(a) An Alternate Use RUE must be issued on a competitive basis unless BOEM determines, after public notice of the proposed Alternate Use RUE, that there is no competitive interest.

(b) We will issue a public notice in the Federal Register to determine if there is competitive interest in using the proposed facility for alternate use activities. BOEM will specify a time period for members of the public to express competitive interest.

(c) If we receive indications of competitive interest within the published timeframe, we will proceed with a competitive offering. As part of such competitive offering, each competing applicant must submit a description of the types of activities proposed for the existing facility, as well as satisfactory evidence that the competing applicant qualifies to hold a lease or grant on the OCS, as required in §§585.106 and 585.107, by a date we specify. We may request additional information from competing applicants, as necessary, to adequately evaluate the competing proposals.

(d) We will evaluate all competing proposals to determine whether:

(1) The proposed activities are compatible with existing activities at the facility; and

(2) We have the expertise and resources available to regulate the activities effectively.

(e) We will evaluate all proposals under the requirements of NEPA, CZMA, and other applicable laws.

(f) Following our evaluation, we will select one or more acceptable proposals for activities involving the alternate use of an existing OCS facility, notify the competing applicants, and submit each acceptable proposal to the lessee and owner of the existing OCS facility. If the lessee and owner of the facility agree to accept a proposal, we will proceed to issue an Alternate Use RUE. If the lessee and owner of the facility are unwilling to accept any of the proposals that we deem acceptable, we will not issue an Alternate Use RUE.