42 U.S.C. § 9112
The Administrator shall, after consultation with the Secretary of Energy and the heads of other Federal agencies, issue regulations to carry out the purposes and provisions of this chapter, in accordance with the provisions of section 553 of title 5, without regard to subsection (a) thereof. Such regulations shall pertain to, but need not be limited to, application for issuance, transfer, renewal, suspension, and termination of licenses. Such regulations shall provide for full consultation and cooperation with all other interested Federal agencies and departments and with any potentially affected coastal State, and for consideration of the views of any interested members of the general public. The Administrator is further authorized, consistent with the purposes and provisions of this chapter, to amend or rescind any such regulation. The Administrator shall complete issuance of final regulations to implement this chapter within 1 year of August 3, 1980.
The Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating may, if he determines it to be necessary, prescribe regulations consistent with the purposes of this chapter, relating to those activities in site evaluation and preconstruction testing at potential ocean thermal energy conversion facility or plantship locations that may (1) adversely affect the environment; (2) interfere with other reasonable uses of the high seas or with authorized uses of the Outer Continental Shelf; or (3) pose a threat to human health and safety. If the Administrator prescribes regulations relating to such activities, such activities may not be undertaken after the effective date of such regulations except in accordance therewith.
Not later than 60 days after August 3, 1980, the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, the Secretary of the Interior, the Chief of Engineers of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and the heads of any other Federal departments or agencies having expertise concerning, or jurisdiction over, any aspect of the construction or operation of ocean thermal energy conversion facilities or plantships, shall transmit to the Administrator written description of their expertise or statutory responsibilities pursuant to this chapter or any other Federal law.
An application filed with the Administrator shall constitute an application for all Federal authorizations required for ownership, construction, and operation of an ocean thermal energy conversion facility or plantship, except for authorizations required by documentation, inspection, certification, construction, and manning laws and regulations administered by the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating. At the time notice of any application is published pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, the Administrator shall forward a copy of such application to those Federal agencies and departments with jurisdiction over any aspect of such ownership, construction, or operation for comment, review, or recommendation as to conditions and for such other action as may be required by law. Each agency or department involved shall review the application and, based upon legal considerations within its area of responsibility, recommend to the Administrator the approval or disapproval of the application not later than 45 days after public hearings are concluded pursuant to subsection (g) of this section. In any case in which an agency or department recommends disapproval, it shall set forth in detail the manner in which the application does not comply with any law or regulation within its area of responsibility and shall notify the Administrator of the manner in which the application may be amended or the license conditioned so as to bring it into compliance with the law or regulation involved.
A license may be issued, transferred, or renewed only after public notice, opportunity for comment, and public hearings in accordance with this subsection. At least one such public hearing shall be held in the District of Columbia and in any adjacent coastal State to which a facility is proposed to be directly connected by pipeline or electric transmission cable. Any interested person may present relevant material at any such hearing. After the hearings required by this subsection are concluded, if the Administrator determines that there exist one or more specific and material factual issues which may be resolved by a formal evidentiary hearing, at least one adjudicatory hearing shall be held in the District of Columbia in accordance with the provisions of section 554 of title 5. The record developed in any such adjudicatory hearing shall be part of the basis for the Administrator's decision to approve or deny a license. Hearings held pursuant to this subsection shall be consolidated insofar as practicable with hearings held by other agencies. All public hearings on all applications with respect to facilities for any designated application area shall be consolidated and shall be concluded not later than 240 days after notice of the initial application has been published pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. All public hearings on applications with respect to ocean thermal energy conversion plantships shall be concluded not later than 240 days after notice of the application has been published pursuant to subsection (d) of this section.
The Administrator shall not take final action on any application unless the applicant has paid to the Administrator a reasonable administrative fee, which shall be deposited into miscellaneous receipts of the Treasury. The amount of the fee imposed by the Administrator on any applicant shall reflect the reasonable administrative costs incurred by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in reviewing and processing the application.
42 U.S.C. § 9112
EDITORIAL NOTES
REFERENCES IN TEXTThis chapter, referred to in subsecs. (a) to (c) and (i)(1), (2), was in the original "this Act", meaning Pub. L. 96-320, Aug. 3, 1980, 94 Stat. 974, known as the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Act of 1980, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 9101 of this title and Tables.
AMENDMENTS1984-Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 98-623 substituted "The Administrator shall not take final action on any application unless the applicant has paid to the Administrator a reasonable administrative fee" for "Each person applying for a license pursuant to this chapter shall remit to the Administrator at the time the application is filed a nonrefundable application fee" and "imposed by the Administrator on any applicant shall reflect the reasonable administrative costs incurred by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration" for "shall be established by regulation by the Administrator, and shall reflect the reasonable administrative costs incurred".
STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES
TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONSFor transfer of authorities, functions, personnel, and assets of the Coast Guard, including the authorities and functions of the Secretary of Transportation relating thereto, to the Department of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see sections 468(b), 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Security, and the Department of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6.
- adjacent coastal State
- "adjacent coastal State" means any coastal State which is required to be designated as such by section 9115(a)(1) of this title or is designated as such by the Administrator in accordance with section 9115(a)(2) of this title;
- application
- "application" means any application submitted under this chapter (A) for issuance of a license for the ownership, construction, and operation of an ocean thermal energy conversion facility or plantship; (B) for transfer or renewal of any such license; or (C) for any substantial change in any of the conditions and provisions of any such license;
- coastal State
- "coastal State" means a State in, or bordering on, the Atlantic, Pacific, or Arctic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, Long Island Sound, or one or more of the Great Lakes;
- construction
- "construction" means any activities conducted at sea to supervise, inspect, actually build, or perform other functions incidental to the building, repairing, or expanding of an ocean thermal energy conversion facility or plantship or any of its components, including but not limited to, piledriving, emplacement of mooring devices, emplacement of cables and pipelines, and deployment of the cold water pipe, and alterations, modifications, or additions to an ocean thermal energy conversion facility or plantship;
- facility
- "facility" means an ocean thermal energy conversion facility;
- high seas
- "high seas" means that part of the oceans lying seaward of the territorial sea of the United States and outside the territorial sea, as recognized by the United States, of any other nation;
- ocean thermal energy conversion facility
- "ocean thermal energy conversion facility" means any facility which is standing, fixed or moored in whole or in part seaward of the highwater mark and which is designed to use temperature differences in ocean water to produce electricity or another form of energy capable of being used directly to perform work, and includes any equipment installed on such facility to use such electricity or other form of energy to produce, process, refine, or manufacture a product, and any cable or pipeline used to deliver such electricity, fresh water, or product to shore, and all other associated equipment and appurtenances of such facility, to the extent they are located seaward of the highwater mark;
- ocean thermal energy conversion plantship
- "ocean thermal energy conversion plantship" means any vessel which is designed to use temperature differences in ocean water while floating unmoored or moving through such water, to produce electricity or another form of energy capable of being used directly to perform work, and includes any equipment installed on such vessel to use such electricity or other form of energy to produce, process, refine, or manufacture a product, and any equipment used to transfer such product to other vessels for transportation to users, and all other associated equipment and appurtenances of such vessel;
- person
- "person" means any individual (whether or not a citizen of the United States), any corporation, partnership, association, or other entity organized or existing under the laws of any nation, and any Federal, State, local or foreign government or any entity of any such government;
- plantship
- "plantship" means an ocean thermal energy conversion plantship;
- thermal plume
- "thermal plume" means the area of the ocean in which a significant difference in temperature, as defined in regulations by the Administrator, occurs as a result of the operation of an ocean thermal energy conversion facility or plantship; and
- Administrator
- The term "Administrator" means the Administrator of General Services.
- Secretary
- The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.1See References in Text note below.