Bureau of Ocean Energy Management December 14, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) is being published as an initial step for the purpose of involving Federal agencies, states, tribes, local governments, and the public in the preparation of an EA. The EA will consider the environmental consequences associated with issuing a lease for an offshore data collection facility located on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), in accordance with applicable Department of the Interior (DOI) and Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations implementing the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). On November 6, 2007, the Minerals Management Service, now BOEM, announced an interim policy for authorizing the issuance of leases for the installation of offshore data collection and technology testing facilities on the OCS (72 FR 62673). An applicant has submitted a lease proposal to BOEM pursuant to the interim policy and, thus, has initiated the need for an EA. On April 7, 2011, Southern Company submitted an application to lease three OCS blocks, approximately 311 nautical miles off the coast of Tybee Island, Georgia, under its original nomination submitted on July 23, 2008. The areas proposed for leasing are identified as Brunswick NH 17-02 OCS blocks numbered 6074, 6174, and 6126. The proposed lease area covers about 70 square kilometers (17,280 acres) of seafloor, and ranges from a depth of 12 meters (m) in Block 6074 to 20 m in the eastern half of Block 6126. Southern Company submitted amended project applications on May 18, 2012, and October 25, 2012, which describe additional data collection and technology testing activities to be conducted on the proposed lease. Southern Company intends to deploy a meteorological tower and/or a meteorological buoy that will measure wind speed, direction and shear, and potentially collect other environmental data during the five year lease term. BOEM intends to prepare an EA for the purpose of considering the environmental consequences associated with issuing an interim policy lease to Southern Company; this EA will consider impacts associated with the deployment and installation of a meteorological tower and/or the deployment of a meteorological buoy. At a minimum, the EA will consider the alternatives of no action (i.e., no issuance of a lease) and the issuance of a lease and approval of certain technology testing activities within the lease area, such as installation of a fixed meteorological tower and/or deployment of a meteorological buoy. With this NOI, BOEM requests comments and input from Federal, state, and local government agencies, tribal governments, and other interested parties on important environmental issues and alternatives that may be appropriate for consideration in the EA. BOEM also requests information pertaining to measures (e.g., limitations on activities based on technology, siting, or timing) that would minimize the reasonably foreseeable impacts to environmental resources and socioeconomic conditions which could result from the proposed activity. BOEM will conduct consultations with other Federal agencies, tribal governments, and affected states during the EA process.