Mini-SOW_AT-23-04 Baseline Recreation Tourism GoME_Final.docx

STATEMENT OF WORK

Baseline Tourism and Recreation Along the Gulf of Maine (AT-23-04) The Environmental Studies Program (ESP) of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is offering a cooperative agreement opportunity to collect baseline information about tourism and recreation around the Gulf of Maine. The baseline information will be used to evaluate the impacts of offshore wind development anticipated to occur in the next five to ten years. The mission of BOEM is to manage the exploration and development of the nation’s offshore resources in a way that appropriately balances economic development, energy independence and environmental protection through oil and gas leases and renewable energy development. ESP environmental studies and associated reviews support the decision-making behind the management of the nation’s offshore resources.

AUTHORITIES

Section 1346 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) 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 oil and gas or other mineral development. In 2005, OCSLA was amended to included renewable energy by section 388 of the Energy Policy Act. OCSLA Section 1345 authorizes the use of cooperative agreements with affected States to meet the requirements of OCSLA, including sharing of information and joint utilization of available expertise to carry out applicable Federal and State laws, regulations, and stipulations relevant to outer continental shelf operations both onshore and offshore. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making decisions. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is the federal agency established to conduct Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) lease sales and to assess the environmental and socioeconomic consequences of OCS activities. BOEM also approves offshore wind construction and operations plans after a review under NEPA.

BACKGROUND

Potential impacts to tourism and recreation are a concern expressed by coastal communities. Tourism and recreation is the largest source of revenue in many coastal communities. Evaluation of the potential impacts requires baseline information about the recreation and tourism as well as further measurements during/post construction to determine the existence and nature of impacts. BOEM collected some baseline information about tourism and recreation to provide baseline information (ICF Incorporated, LLC. 2012), but this did not include the Gulf of Maine. The 2018 BOEM report, Methodology for Analyzing the Effects of Block Island Wind Farm (BIWF) on Rhode Island Recreation and Tourism Activities (Smythe et al. 2018), identifies an extensive list of potential indicators of tourism and recreation impacts and notes the importance of establishing baseline data prior to development. BOEM held the first task force meeting for the Gulf of Maine in December of 2019 and anticipates offshore wind development to occur within the next decade in the area. Since BOEM is in the early stages of planning, this provides an opportunity to apply the methodology developed in the BOEM report.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study is to establish baseline information about tourism and recreation prior to offshore wind development following recommendations and using techniques identified in a previous BOEM study (Smythe et al. 2018). The baseline will be used for comparative purposes after the first few major projects are constructed. The previous study proposed a suite of social indicators to use as a baseline for evaluating impacts. This study will provide the opportunity to use those indicators to target the collection of information.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study is to enhance our understanding of impacts on the human environment, specifically tourism and recreation, through a longitudinal study of the areas surrounding the Gulf of Maine. The study may address the following research questions:

1. How does the construction and operation of a large Outer Continental Shelf wind farm impact the use of the area for recreation and tourism?

2. What is the nature of the impact (e.g., significance, persistence, qualitative change)? The baseline information should be collected in a manner that allows this question to be addressed.

3. Are the indicators valid (i.e., do they measure what they are intended to measure)? Are some indicators more sensitive than other indicators to development and/or operations activity?

4. Is there regional variation? Do impacts or relationships appear to be patterned? Does socioeconomic (i.e., social, cultural, historic, economic) context play a discernible role in the impacts?

DESCRIPTION OF WORK

This research will enable observation, and documentation of the human environment, specifically focused on tourism and recreation, in the Gulf of Maine pre-development, with the intent to be able to discern changes during construction and for several years after operations. These observations will establish baseline conditions and will characterize conditions over multiple years, allowing BOEM to capture trends and gauge change through time.

This study would be organized into three phrases: study design, data collection & analysis, and closeout. The ‘study design’ phase would include a body of integrated and iterative activity, namely: site selection; stakeholder engagement; indicator identification, refinement, and testing; and development of a sensitivity assessment (vetting the accuracy and reliability measurement). The ‘data collection and analysis’ phase would include the following: collection of primary and secondary data capturing baseline conditions (pre-construction); conditions during construction and operations; and analysis—along with simultaneous sensitivity testing. The ‘closeout’ phase would include final analysis, synthesis, and report writing.

TASKS

The project applicants will describe the tasks necessary to accomplish the listed objectives and within the general methodology described above.

DELIVERABLES

Deliverable products shall be submitted to the e-mail addresses shown below. Schedule of deliverables will be determined based upon the proposals. It is generally anticipated that projects will not be longer than 30 months in duration. Deliverables may be added or subtracted based upon the proposals received and accepted.

Deliverable

Distribution

Due Date

Project Management Plan/Post Award Meeting with BOEM

Chief, DES—One (1) electronic copy ESP Representative – One (1) electronic copy COR—One (1) electronic copy CO—One (1) electronic copy

Meeting is held via virtual application TBD in concert with BOEM.

Within 3 weeks of award.

Quarterly Status Reports and Update Meetings

ESPR - One (1) electronic copy

COR—One (1) electronic copy

Meetings are held by Teleconference or virtual application TBD in concert with BOEM

The first report shall be due thirty (30) days after submission of the Post award meeting summary. Subsequent reports are due within 1 week of the end of each quarter of the Federal budget calendar. Update meetings are held within 7 calendar days of receiving Quarterly report.

Draft Journal Article or Oral Presentations

ESPR—One (1) paper copy and One (1) electronic copy of the Draft Journal Article or Oral Presentation (abstract and if created MS PowerPoint presentation) COR—One (1) electronic copy of draft manuscript(s) or oral presentation abstract(s) in MS Word format including associated tables and figures, two (2) paper copies and one (1) electronic copy of journal publications, one (1) electronic copy of final oral presentation(s) CO—One (1) copy of transmittal letter only

Draft oral presentation abstract(s) or draft manuscript(s) including associated tables and figures to be sent to COR for courtesy review prior to formal submission, and may be done at any point in the contract, or at the conclusion Journal publication(s) to be sent to Chief, DES and COR at any point in the contract, or at the conclusion Final electronic copies of oral presentation(s) and associated abstract(s) to be sent to the COR within 14 days of the presentation

Draft Outline for Final Report

, ESPR—One (1) electronic copy

50 months after contract award

Final Outline for Final Report

ESPR—One (1) electronic copy

52 months after contract award

Draft Report

, ESPR—One (1) electronic copy (MS Word), and one (1) paper copy COR—Six (6) paper copies, and one (1) electronic copy (MS Word)

54 months after contract award

Final Report

Chief, DES – One (1) electronic copy (PDF)

EPSR—Two (2) electronic copies (MS Word and PDF), and one (1) paper copy COR—Six (6) paper copies, and one (1) electronic copy (MS Word) CO—One (1) copy of transmittal letter only

59 months after contract award

REFERENCES

ICF Incorporated, LLC. 2012. Atlantic Region wind energy development: recreation and tourism economic baseline development. Herndon (VA): U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. 35 p. Report No.: OCS Study BOEM 2012-085.

Industrial Economics, Inc. 2012. Identification of Outer Continental Shelf renewable energy space-use conflicts and analysis of potential mitigation measures. Herndon (VA): U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. 414 p. Report No.: OCS Study BOEM 2012-083.

Parsons G, Firestone J. 2018. Atlantic offshore wind energy development: values and implications for recreation and tourism. Sterling (VA): U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. 52 p. Report No.: OCS Study BOEM 2018-013.

Smythe T, Smith H, Moore A, Bidwell D, McCann J. 2018. Analysis of the effects of Block Island Wind Farm (BIWF) on Rhode Island recreation and tourism activities. Sterling (VA): U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. 88 p. Report No.: OCS Study BOEM 2018-068

BUDGET

FY23: $300,000

FY24: $300,000

FY25: $200,000

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR DELIVERABLES

Contracting Officer (CO) for BOEM Ms. Paula Barksdale Contract Specialist U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement Acquisition Policy and Financial Assistance Branch 45600 Woodland Rd., VAE-AMD Sterling, Virginia 20170 Email: Paula.Barksdale@bsee.gov Phone: 703-787-1743

Project Officer (PO), BOEM Dr. Mary Boatman Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Office of Renewable Energy Program 45600 Woodland Road, MS VAM-OREP Sterling, VA 20166 Office phone: 703-787-1662 e-mail: mary.boatman@boem.gov

Chief, DES, BOEM Chief, Division of Environmental Sciences U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) 45600 Woodland Road, MS VAM-OEP Sterling, Virginia 20166 Environmentalstudiesprogram2@boem.gov

DES Contact, BOEM Dr. John Primo Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Division of Environmental Sciences 45600 Woodland Road, MS VAM-OEP Sterling, VA 20166 Office phone: 703-787-1624 Email: john.primo@boem.gov