Notice of Availability of a Joint Record of Decision for the Final Environment Impact Statement for the Vineyard Wind 1 Offshore Wind Energy Project Construction and Operations Plan

Published date14 May 2021
Citation86 FR 26541
Record Number2021-10192
SectionNotices
CourtInterior Department,Ocean Energy Management Bureau
Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 92 (Friday, May 14, 2021)
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 92 (Friday, May 14, 2021)]
                [Notices]
                [Pages 26541-26542]
                From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
                [FR Doc No: 2021-10192]
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                DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
                Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
                [Docket No. BOEM-2021-0036]
                Notice of Availability of a Joint Record of Decision for the
                Final Environment Impact Statement for the Vineyard Wind 1 Offshore
                Wind Energy Project Construction and Operations Plan
                AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Interior; New England
                District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Defense; National
                Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Commerce.
                ACTION: Notice of availability (NOA); record of decision (ROD).
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                SUMMARY: BOEM announces the availability of the joint ROD on the final
                environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the construction and
                operations plan (COP) submitted by Vineyard Wind LLC (Vineyard Wind).
                The joint ROD includes the decisions of the Department of the Interior
                (DOI), USACE, and NMFS regarding the Vineyard Wind COP. The USACE has
                adopted the FEIS to support its permitting actions under the River and
                Harbors Act of 1899 (RHA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA). NMFS has
                adopted the FEIS to support its decision to issue an incidental take
                authorization under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The joint ROD
                concludes the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process for each
                agency and is available with associated information on BOEM's website
                at https://www.boem.gov/Vineyard-Wind/.
                FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
                 BOEM--Michelle Morin, BOEM, Office of Renewable Energy Programs,
                45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, Virginia 20166, (703) 787-1722 or
                [email protected].
                 NOAA--Candace Nachman, NOAA Fisheries Office of Policy, (301) 427-
                8031 or [email protected].
                 USACE--Christine Jacek, Regulatory Division, U.S. Army Corps of
                Engineers, 696 Virginia Road, Concord, Massachusetts 01742-2751, (978)
                318-8026, or [email protected].
                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Vineyard Wind seeks to construct, operate,
                maintain, and eventually decommission an 800-megawatt wind energy
                facility on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore Massachusetts (the
                Project). The Project and associated export cables would be developed
                within the range of design parameters outlined in the Vineyard Wind
                COP, subject to applicable mitigation measures. The Project is located
                approximately 14 miles southeast of Martha's Vineyard and a similar
                distance southwest of Nantucket. The COP proposed installing up to 100
                wind turbine generators (WTGs) and one or two offshore substations or
                electrical service platforms. The WTGs would be located in water depths
                ranging from approximately 37 to 49 meters (121 to 161 feet). The COP
                proposed one export cable landfall near the town of Barnstable,
                Massachusetts, and onshore construction and staging at the New Bedford
                Marine Commerce Terminal.
                 After carefully considering the FEIS alternatives, including
                comments from the public on the draft and supplemental EISs, DOI has
                decided to approve the COP for Vineyard Wind using a combination of
                alternatives C (No Surface Occupancy in the Northernmost Portion of the
                Project Area Alternative), D2 (East-West and One-Nautical-Mile Turbine
                Layout Alternative), and E (Reduced Project Size Alternative). BOEM
                identified this combination as its preferred alternative in the FEIS
                (Preferred Alternative). By selecting the Preferred Alternative, DOI
                will allow 84 or fewer WTGs to be installed in 100 of the 106 locations
                proposed by Vineyard Wind and will prohibit the installation of WTGs in
                6 locations in the northernmost portion of the project area. This
                decision will also require that the WTG layout be arranged in an east-
                west/north-south orientation, with a minimum spacing of 1 nautical mile
                between WTGs, consistent with the U.S. Coast Guard's recommendations in
                the final ``The Areas Offshore of Massachusetts and Rhode Island Port
                Access Route Study.'' Vineyard Wind may choose where to place the 84 or
                fewer WTGs on the remaining 100 locations available and must proceed
                within the range of the design parameters outlined in the Vineyard Wind
                COP.
                 DOI's selection of a combination of alternatives C, D2, and E as
                its Preferred Alternative meets the purpose and need as identified in
                the Vineyard Wind FEIS. The full text of the mitigation, monitoring,
                and reporting requirements that will be included in the COP approval
                are available in the joint ROD, which is available on BOEM's website
                at: https://www.boem.gov/Vineyard-Wind/.
                 NMFS has decided to adopt BOEM's FEIS and issue a final incidental
                harassment authorization (IHA) to Vineyard Wind. NMFS' final decision
                to issue the requested IHA is documented in a separate decision
                memorandum prepared in accordance with internal
                [[Page 26542]]
                NMFS policy and procedures. The IHA authorizes the incidental take of
                marine mammals while prescribing the permissible methods of incidental
                take as well as mitigation and monitoring requirements, including those
                mandated by the biological opinion issued to complete the formal
                Endangered Species Act section 7 consultation process. A notice of
                issuance of the final IHA will be published in the Federal Register.
                 The USACE has decided to adopt BOEM's FEIS and issue a Department
                of the Army (DA) permit pursuant to section 404 of the CWA (33 U.S.C.
                1344) and section 10 of the RHA (33 U.S.C. 403). The DA permit
                authorizes Vineyard Wind to discharge fill below the high tide line of
                waters of the United States and to perform work and place structures
                below the mean high-water mark of navigable waters of the United
                States. Activities under the DA permit are being authorized using a
                combination of alternatives C, D2, and E, as described in the Vineyard
                Wind FEIS. This alternative incorporates all practicable avoidance and
                minimization measures.
                 Authority: This NOA is published in accordance with 40 CFR parts
                1500-1508, implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of
                1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
                William Yancey Brown,
                Chief Environmental Officer, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
                [FR Doc. 2021-10192 Filed 5-13-21; 8:45 am]
                BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P
                

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