Notice2024-04303
Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement for Park City Wind LLC's Proposed New England Wind Farm Offshore Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York
Primary source
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Published
March 1, 2024
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentOcean Energy Management Bureau
Abstract
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announces the availability of the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for Park City Wind LLC's (PCW) construction and operations plan (COP) for its proposed New England Wind Farm Project (Project) offshore Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York. The FEIS analyzes the potential environmental impacts of the Project as described in the COP (the proposed action) and the alternatives to the proposed action, including the no action alternative. The FEIS will inform BOEM's decision whether to approve, approve with modifications, or disapprove the COP.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 42 (Friday, March 1, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 42 (Friday, March 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15216-15217]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04303]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
[Docket No. BOEM-2024-0011]
Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement
for Park City Wind LLC's Proposed New England Wind Farm Offshore
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York
AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability; final environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announces the
availability of the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for
Park City Wind LLC's (PCW) construction and operations plan (COP) for
its proposed New England Wind Farm Project (Project) offshore
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York. The FEIS analyzes the
potential environmental impacts of the Project as described in the COP
(the proposed action) and the alternatives to the proposed action,
including the no action alternative. The FEIS will inform BOEM's
decision whether to approve, approve with modifications, or disapprove
the COP.
ADDRESSES: The FEIS and detailed information about the Project,
including the COP, can be found on BOEM's website at: <a href="https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/new-england-wind-formerly-vineyard-wind-south">https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/new-england-wind-formerly-vineyard-wind-south</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lindy Nelson, BOEM Office of Renewable
Energy Programs, 45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, Virginia 20166, (571)
789-6485 or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#deb2b7b0baa7f0b0bbb2adb1b09ebcb1bbb3f0b9b1a8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f99590979d80d7979c958a9697b99b969c94d79e968f">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Proposed Action: 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 a combined maximum 130 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 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) south of
Martha's Vineyard and approximately 38 km (24 miles) 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 environmental impact statement (EIS)
evaluates the potential to utilize unused positions of the VW1 project
that VW1 could reassign to the Project. The offshore export cables
would be buried below the seabed surface in the OCS and State of
Massachusetts-owned submerged lands. The onshore export cables,
substations, and grid connections would be in Barnstable, MA.
Alternatives: BOEM considered 15 alternatives when preparing the
draft EIS and carried forward three alternatives for further analysis
in the FEIS. These three alternatives include the proposed action, one
other action alternative, and the no action
[[Page 15217]]
alternative. Twelve alternatives were not analyzed in detail because
they did not meet the purpose and need for the proposed action or did
not meet screening criteria, which are presented in FEIS chapter 2. The
screening criteria included consistency with law and regulations;
technical and economic feasibility; environmental impacts; and
geographic considerations.
Availability of the FEIS: The FEIS, New England Wind COP, and
associated information are available on BOEM's website at: <a href="https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/new-england-wind-formerly-vineyard-wind-south">https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/new-england-wind-formerly-vineyard-wind-south</a>. BOEM has distributed digital copies of
the FEIS to all parties listed in FEIS appendix M. If you would like a
flash drive or paper copy, BOEM will provide one upon request, as long
as supplies are available. You may request a flash drive or paper copy
of the FEIS by contacting Lindy Nelson at 571-789-6485 or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8ee2e7e0eaf7a0e0ebe2fde1e0ceece1ebe3a0e9e1f8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="066a6f68627f2868636a756968466469636b28616970">[email protected]</span></a>.
Cooperating Agencies: The following Federal agencies and State
governmental entities participated as cooperating agencies under the
National Environmental Policy Act in the preparation of the FEIS:
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement; U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency; National Marine Fisheries Service; U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers; U.S. Coast Guard; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; New
York Department of State; Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone
Management; and Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council.
Consulting Parties: Twenty Federal agencies, Tribal Nations, State
governmental entities, and organizations participated as consulting
parties under the National Historic Preservation Act. The resolution of
adverse effects to historic properties from the Project is recorded in
a Memorandum of Agreement signed by the Director of BOEM, the
Massachusetts State Historic Preservation Officer, the Advisory Council
on Historic Preservation, and other invited and concurring signatories.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4231 et seq. (NEPA, as amended) and 40 CFR
1506.6.
Karen Baker,
Chief, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management.
[FR Doc. 2024-04303 Filed 2-29-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4340-98-P
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