Areas Offered for Leasing. The two Lease Areas included in this FSN are the same size and orientation as were described in the Proposed Sale Notice (PSN). XXXX’s designation of the two Lease Areas offered in the FSN is informed by coordination with XXXX’s intergovernmental task force members, consultation and engagement with Tribes, stakeholder engagement, a partnership with NOAA’s NCCOS to use spatial modeling to inform the identification of WEAs, and consideration of the 281 comments that XXXX received in response to the PSN. The two areas BOEM is offering for lease are: the Brookings Lease Area, OCS-P 0567, which consists of 133,792 acres and is approximately 18 miles from shore; and the Coos Bay Lease Area, OCS-P 0566, which consists of 61,203 acres and is approximately 32 miles from shore. Descriptions of the proposed Lease Areas can be found in Addendum A of the proposed leases, which can be found on BOEM’s website at: xxxxx://xxx.xxxx.xxx/renewable-energy/state-activities/oregon. The areas available for lease, as listed in Table 1, will be auctioned in a single auction. Table 1: PACW-2 Final Lease Areas Lease Area Name Lease Area ID Acres Brookings OCS-P 0567 133,792 Coos Bay OCS-P 0566 61,203 Total 194,995
Areas Offered for Leasing. In response to comments received on the PSN and consultation with Tribes and Federal agencies, BOEM is offering eight lease areas totaling 850,082 acres for sale through this notice (Figure 1). The eight areas in the PSN have been reduced by approximately 12% to address ocean user conflicts in response to comments and input from ocean users, including the fishing industry, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and navigation interests, and NMFS. BOEM’s designation of the eight lease areas offered in the FSN is informed by extensive coordination with XXXX’s intergovernmental task force members, consultation and engagement with Tribes, stakeholder engagement, a partnership with NOAA’s NCCOS to utilize spatial modeling to inform the identification of WEAs, and consideration of the 262 comments that XXXX received in response to the PSN. Based on the information gained through that coordination and comment review, BOEM has decided to remove from current leasing consideration several areas that overlap with a combination of offshore fishing activity, vessel transit, seafloor features identified by NMFS as potentially sensitive to impacts from offshore wind facility construction, and areas of relatively higher densities of North Atlantic right whale sightings and detections. The eight areas BOEM is offering for lease are described in Table 1. Descriptions of the proposed lease areas may be found in Addendum A of each of the proposed leases, located on BOEM’s website at xxxxx://xxx.xxxx.xxx/renewable- energy/state-activities/maine/gulf-maine. Several leases are subject to a lease stipulation that would prohibit surface or subsurface development in portions of the lease that are adjacent to corridors BOEM created between leases to facilitate existing and future vessel transit (see Addendum C, Section 10 of the lease). For those leases, the total “developable acres” are less than the total “lease acres” as described in Table 1. Table 1: Gulf of Maine lease areas, Acres, and Assigned Region Lease Area ID Region Total Acres Developable Acres Net Change from PSN (Developable Acres) OCS-A 0562 North 97,854 97,854 -23,485 OCS-A 0563 North 105,682 105,682 -26,687 OCS-A 0564 South 98,565 93,756 -11,743 OCS-A 0565 South 103,191 103,191 -12,099 OCS-A 0566 South 96,075 96,075 -31,313 OCS-A 0567 South 117,780 113,208 -4,183 OCS-A 0568 South 124,897 116,363 -7,026 OCS-A 0569 South 106,038 101,757 0 Total 850,082 827,886 -116,536 Average 106,260 103,486 -14,567 Figure 1: Gulf of Maine Lea...
Areas Offered for Leasing. XXXX considered the following factors in delineating the Lease Areas included in this FSN: reasonably comparable commercial viability and size; prevailing wind direction and minimal wake effects; maximized energy generating potential; mooring system anchor footprints; distance to shore, port infrastructure, and electrical grid interconnections; and fair return to the Federal Government pursuant to the OCS Lands Act through competition for commercially viable lease areas. All five Lease Areas included in this FSN are the size and orientation that BOEM described in the Proposed Sale Notice. BOEM’s designation of the five Lease Areas offered in the FSN was informed by its years-long coordination with XXXX’s intergovernmental task force members, consultation and engagement with Tribes, stakeholder engagement, consideration of the 84 comments that XXXX received in response to the PSN, and the U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG’s) Draft Pacific Coast Port Access Route Study (PAC-PARS). BOEM is offering five Lease Areas totaling 373,268 acres for sale through this notice (Figure 1). The areas available for lease will be auctioned in a single auction as listed in the table below. Table 1 to Section IV – PACW-1 Final Lease Areas Lease Total acres OCS-P 0561 63,338 OCS-P 0562 69,031 OCS-P 0563 80,062 OCS-P 0564 80,418 OCS-P 0565 80,418 BOEM is aware that NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries has initiated a designation process for the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, an area comprising approximately 7,000 square miles off the central coast of California adjacent to the Morro Bay Lease Areas. BOEM does not have authority under the OCS Lands Act to issue leases, right-of-way grants, or right-of-use and easement grants within any unit of the National Marine Sanctuary System. Potential bidders should note that future designation of a National Marine Sanctuary adjacent to a Lease Area may have implications for development of OCS leases for commercial wind energy due to BOEM’s lack of authority in National Marine Sanctuaries. BOEM is coordinating closely with the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries to advance both offshore wind energy projects and conservation and restoration of ocean and coastal habitats. BOEM is a cooperating agency on NOAA’s Environmental Impact Statement on the Proposed Designation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary and is providing input on the ongoing renewable energy leasing process, as well as contributing sp...
