Notice2024-02065
Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment for Additional Site Assessment Activities on Beacon Wind, LLC's Renewable Energy Lease OCS-A 0520
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
February 2, 2024
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentOcean Energy Management Bureau
Abstract
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announces the availability of the draft environmental assessment (EA) to analyze the reasonably foreseeable impacts from additional site assessment plan (SAP) activities in Lease Area OCS-A 0520 offshore Massachusetts. Beacon Wind, LLC (Beacon Wind), the leaseholder, requests to conduct additional site assessment activities in the lease area that were not analyzed in the initial EA titled "Commercial Wind Lease Issuance and Site Assessment Activities on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Offshore Massachusetts" (2014 EA). The draft EA analyzes the potential environmental impacts of the proposed site assessment activities, which consist of 35 deployments and removals of a single suction bucket foundation at 26 locations within the Lease Area to gather information to support the engineering design of wind turbine and offshore substation foundations that would potentially be installed within the Lease Area for a future Beacon Wind project. This notice of availability (NOA) announces the start of the public review and comment period, as well as the dates and times for public meetings on the draft EA. After BOEM holds the public meetings and addresses public comments submitted during the review period, BOEM will publish a final EA. The EA will inform BOEM's decision whether to approve the site assessment plan amendment for additional site assessment activities.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 23 (Friday, February 2, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 23 (Friday, February 2, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7409-7410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02065]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
[Docket No. BOEM-2024-0006]
Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment for
Additional Site Assessment Activities on Beacon Wind, LLC's Renewable
Energy Lease OCS-A 0520
AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announces the
availability of the draft environmental assessment (EA) to analyze the
reasonably foreseeable impacts from additional site assessment plan
(SAP) activities in Lease Area OCS-A 0520 offshore Massachusetts.
Beacon Wind, LLC (Beacon Wind), the leaseholder, requests to conduct
additional site assessment activities in the lease area that were not
analyzed in the initial EA titled ``Commercial Wind Lease Issuance and
Site Assessment Activities on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf
Offshore Massachusetts'' (2014 EA). The draft EA analyzes the potential
environmental impacts of the proposed site assessment activities, which
consist of 35 deployments and removals of a single suction bucket
foundation at 26 locations within the Lease Area to gather information
to support the engineering design of wind turbine and offshore
substation foundations that would potentially be installed within the
Lease Area for a future Beacon Wind project. This notice of
availability (NOA) announces the start of the public review and comment
period, as well as the dates and times for public meetings on the draft
EA. After BOEM holds the public meetings and addresses public comments
submitted during the review period, BOEM will publish a final EA. The
EA will inform BOEM's decision whether to approve the site assessment
plan amendment for additional site assessment activities.
DATES: Comments must be received no later than March 4, 2024. BOEM's
virtual public meetings will be held on the following dates at the
times (eastern time) indicated.
<bullet> Friday, February 23, 2024; 1:00 p.m.
<bullet> Wednesday, February 28, 2024; 5:00 p.m.
Registration for the virtual public meeting is required and may be
completed at <a href="https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/beacon-wind">https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/beacon-wind</a>. Meeting information will be sent to registrants via their
email address provided during registration.
ADDRESSES: The draft EA and detailed information about the proposed
site assessment activities can be found on BOEM's website at: <a href="https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/beacon-wind">https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/beacon-wind</a>. Comments
can be submitted in any of the following ways:
<bullet> Orally or in written form during any of the public
meetings identified in this NOA.
<bullet> In written form by mail or any other delivery service,
enclosed in an envelope labeled ``Beacon Wind SAP EA'' and addressed to
Chief, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, 45600 Woodland Road, Mailstop VAM-OREP, Sterling, VA 20166.
<bullet> Through the <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a> web portal: Navigate to
<a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and search for Docket No. BOEM-2024-0006.
Click on the ``Comment'' button below the document link. Enter your
information and comment, then click ``Submit Comment.''
For more information about submitting comments, please see
``Information on Submitting Comments'' under the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION heading below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Lee Wolfson, BOEM Office of
Renewable Energy Programs, 45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, Virginia
20166, (703) 787-1433 or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2e424f5b5c4f424b4b00594142485d41406e4c414b4300494158"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e28e839790838e8787cc958d8e84918d8ca2808d878fcc858d94">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Proposed Action: The draft EA analyzes two alternatives: the
proposed action, which is approving the additional site assessment
activities proposed in the Beacon Wind SAP Amendment to the Lease Area,
and the no action alternative. The EA considers the reasonably
foreseeable environmental consequences associated with the deployment
and recovery of suction bucket foundations to further assess the site
conditions and gather information to support the engineering design of
wind turbine and offshore substation foundations that would potentially
be installed within the Lease Area for the proposed Beacon Wind
project. BOEM prepared an EA for this proposed action in order to
assist the
[[Page 7410]]
agency's planning and decision-making (40 CFR 1501.5(b)).
Availability of the draft EA: The draft EA and associated
information are available on BOEM's website at: <a href="https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/beacon-wind">https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/beacon-wind</a>. If you require a digital
copy on a flash drive or paper copy, BOEM may provide one upon request,
if supplies are available. You may request a flash drive or paper copy
of the draft EA by contacting Laura Lee Wolfson at (703) 787-1662 or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#412d203433202d24246f362e2d27322e2f01232e242c6f262e37"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="523e332720333e37377c253d3e34213d3c12303d373f7c353d24">[email protected]</span></a>.
Cooperating Agencies: The following Federal agency will participate
as cooperating agency in the preparation of the EA: the Bureau of
Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
Information on Submitting Comments
a. Freedom of Information Act
BOEM will protect privileged or confidential information that you
submit when required by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Exemption 4 of FOIA applies to trade secrets and commercial or
financial information that is privileged or confidential. If you wish
to protect the confidentiality of such information, clearly label it
and request that BOEM treat it as confidential. BOEM will not disclose
such information if BOEM determines under 30 CFR 585.114(b) that it
qualifies for exemption from disclosure under FOIA. Please label
privileged or confidential information ``Contains Confidential
Information'' and consider submitting such information as a separate
attachment.
BOEM will not treat as confidential any aggregate summaries of such
information or comments not containing such privileged or confidential
information. Information that is not labeled as privileged or
confidential may be regarded by BOEM as suitable for public release.
b. Personally Identifiable Information
BOEM discourages anonymous comments. Please include your name and
address as part of your comment. You should be aware that your entire
comment, including your name, address, and any other personally
identifiable information (PII) that you include, may be made publicly
available. All comments from identified individuals, businesses, and
organizations will be available for public viewing on <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a>.
Note that BOEM will make available for public inspection all comments,
in their entirety, submitted by organizations and businesses, or by
individuals identifying themselves as representatives of organizations
or businesses.
For BOEM to consider withholding your PII from disclosure, you must
identify any information contained in your comments that, if released,
would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of your personal
privacy. You must also briefly describe any possible harmful
consequences of the disclosure of information, such as embarrassment,
injury, or other harm. Even if BOEM withholds your information in the
context of this notice, your comment is subject to FOIA. If your
comment is requested under FOIA, BOEM will withhold your information
only if it determines that one of FOIA's exemptions to disclosure
applies. Such a determination will be made in accordance with the
Department's FOIA regulations and applicable law.
c. Section 304 of the NHPA (54 U.S.C. 307103(a))
After consultation with the Secretary, BOEM is required to withhold
the location, character, or ownership of historic resources if it
determines that disclosure may, among other things, risk harm to the
historic resources or impede the use of a traditional religious site by
practitioners. Tribal entities should designate information that falls
under section 304 of NHPA as confidential.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4231 et seq. (NEPA, as amended) and 40 CFR
1506.6.
Karen Baker,
Chief, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management.
[FR Doc. 2024-02065 Filed 2-1-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4340-98-P
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