				  charge, depth of detonation below ground level or mud line (as applicable),
				  whether you are placing the explosives inside or outside of the facility, and a
				  statement whether or not you will use transducers to measure the pressure and
				  impulse of the detonations;
7. if
				  removing a facility from state water bottoms, whether you will use divers or
				  acoustic devices to conduct a pre-removal survey to detect the presence of
				  aquatic life and a description of the proposed detection method;
8. your plans for transportation and disposal
				  (including as an artificial reef) or salvage of the removed facility;
9. if available, the results of any recent
				  biological surveys conducted in the vicinity of the structure and recent
				  observations of wildlife or aquatic life at the facility site;
10. your plans to protect archaeological and
				  sensitive biological features during removal operations, including a brief
				  assessment of the environmental impacts of the removal operations and
				  procedures and mitigation measures you will take to minimize such
				  impacts;
11. your plans to return
				  and restore the state lands or water bottoms to a condition as nearly
				  equivalent to that which existed before said operations were conducted and/or
				  facility was constructed;
12. if
				  removing a facility from state water bottoms, a statement whether or not you
				  will use divers to survey the area after removal to determine any effects on
				  aquatic life.