Bureau of Ocean Energy Management January 4, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The purpose of this public notice is to: (1) Describe the proposal submitted to BOEM by the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to acquire an OCS wind lease; (2) solicit public input regarding the proposal, its potential environmental consequences, and the use of the area in which the proposed project would be located; and (3) solicit submissions of indications of competitive interest for a commercial lease for wind energy development on the OCS offshore New York for the area identified in this notice. On September 8, 2011, BOEM received an unsolicited request from NYPA for a commercial wind lease on the OCS offshore New York. NYPA submitted its request on behalf of the ``Long Island-New York City Offshore Wind Collaborative,'' a public-private entity consisting of NYPA, the Long Island Power Authority, and Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. The Collaborative's goal is to develop the proposed project to supply the Long Island and New York City region with renewable energy, consistent with New York State's and the City of New York's renewable energy initiatives. NYPA's proposed project, the ``Long Island-New York City Offshore Wind Project'', is designed to generate at least 350 megawatts (MW) of electricity from offshore wind resources, with the ability to expand generation capacity to as much as 700 MW. The project would be located approximately 11 nautical miles (nmi) south of Long Beach, New York, in water depths ranging from 60 to 120 feet. NYPA's unsolicited lease request, and an amendment filed on June 20, 2012, can be viewed at: https://www.boem.gov/Renewable-Energy- Program/State-Activities/New-York.aspx. This request for interest is published pursuant to subsection 8(p)(3) of the OCS Lands Act, as amended by section 388 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) (43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(3)), and the implementing regulations at 30 CFR 585.231(b). Subsection 8(p)(3) of the OCS Lands Act requires that OCS renewable energy leases, easements, and rights- of-way be issued ``on a competitive basis unless the Secretary determines after public notice of a proposed lease, easement, or right- of-way that there is no competitive interest.'' This request for interest provides such public notice for the proposed lease area requested by NYPA and invites the submission of indications of competitive interest. BOEM will consider the responses to this public notice to determine whether competitive interest exists for the area requested by NYPA, as required by 43 U.S.C. 1337(p)(3). Parties wishing to obtain a lease for the area requested by NYPA should submit detailed and specific information as described in the section entitled, ``Required Indication of Interest Information.'' This announcement also requests that interested and affected parties comment and provide information about site conditions and multiple uses within the area identified in this notice that would be relevant to the proposed project or its impacts. A detailed description of the proposed lease area can be found in the section of this notice entitled, ``Description of the Area.''