Notice of Availability of a Joint Record of Decision for the Proposed New England Wind Project and New England Wind Offshore Export Cable Project
| Published date | 09 April 2024 |
| Record Number | 2024-07436 |
| Citation | 89 FR 24859 |
| Court | Ocean Energy Management Bureau |
| Section | Notices |
Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 69 (Tuesday, April 9, 2024)
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24859-24860]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07436]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
[Docket No. BOEM-2024-0019]
Notice of Availability of a Joint Record of Decision for the
Proposed New England Wind Project and New England Wind Offshore Export
Cable Project
AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior; National Marine
Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Commerce; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army.
ACTION: Notice of availability; record of decision.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announces the
availability of the joint record of decision (ROD) on the final
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the construction and
operations plan (COP) submitted by Park City Wind LLC (Park City Wind)
for its proposed New England Wind Project and New England Wind Offshore
Export Cable Project (Project) offshore Massachusetts. The joint ROD
includes the Department of the Interior's (DOI) decision regarding the
New England Wind COP, the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS)
decision regarding Park City Wind's request for Incidental Take
Regulations (ITR) and an associated Letter of Authorization (LOA) under
the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), and the Department of the
Army's (DA) decision regarding authorizations under section 10 of the
Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (RHA) and section 404 of the Clean Water
Act (CWA). NMFS has adopted the final EIS to support its decision of
whether or not to promulgate the requested ITR and issue a LOA to Park
City Wind under the MMPA. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has
adopted the final EIS to support its decision to issue a DA permit
under section 10 of the RHA and section 404 of the CWA. The joint ROD
concludes the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process for each
agency.
ADDRESSES: The joint ROD and associated information are available on
BOEM's website at: https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/new-england-wind-formerly-vineyard-wind-south.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information related to BOEM's
action, please contact Jessica Stromberg, BOEM Office of Renewable
Energy Programs, 45600 Woodland Road, VAM-OREP, Sterling, Virginia
20166, (703) 787-1730 or [email protected]. For information
related to NMFS' action, contact Katherine Renshaw, National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of General Counsel,
Environmental Review and Coordination Section, (302) 515-0324,
[email protected]. For information related to USACE's action,
contact Ruth Brien, New England District Regulatory Division, (978)
318-8054 or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Park City Wind seeks approval to construct, operate, and maintain a
wind energy facility and its associated export cables on the Outer
Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New
York. The Project would be developed within the range of design
parameters outlined in the New England Wind COP, subject to the
applicable mitigation measures.
The Project as proposed in the COP would be developed in two
phases. The entire Project would include up to a combined maximum 130
positions for wind turbine generators (WTGs) and electrical service
platforms (ESPs), inter-array and inter-link cables connecting the
individual WTGs and ESPs, five offshore export cables (two for phase I
and three for phase II), onshore substations, and interconnection
cables
[[Page 24860]]
connecting to the existing electrical grid in Massachusetts.
The WTGs, offshore substation, and inter-array cables would be
located on the OCS approximately 32 kilometers (km) (20 miles (mi))
south of Martha's Vineyard and approximately 38 km (24 mi) southwest of
Nantucket, within the area defined by Renewable Energy Lease OCS-A
0534. The Project would be adjacent to the Vineyard Wind 1 (VW1)
project (OCS-A 0501). The EIS evaluates the potential to utilize
currently unused positions of the VW1 project that VW1 could assign to
the Project. The offshore export cables would be buried below the
seabed surface on the OCS and State of Massachusetts-owned submerged
lands. The onshore export cables, substations, and grid connections
would be located in Barnstable County, MA, with the possibility of a
landing site in Bristol County, MA.
BOEM considered 15 alternatives when preparing the draft EIS and
carried forward three alternatives for further analysis in the final
EIS. These three alternatives include the proposed action, one action
alternative, and the no action alternative. After carefully considering
public comments on the draft EIS and the alternatives described and
analyzed in the final EIS, DOI selected a combination of the Habitat
Minimization Alternative (Alternative C-1) and the Proposed Action
(Alternative B). This combination would limit the installation of
export cables to the Eastern Muskeget route or minimize installation of
export cables to only one in the Western Muskeget route, as described
in the Preferred Alternative in the final EIS.
The anticipated mitigation, monitoring, and reporting requirements,
which will be included in BOEM's COP approval as terms and conditions,
are included in the ROD, which is available on BOEM's website at:
https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/new-england-wind-formerly-vineyard-wind-south.
NMFS has adopted BOEM's final EIS to support its decision of
whether or not to promulgate the requested ITR and issue the associated
LOA to Park City Wind. NMFS' final decision of whether or not to
promulgate the requested ITR and issue the LOA will be documented in a
separate Decision Memorandum prepared in accordance with internal NMFS
policy and procedures. The final ITR and a notice of issuance of the
LOA, if issued, will be published in the Federal Register. The LOA
would authorize Park City Wind to take a small number of marine mammals
incidental to Project construction and would set forth permissible
methods of incidental taking; means of effecting the least practicable
adverse impact on the species and its habitat; and requirements for
monitoring and reporting. Pursuant to section 7 of the Endangered
Species Act, NMFS issued a final Biological Opinion to BOEM on February
16, 2024, evaluating the effects of the proposed action on ESA-listed
species. The proposed action in the opinion includes the associated
permits, approvals, and authorizations that may be issued.
USACE has decided to adopt BOEM's final EIS and issue permits to
Park City Wind pursuant to section 10 of the RHA and section 404 of the
CWA. The USACE permits may authorize Park City Wind to discharge fill
below the high tide line of waters of the United States. They may also
authorize Park City Wind to perform work and place structures below the
mean high water mark of navigable waters of the United States and to
affix structures to the seabed on the OCS.
Authority: National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended,
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 40 CFR 1505.2.
Karen Baker,
Chief, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management.
[FR Doc. 2024-07436 Filed 4-8-24; 8:45 am]
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