Abstract
This document provides guidance on the information requirements for a Site Assessment Plan (SAP) for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) renewable energy activities on a commercial lease, as required for site assessment activities pursuant to 30 CFR §§ 585.605-.618. In response to stakeholder requests, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is providing these guidelines to clarify and supplement information requirements for SAP submittals. This information is necessary for BOEM to complete analyses under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other applicable laws and regulations.
The purpose of this document is to further explain the applicable provisions of BOEM’s renewable energy regulations, found at 30 CFR Part 585, and provide examples of documentation that you should submit to help BOEM evaluate whether the requirements found in the regulations have been met. The regulated community should rely on this document as guidance as it does not set information or data standards or prescribe additional requirements.
Since the publication of its initial SAP Guidance in 2016, BOEM has accrued substantial additional experience analyzing the impacts of and issuing approvals for the use of meteorological and oceanographic (metocean) buoys. BOEM is also aware that the offshore wind industry is trending strongly in the direction of using metocean buoys instead of bottom-founded towers to conduct site assessment activities. Accordingly, BOEM has updated this document in the following key ways:
- Clarified the data requirements specific to metocean buoys;
- Included recent updates to best management practices; and
- Included a sample SAP template designed specifically for metocean buoys.