The authority for this part derives from the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCS Lands Act) (43 U.S.C. 1337). The Secretary of the Interior delegated to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) the authority to regulate certain activities. These regulations specifically apply to activities that:

(a) Produce or support production, transportation, or transmission of energy from sources other than oil and gas; or

(b) Use, for energy-related purposes or for other authorized marine-related purposes, facilities currently or previously used for activities authorized under the OCS Lands Act.

The purpose of this part is to:

(a) Inform you and third parties of your obligations when you undertake activities authorized in this part and 30 CFR parts 585 and 586; and

(b) Ensure that renewable energy activities on the OCS and activities involving the alternate use of OCS facilities for energy- or marine-related purposes are conducted in a safe and environmentally sound manner, in conformance with the requirements of subsection 8(p) of the OCS Lands Act, other applicable laws and regulations, and the terms of your lease, ROW grant, RUE grant, or Alternate Use RUE grant.

(a) BSEE will ensure that any activities authorized in this part and 30 CFR parts 585 and 586 are carried out in a manner that provides for:

(1) Safety;

(2) Protection of the environment;

(3) Prevention of waste;

(4) Conservation of the natural resources of the OCS;

(5) Coordination with relevant Federal agencies (including, in particular, those agencies involved in planning activities that are undertaken to avoid conflicts among users and maximize the economic and ecological benefits of the OCS, including multifaceted spatial planning efforts);

(6) Protection of national security interests of the United States;

(7) Protection of the rights of other authorized users of the OCS; and

(8) Oversight, inspection, research, monitoring, and enforcement of activities authorized by a lease or grant issued under 30 CFR parts 585 or 586.

(b) BSEE will require compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, other requirements, and the terms of your lease or grant issued under 30 CFR parts 585 or 586, and approved plans. BSEE will approve, disapprove, or approve with conditions any applications or other documents submitted to BSEE for approval under the provisions of this part.

(c) Unless otherwise provided in this part, BSEE may give oral directives or decisions whenever prior BSEE approval is required under this part. BSEE will document in writing any such oral directives within 10 business days.

(d) BSEE will establish practices and procedures to govern the collection of all payments due under this part to the Federal Government, including any cost recovery fees and other fees or payments. BSEE will do this in accordance with the terms of this part, the leasing notice, the lease or grant under 30 CFR parts 585 or 586, and applicable Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) regulations or guidance.

(a) BSEE may prescribe or approve departures from the provisions of this part when departures are necessary because the applicable provision(s) as applied to a specific circumstance:

(1) Are impractical or unduly burdensome and the departure is necessary to achieve the intended objectives of the renewable energy program;

(2) Fail to conserve the natural resources of the OCS;

(3) Fail to protect life (including human and wildlife), property, or the marine, coastal, or human environment; or

(4) Fail to protect sites, structures, or objects of historical or archaeological significance.

(b) Any departure approved under this section and its rationale must:

(1) Be consistent with subsection 8(p) of the OCS Lands Act;

(2) Protect the environment and the public health and safety to the same degree as if there was no approved departure from the regulations;

(3) Not impair the rights of third parties; and

(4) Be documented in writing. [88 FR 6413, Jan. 31, 2023, as amended at 89 FR 42713, May 15, 2024]

As a lessee, applicant, operator, or holder of a ROW grant, RUE grant, or Alternate Use RUE grant, you must:

(a) Design your projects and conduct all activities in a manner that ensures safety and will not cause undue harm or damage to natural resources, including their physical, atmospheric, and biological components to the extent practicable; and take measures to prevent unauthorized discharge of pollutants including marine trash and debris into the offshore environment.

(b) Submit requests, applications, notices, modifications, and supplemental information to BSEE as required by this part;

(c) Follow up, in writing, any oral request or notification you made, within 3 business days;

(d) Comply with all applicable laws and regulations, the terms of your lease or grant under 30 CFR part 585 or 586, reports, notices, and approved plans prepared under this part, 30 CFR part 585 or 586, and any conditions imposed by BOEM or BSEE through its review of any of these reports, notices, and approved plans, as provided in this part or in 30 CFR part 585 or 586;

(e) Make all applicable payments on time;

(f) Comply with the DOI's nonprocurement debarment regulations at 2 CFR part 1400;

(g) Include the requirement to comply with 2 CFR part 1400 in all contracts and transactions related to a lease or grant under this part;

(h) Conduct all activities authorized by the lease or grant in a manner consistent with the provisions of subsection 8(p) of the OCS Lands Act;

(i) Compile, retain, and make available to BSEE representatives, within the time specified by BSEE, any data and information related to the site assessment, design, and operations of your project; and

(j) Respond to requests from the Director in a timely manner. [88 FR 6413, Jan. 31, 2023, as amended at 89 FR 42713, May 15, 2024]

Unless otherwise stated, you must submit one electronic copy of all plans, applications, reports, or notices required by this part to BSEE. BSEE will inform you if it requires paper copies of specific documents. Unless stated otherwise, documents should be submitted to the relevant contacts listed on the BSEE website. [89 FR 42713, May 15, 2024]

(a) BSEE will charge a processing fee on a case-by-case basis under the procedures in this section with regard to any application or request under this part if we decide at any time that the preparation of a particular document or study is necessary for the application or request and it will have a unique processing cost.

(1) Processing costs will include contract oversight and efforts to review and approve documents prepared by contractors, whether the contractor is paid directly by the applicant or through BSEE.

(2) We may apply a standard overhead rate to direct processing costs.

(b) We will assess the ongoing processing fee for each individual application or request according to the following procedures:

(1) Before we process your application or request, we will give you a written estimate of the proposed fee based on reasonable processing costs.

(2) You may comment on the proposed fee.

(3) You may:

(i) Ask for our approval to perform, or to directly pay a contractor to perform, all or part of any document, study, or other activity according to standards we specify, thereby reducing our costs for processing your application or request; or

(ii) Ask to pay us to perform, or contract for, all or part of any document, study, or other activity.

(4) We will then give you the final estimate of the processing fee amount with payment terms and instructions after considering your comments and any BSEE-approved work you will do.

(i) If we encounter higher or lower processing costs than anticipated, we will re-estimate our reasonable processing costs following the procedures in paragraphs (b)(1) through (4) of this section, but we will not stop ongoing processing unless you do not pay in accordance with paragraph (b)(5) of this section.

(ii) Once processing is complete, we will refund to you the amount of money that we did not spend on processing costs.

(5)(i) Consistent with the payment and billing terms provided in the final estimate, we will periodically estimate what our reasonable processing costs will be for a specific period and will bill you for that period. Payment is due to us 30 days after you receive your bill. We will stop processing your document if you do not pay the bill by the date payment is due.

(ii) If a periodic payment turns out to be more or less than our reasonable processing costs for the period, we will adjust the next billing accordingly or make a refund. Do not deduct any amount from a payment without our prior written approval.

(6) You must pay the entire fee before we will issue the final document or take final action on your application or request.

(7) You may appeal our estimated processing costs in accordance with the regulations in 43 CFR part 4. We will not process the document further until the appeal is resolved, unless you pay the fee under protest while the appeal is pending. If the appeal results in a decision changing the proposed fee, we will adjust the fee in accordance with paragraph (b)(5)(ii) of this section. If we adjust the fee downward, we will not pay interest.

Terms used in this part have the meanings as defined in this section: P>Affected State means with respect to any activities proposed, conducted, or approved under this part, any coastal State—

(1) That is, or is proposed to be, the site of gathering, transmitting, or distributing energy or is otherwise receiving, processing, refining, or transshipping products, or services derived from activities approved under this part;

(2) That is used, or is scheduled to be used, as a support base for activities approved under this part; or

(3) In which there is a reasonable probability of significant effect on land or water uses from activities approved under this part.

Alternate Use refers to the energy- or marine-related use of an existing OCS facility for activities not otherwise authorized by this title or other applicable law.

Alternate Use RUE means a right-of-use and easement issued for activities authorized under subpart J of this part or part 586.

Archaeological resource means any material remains of human life or activities that are at least 50 years of age and that are of archaeological interest (i.e., which are capable of providing scientific or humanistic understanding of past human behavior, cultural adaptation, and related topics through the application of scientific or scholarly techniques, such as controlled observation, contextual measurement, controlled collection, analysis, interpretation, and explanation).

BOEM means the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management of the Department of the Interior.

BSEE means the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement of the Department of the Interior.

Certified Verification Agent (CVA) means an individual or organization, experienced in the design, fabrication, and installation of offshore marine facilities or structures, who will conduct specified third-party reviews, inspections, and verifications in accordance with this part.

Commercial activities means, under renewable energy leases and grants, all activities associated with the generation, storage, or transmission of electricity or other energy product from a renewable energy project on the OCS, and for which such electricity or other energy product is intended for distribution, sale, or other commercial use, except for electricity or other energy product distributed or sold pursuant to technology-testing activities on a limited lease. This term also includes activities associated with all stages of development, including initial site characterization and assessment, facility construction, and project decommissioning.

Commercial lease means a lease issued under 30 CFR part 585 that specifies the terms and conditions under which a person can conduct commercial activities.

Commercial operations means the generation of electricity or other energy product for commercial use, sale, transmission, or distribution from a commercial lease.

Critical Safety Systems and Equipment means safety systems and equipment designed to prevent or ameliorate fires, spillages, or other major accidents that could result in harm to health, safety, or the environment in the area of your facilities.

Decommissioning means removing BOEM and BSEE approved facilities and returning the site of the lease or grant to a condition that meets the requirements under subpart I of this part.

Director means the Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), of the U.S. Department of the Interior, or an official authorized to act on the Director's behalf.

Fabrication means the cutting, fitting, welding, or other assembly of project elements.

Facility means an installation that is permanently or temporarily attached to the seabed of the OCS. Facilities include any structures; devices; appurtenances; gathering, transmission, and distribution cables; pipelines; and permanently moored vessels. Any group of OCS installations interconnected with walkways, or any group of installations that includes a central or primary installation with one or more satellite or secondary installations, is a single facility. BOEM and BSEE may decide that the complexity of the installations justifies their classification as separate facilities.

Grant means a right-of-way, right-of-use and easement, or alternate use right-of-use and easement issued under the provisions of 30 CFR parts 585 or 586.

Human environment means the physical, social, and economic components, conditions, and factors that interactively determine the state, condition, and quality of living conditions, employment, and health of those affected, directly or indirectly, by activities occurring on the OCS.

Lease means an agreement authorizing the use of a designated portion of the OCS for activities allowed under this part or 30 CFR part 585. The term also means the area covered by that agreement, when the context requires.

Lessee means the holder of a lease, a BOEM-approved assignee, and, when describing the conduct required of parties engaged in activities on the lease, it also refers to the operator and all persons authorized by the holder of the lease or operator to conduct activities on the lease.

Limited lease means a lease issued under 30 CFR part 585 that specifies the terms and conditions under which a person may conduct activities on the OCS that support the production of energy, but do not result in the production of electricity or other energy product for sale, distribution, or other commercial use exceeding a limit specified in the lease.

Natural resources include, without limiting the generality thereof, renewable energy, oil, gas, and all other minerals (as defined in section 2(q) of the OCS Lands Act), and marine animal and marine plant life.

Operator means the individual, corporation, or association having control or management of activities on the lease or grant issued under 30 CFR parts 585 or 586. The operator may be a lessee, grant holder, or a contractor designated by the lessee or holder of a grant issued under 30 CFR parts 585 or 586.

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) means all submerged lands lying seaward and outside of the area of lands beneath navigable waters, as defined in section 2 of the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301), whose subsoil and seabed appertain to the United States and are subject to its jurisdiction and control.

Person means, in addition to a natural person, an association (including partnerships and joint ventures); a Federal agency; a State; a political subdivision of a State; a Native American Tribal government; or a private, public, or municipal corporation.

Project, for the purposes of defining the source of revenues to be shared, means a lease ROW, RUE, or Alternate Use RUE on which the activities authorized under this part or 30 CFR parts 585 or 586 are conducted on the OCS. The term “project” may be used elsewhere in this rule to refer to these same authorized activities, the facilities used to conduct these activities, or to the geographic area of the project, i.e., the project area.

Project Design Envelope (PDE) means a reasonable range of design parameters proposed in a lessee's plan for components of the project, such as type, dimensions, and number of wind turbine generators; foundation type; location of the export cable route; location of an onshore substation; location of the grid connection point; and construction methods and timing.

Project easement means an easement to which, upon approval of your Construction and Operations Plan (COP) or General Activities Plan (GAP), you are entitled as part of the lease for the purpose of installing, gathering, transmission, and distribution cables, pipelines, and appurtenances on the OCS as necessary for the full enjoyment of the lease.

Renewable energy means energy resources other than oil and gas and minerals as defined in 30 CFR part 580. Such resources include, but are not limited to, wind, solar, and ocean waves, tides, and current.

Revenues mean bonuses, rents, operating fees, and similar payments made in connection with a project or project area. It does not include administrative fees such as those assessed for cost recovery, civil penalties, and forfeiture of financial assurance.

Right-of-use and easement (RUE) grant means an easement issued by BOEM under 30 CFR parts 585 or 586 that authorizes use of a designated portion of the OCS to support activities on a lease or other use authorization for renewable energy activities. The term also means the area covered by the authorization.

Right-of-way (ROW) grant means an authorization issued by BOEM under 30 CFR part 585 to use a portion of the OCS for the construction and use of a cable or pipeline for the purpose of gathering, transmitting, distributing, or otherwise transporting electricity or other energy product generated or produced from renewable energy, but does not constitute a project easement under 30 CFR part 585. The term also means the area covered by the authorization.

Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior or an official authorized to act on the Secretary's behalf.

Significant archaeological resource means an archaeological resource that meets the criteria of significance for eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, as defined in 36 CFR 60.4, or its successor.

Site assessment activities means those initial activities conducted to assess an area on the OCS, such as resource assessment surveys (e.g., meteorological and oceanographic) or technology testing, involving the installation of bottom-founded facilities.

We, us, and our refer to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement of the Department of the Interior, or its possessive, depending on the context.

You and your means an applicant, lessee, the operator, or designated operator, ROW grant holder, RUE grant holder, or Alternate Use RUE grant holder under 30 CFR parts 585 or 586, or the designated agent of any of these, or the possessive of each, depending on the context. The terms you and your also include contractors and subcontractors of the entities specified in the preceding sentence.

(a) BSEE will make data and information available in accordance with the requirements and subject to the limitations of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552) and the regulations contained in 43 CFR part 2.

(b) BSEE will not release such data and information that we have determined is exempt from disclosure under exemption 4 of FOIA. We will review such data and information and objections of the submitter by the following schedule to determine whether release at that time will result in substantial competitive harm or disclosure of trade secrets.

(c) After considering any objections from the submitter, if we determine that release of such data and information will result in:

(1) No substantial competitive harm or disclosure of trade secrets, then the data and information will be released.

(2) Substantial competitive harm or disclosure of trade secrets, then the data and information will not be released at that time but will be subject to further review every 3 years thereafter.

(a) The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the information collection requirements in 30 CFR part 285 under 43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq. and assigned OMB Control Number 1014-0034. The table in paragraph (e) of this section lists the subparts in the rule requiring the information and its title, summarizes the reasons for collecting the information, and summarizes how BSEE uses the information.

(b) Respondents are primarily renewable energy applicants, lessees, ROW grant holders, RUE grant holders, Alternate Use RUE grant holders, and operators. The requirement to respond to the information collection in this part is mandated under subsection 8(p) of the OCS Lands Act. Some responses are also required to obtain or retain a benefit, or may be voluntary.

(c) The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) requires us to inform the public that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and you are not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

(d) Comments regarding any aspect of the collections of information under this part, including suggestions for reducing the burden, should be sent to the Information Collection Clearance Officer, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, 45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, VA 20166.

(e) BSEE is collecting this information for the reasons given in the following table:

Certain material is incorporated by reference into this part with the approval of the Director of the Federal Register under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. All approved incorporation by reference (IBR) material is available for inspection at BSEE and at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Contact BSEE at: BSEE, 45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, Virginia 20166, phone: 703-787-1665. For information on the availability of this material at NARA, visit www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations.html or email [email protected]. The material is available from the American Petroleum Institute (API), 200 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20001-5571; phone (202) 682-8000; website: www.api.org or https://publications.api.org.

(a) API RP 2A-WSD, Recommended Practice for Planning, Designing and Constructing Fixed Offshore Platforms—Working Stress Design; Twenty-first Edition, December 2000; Errata and Supplement 1, December 2002; Errata and Supplement 2, September 2005; Errata and Supplement 3, October 2007. IBR approved for § 285.825(a), (b).

(b) [Reserved]

BSEE may publish a request for information (RFI) in the Federal Register to solicit information from industry, State and local agencies, federally recognized Tribes, and other interested entities for evaluating the offshore renewable energy industry, including the identification of potential challenges or obstacles to its continued development. An RFI may relate to the identification of environmental, technical, regulatory, or economic matters that promote or detract from continued development of renewable energy technologies on the OCS. BSEE may use the information received to refine its renewable energy program, including to facilitate OCS renewable energy development in a safe and environmentally responsible manner and to ensure a fair return to the United States for use of the OCS.

If a court holds any provisions of this subpart or their applicability to any persons or circumstances invalid, the remainder of the provisions and their applicability to any persons or circumstances will not be affected.

(a) Any party adversely affected by a final decision issued by BSEE under this part may appeal that decision to the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA), under 30 CFR part 290 and 43 CFR part 4, subpart E.

(b) Any final decision will remain in full force and effect during the pendency of an appeal unless a stay is granted pursuant to 43 CFR part 4.