42 U.S.C. § 9117 : US Code - Section 9117: Protection of the environment

Search 42 U.S.C. § 9117 : US Code - Section 9117: Protection of the environment

(a) Environmental assessment program
The Administrator shall initiate a program to assess the effects
on the environment of ocean thermal energy conversion facilities
and plantships. The program shall include baseline studies of
locations where ocean thermal energy conversion facilities or
plantships are likely to be sited or operated; and research; and
monitoring of the effects of ocean thermal energy conversion
facilities and plantships in actual operation. The purpose of the
program shall be to assess the environmental effects of individual
ocean thermal energy facilities and plantships, and to assess the
magnitude of any cumulative environmental effects of large numbers
of ocean thermal energy facilities and plantships.
(b) Program purposes
The program shall be designed to determine, among other things -
(1) any short-term and long-term effects on the environment
which may occur as a result of the operation of ocean thermal
energy conversion facilities and plantships;
(2) the nature and magnitude of any oceanographic, atmospheric,
weather, climatic, or biological changes in the environment which
may occur as a result of deployment and operation of large
numbers of ocean thermal energy conversion facilities and
plantships;
(3) the nature and magnitude of any oceanographic, biological
or other changes in the environment which may occur as a result
of the operation of electric transmission cables and equipment
located in the water column or on or in the seabed, including the
hazards of accidentally severed transmission cables; and
(4) whether the magnitude of one or more of the cumulative
environmental effects of deployment and operation of large
numbers of ocean thermal energy conversion facilities and
plantships requires that an upper limit be placed on the number
or total capacity of such facilities or plantships to be licensed
under this chapter for simultaneous operation, either overall or
within specific geographic areas.
(c) Plan submittal to Congress
Within 180 days after August 3, 1980, the Administrator shall
prepare a plan to carry out the program described in subsections
(a) and (b) of this section, including necessary funding levels for
the next 5 fiscal years, and submit the plan to the Congress.
(d) Reduction of program to minimum necessary level
The program established by subsections (a) and (b) of this
section shall be reduced to the minimum necessary to perform
baseline studies and to analyze monitoring data, when the
Administrator determines that the program has resulted in
sufficient knowledge to make the determinations enumerated in
subsection (b) of this section with an acceptable level of
confidence.
(e) Environmental impact statement
The issuance of any license for ownership, construction, and
operation of an ocean thermal energy conversion facility or
plantship shall be deemed to be a major Federal action
significantly affecting the quality of the human environment for
purposes of section 4332(2)(C) of this title. For all timely
applications covering proposed facilities in a single application
area, and for each application relating to a proposed plantship,
the Administrator shall, pursuant to such section 4332(2)(C) of
this title and in cooperation with other involved Federal agencies
and departments, prepare a single environmental impact statement,
which shall fulfill the requirement of all Federal agencies in
carrying out their responsibilities pursuant to this chapter to
prepare an environmental impact statement. Each such draft
environmental impact statement relating to proposed facilities
shall be prepared and published within 180 days after notice of the
initial application has been published pursuant to section 9112(d)
of this title. Each such draft environmental impact statement
relating to a proposed plantship shall be prepared and published
within 180 days after notice of the application has been published
pursuant to section 9112(d) of this title. Each final environmental
impact statement shall be published not later than 90 days
following the date on which public hearings are concluded pursuant
to section 9112(g) of this title. The Administrator may extend the
deadline for publication of a specific draft or final environmental
impact statement to a later specified time for good cause shown in
writing.
(f) Discharge of pollutants
An ocean thermal energy conversion facility or plantship licensed
under this subchapter shall be deemed not to be a "vessel or other
floating craft" for the purposes of section 1362(12)(B) of title
33.