§ 585.211 - What is the Call?

§ 585.211 What is the Call?

(a) The Call is a notice that BOEM will publish in the Federal Register requesting responses from stakeholders interested in bidding on designated OCS areas and comments from interested and potentially affected parties. The responses may inform the area identification process and will enable BOEM to determine whether there exists competitive interest in the proposed lease area. BOEM may request additional information from stakeholders related to environmental, economic, and other issues.

(b) The Call may include the following:

(1) The areas that BOEM has preliminarily identified for leasing consideration;

(2) A request for comments concerning geological conditions; archaeological sites on the seabed or nearshore; multiple uses of the proposed leasing area (including, for example, navigation, recreation, military, and fisheries); and other socioeconomic, biological, and environmental information;

(3) Request for comments regarding feasibility for development, including the energy resource and opportunity for grid connection;

(4) Possible lease terms and conditions;

(5) A request to potential bidders to nominate one or more areas for a commercial renewable energy lease within the preliminarily identified leasing areas. Such nominations must include:

(i) The specific OCS blocks that the respondent is interested in leasing;

(ii) A general description of the respondent's objectives and how respondent proposes to achieve those objectives;

(iii) A preliminary schedule of the respondent's proposed activities, including those potentially leading to commercial operations, to the extent known;

(iv) Information regarding respondent's coordination, or intent to coordinate, with any other entity for the purposes of acquiring a lease from BOEM, if applicable;

(v) Documentation demonstrating the respondent's qualification to acquire a lease or grant as specified in §§ 585.107 and 585.108;

(vi) Available and pertinent information concerning renewable energy and environmental conditions in the nominated areas, including energy and resource data and information used to evaluate the areas; and

(vii) Any additional information requested by BOEM in the Call;

(c) Respondents have 45 calendar days from the date the Call is published in the Federal Register to reply, unless BOEM specifies another time period of not less than 30 calendar days in the Call.

(d) BOEM may use the information received in response to a Call to:

(1) Identify lease areas;

(2) Develop options for its lease provisions (e.g., stipulations, payments, terms, and conditions);

(3) Inform its environmental analysis conducted under applicable Federal requirements, including, but not limited to, NEPA, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544), and the CZMA; and

(4) Determine whether competitive interest exists in all or a portion of any potential lease area. If BOEM determines no competitive interest exists, BOEM may follow the noncompetitive leasing process set forth in § 585.231(d) through (j).