BOEMRE to Undertake Conventional Rulemaking Process
for Offshore Renewable Energy Rule
New Rule Will Eliminate Redundant Step in Leasing Process
WASHINGTON, DC
– The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,
Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) will continue to push forward
with a proposed rule that will eliminate a redundant step in the
noncompetitive leasing process for commercial renewable energy
development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), BOEMRE Director
Michael R. Bromwich said today.
BOEMRE
announced on Nov. 26, 2010, that it would implement the new rule
through an accelerated “direct final” rulemaking process that is
used for proposed rules that are considered to be non-controversial.
The direct final rule could have been fully implemented after a
30-day public comment period if no adverse comments had been
received. The agency, however, collected comments that it deemed
adverse.
As a
result, the bureau is withdrawing the direct final rule and will
instead proceed with a more conventional rulemaking process to make
the change. BOEMRE expects to issue a proposed rule within the next
month and initiate a 30-day public comment period.
“The rule we are proposing is a
common-sense improvement to our regulations that will cut out
unneeded redundancy in the offshore renewable energy leasing
process,” said Director Bromwich. “Based on our consultations, there
is broad support for this simple change among Atlantic states that
are interested in wind energy development off their coasts.
Implementing the new rule will take longer than we had hoped, but it
is important that we still move forward as quickly as possible with
what we believe is an important step toward facilitating responsible
offshore wind development on a commercial scale.”
At issue is a requirement in the
federal offshore renewable energy regulation related to the
non-competitive leasing process. Under the current regulation, if
BOEMRE issues a request for interest for a specific area being
considered for commercial leasing, and only one entity responds
expressing interest in acquiring a lease for that area, the bureau
must still issue a second request for interest to ensure there is
indeed no competitive interest in that area. This process can take
several months, and the bureau determined that it is redundant.
The proposed amendment would
eliminate the requirement for the second request for interest and
potentially save up to six to 12 months in the leasing process.
The notice is available for public inspection
today through the Federal Register’s website at:
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/public-inspection/index.html.
The Nov. 26, 2010, Federal Register
notice announcing the direct final rule can be viewed at:
http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=BOEM-2010-0045-0001.