Sand and Gravel Resource Identification and Mapping in Long Bay, Offshore North Carolina and South Carolina, for Coastal Resilience Projects and Multi-use Conflict Mitigation

Description

The Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is responsible for managing energy and mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). BOEM’s mission is to promote economic development and energy independence while ensuring protection of the environment. The Marine Minerals Program (MMP) within BOEM provides negotiated agreements for OCS sediment resources used in coastal restoration efforts. The MMP continues to look for better ways to serve the American people and to ensure that the nation receives the best value for its resources now and into the future. The Program provides information to support decision-making not only within the Department of the Interior, but also to coastal states and local governments to ensure the responsible use of OCS resources for coastal restoration activities.The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) Section 1346 mandates the conduct of environmental and socioeconomic studies needed for the assessment and management of environmental impacts on the human, marine, and coastal environments which may be affected by offshore energy or other mineral development. OCSLA Section 1345 authorizes the use of cooperative agreements with affected States to meet the requirements of OCSLA, including sharing of information, joint utilization of available expertise, and stipulations relevant to outer shelf operations both onshore and offshore.Cooperative partnerships with states, through either a state agency or institution of higher learning, to conduct marine minerals investigations have successfully been completed since 1994.Purpose: The principal purpose is to manage OCS sand resources. BOEM, through its MMP, conveys the rights to OCS sand, gravel, or shell resources to local, state, or Federal agencies, for use in shore protection and coastal restoration projects. BOEM must analyze and minimize to the maximum extent practicable any potential negative effects of these activities under the requirements on the National Environmental Policy Act and other environmental laws, such as the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.This cooperative agreement will evaluate the impact of subsurface units on the formation and distribution of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) sand resources in Long Bay, North and South Carolina. Multiple federal projects utilizing OCS sand are ongoing within Long Bay and recently award wind energy leases offshore of North Carolina and a wind call area offshore of South Carolina are accelerating the need to identify and define the location of beach nourishment quality sand and suspected areas for further consideration. Accelerated activity and coordination of renewable transmission routs is necessitating that resource areas are identified for coastal resilience projects well n advance, so that the most compatible and cost-effective resources are identified and reserved for use.

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