BOEMRE to Prepare an Environmental
Assessment
for Marine Hydrokinetic Technology Testing Offshore Florida
WASHINGTON The Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today announced that
it is taking the first step toward issuing a lease that would
authorize the testing of equipment designed to use ocean currents
offshore Florida to generate electricity on the Outer Continental
Shelf (OCS).
“This is the first lease application
BOEMRE has received to test ocean current equipment on the U.S.
Outer Continental Shelf,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich.
“Before a leasing decision is made, we are preparing an
environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act
and are providing an opportunity for public input concerning these
activities.”
Florida Atlantic University has
applied for a lease to deploy an experimental demonstration device,
which is the action that has prompted the need for BOEMRE to conduct
an Environmental Assessment (EA). The proposed lease area covers
three OCS blocks located approximately nine to 15 nautical miles
offshore Fort Lauderdale.
BOEMRE is preparing an EA to consider
the environmental consequences associated with issuing a lease,
which will include environmental impacts that may result from
installing a buoy, deploying small-scale ocean current devices, and
operating a deployment vessel in the area that would be covered by
the lease. The EA will consider environmental issues, including
impacts to benthic habitats, marine mammals, sea turtles, pelagic
fishes, and existing human uses.
A Request for Information published
in November 2007 announced that BOEMRE had established an interim
policy under which it would issue limited leases authorizing
renewable energy resource assessment, data collection, and
technology testing activities on the OCS and that it was accepting
nominations for limited leases to conduct these activities. Limited
leases have a term of five years and do not authorize the commercial
production or transmission of energy.
BOEMRE received more than 40
nominations proposing areas for limited leases on the OCS off the
Pacific and Atlantic coasts, and identified 16 proposed lease areas
for priority consideration based on the technological complexity of
the project proposed, timing needs, competing OCS space-use issues,
and relevant state-supported renewable energy activities and
initiatives. BOEMRE also considered the importance of supporting the
advancement of activities related to developing wind, current and
wave energy.
Of the 16 areas, BOEMRE identified
four proposed areas offshore Florida as priority areas for testing
ocean current technology and collecting resource data. In April
2008, BOEMRE solicited expressions of competitive interest in
leasing any of these nominated areas and received no indications of
competitive interest in acquiring leases within these four areas
offshore Florida, which include the three blocks of interest to
Florida Atlantic University. More information about interim policy
leases can be found at:
http://www.boemre.gov/offshore/RenewableEnergy/RegulatoryInformation.htm#Interim_Policy.
BOEMRE is requesting public comment
and input from federal, state and local government agencies, tribal
governments and other interested parties to identify environmental
issues and any alternatives that should be considered in the EA.
Input is also requested on measures that would mitigate impacts to
environmental resources and socioeconomic conditions that could
result from leasing and the technology testing activities in the
potential lease area. The notice is available today for review in
Federal Register: http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/public-inspection/index.html.
Written comments on the proposed
lease for Florida Atlantic University to conduct data collection and
technology testing activities may be sent to BOEMRE by June 23, 2011
in one of the following ways:
1. Electronically:
http://www.regulations.gov. In the entry titled “Enter
Keyword or ID” enter “BOEM-2011-0012”, then click “Search”. Follow
the instructions to submit public comments and view supporting and
related materials.
2. In
written form, delivered by hand or by mail, addressed to Program
Manager, Office of Offshore Alternative Energy Programs (MS 4090),
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, 381
Elden Street, Herndon, VA 20170.
For more information about BOEMRE’s
Alternative Energy Program, go to:
http://www.boemre.gov/offshore/RenewableEnergy/PDFs/BOEMREAlternativeEnergyfactsheet.pdf.
Contact: BOEMRE
Public Affairs