[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 13 (Friday, January 18, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3482-3483]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-845]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service


Cape Wind Energy Project

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability (NOA) of Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement and Public Hearings for the Cape Wind Energy Project, 
Nantucket Sound, Massachusetts.

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SUMMARY: The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is announcing the 
availability of a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the 
Cape Wind Energy Project. Cape Wind Associates, LLC (CWA) has requested 
a lease, easement or right-of-way pursuant to section 8(p) of the Outer 
Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) (43 U.S.C 1337) as amended, and 
proposes to construct and operate a wind energy facility on the Outer 
Continental Shelf (OCS) in Nantucket Sound, Massachusetts. The purpose 
of the proposed project is to provide a renewable energy facility that 
utilizes the unique wind resources offshore of New England, using a 
technology that is currently available, technically feasible, and 
economically viable. The project ostensibly is designed to interconnect 
with and deliver electricity to the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL) 
grid, making a substantial contribution to enhancing the region's 
electrical reliability and achieving renewable energy requirements 
under the Massachusetts and regional renewable portfolio standards 
(RPS). The draft EIS is intended to inform the public of the proposed 
action and alternatives, including the ``no action'' alternative; 
address public comment received during the scoping period; analyze the 
direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental effects of the proposed 
action and each of the reasonable alternatives; and provide information 
to support decision-making. The MMS invites comment on the draft EIS.

    Authority: This NOA and notice of public hearings is published 
pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 as 
amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. (1988)) and regulations (40 CFR 
1506.6) implementing the provisions of NEPA.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The MMS has received a request from CWA for 
a lease, easement or right-of-way to construct and operate a wind 
energy project on Horseshoe Shoal on the OCS in Nantucket Sound, 
Massachusetts. The proposed project would consist of 130 offshore wind 
turbine generators arranged to maximize the project's full potential 
electric output of approximately 468 megawatts. Each turbine would be 
440 feet high. The array would occupy 25 square miles approximately 5 
miles off shore, in a grid where the distance between each turbine is 
proposed to be one-third mile from north to south and one-half mile 
from east to west. The wind-generated electricity from each of the 
turbines would be transmitted via a 33 kilovolt submarine transmission 
cable system to a centrally located electric service platform. This 
platform would transform and transmit electric power via two 115 
kilovolt lines extending over 12 miles to the Cape Cod mainland, where 
it would ultimately connect with the existing power grid.
    In November 2001, CWA filed a permit application with the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers (USACE), New England District, under section 10 of 
the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, in anticipation of constructing a 
wind project located on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound, 
Massachusetts. The USACE released a draft EIS concerning issuance of 
the section 10 permit in November 2004.
    Subsequently, section 388 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) 
amended the OCSLA to give the Department of the Interior authority for 
issuing leases, easements, or rights-of-way for alternative energy 
projects on the OCS. Additional information on the MMS Renewable Energy 
and Alternate Use Program can be found at http://www.mms.gov/offshore/RenewableEnergy/RenewableEnergyMain.htm. 
    After reviewing the draft EIS prepared by the USACE, which was 
completed prior to the EPAct amendment of the OCSLA, the MMS prepared 
its own EIS analyzing the potential impacts of the project under the 
broader authority granted to it under the OCSLA, as amended. The MMS 
launched a renewed scoping process by publishing in the Federal 
Register (71 FR 30693) on May 30, 2006, a notice of intent (NOI) to 
prepare this draft EIS. The 1,321 public comments received in response 
to that notice were considered and are taken into account in the draft 
EIS. The MMS also considered and took into account over 5000 public 
comments made during the review period for the USACE draft EIS, as well 
as those made at USACE public hearings held in Yarmouth, Martha's 
Vineyard, Cambridge and Nantucket, Massachusetts.
    Alongside the application of NEPA, the Massachusetts Environmental 
Policy Act (MEPA) applies to the proposed project's upland and 
submarine cable system components in Nantucket Sound out to the 3 
nautical-mile State/Federal boundary. On February 15, 2007, the 
applicant filed its Final Environmental Impact Review (FEIR) with 
Massachusetts under MEPA procedures. On March 29, 2007, the 
Massachusetts Secretary of Environmental Affairs

[[Page 3483]]

certified that the FEIR adequately and properly complies with MEPA.
    Contents of the Draft EIS: The draft EIS considers all reasonable 
alternatives to the proposed action, including other sites in the New 
England region, non-geographic alternatives at the proposed Horseshoe 
Shoal site made up of a smaller project alternative, a condensed 
configuration, phased development, and the no-action alternative. Seven 
alternatives--the proposed action, no action, a smaller project, 
condensed configuration, phased development, and alternative sites at 
Monomoy Shoals and south of Tuckernuck Island--are subjected to 
detailed analysis in this draft EIS, including an analysis of direct, 
indirect, and cumulative environmental effects.
    EIS Availability: To obtain a single printed or CD-ndash;ROM copy 
of the draft EIS, you may contact the Minerals Management Service, 
Environmental Assessment Branch (MS 4042), 381 Elden Street, Herndon, 
Virginia 20170. An electronic copy of the draft EIS is available at the 
MMS's Internet Web site at http://www.mms.gov/offshore/RenewableEnergy/CapeWind.htm, as are electronic copies of attachments to the draft EIS 
and reports used in its preparation. For a list of libraries in 
Massachusetts that were provided copies of the draft EIS, visit MMS's 
Internet Web site at http://www.mms.gov/library/ or contact MMS at the 
coordinates indicated below under the heading ``Further Information.''
    Public Hearings: The MMS will hold public hearings to receive 
comments on the draft EIS. The public hearings are scheduled as 
follows:
     Monday, March 10, 2008, at Mattacheese Middle School 
Auditorium, 400 Higgins-Crowell Road, West Yarmouth, Massachusetts, 6 
p.m.
     Tuesday, March 11, 2008, at Nantucket High School 
Auditorium, 10 Surfside Road, Nantucket, Massachusetts, 5 p.m.
     Wednesday, March 12, 2008, at Martha's Vineyard Regional 
High School Auditorium, 100 Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road, Oak Bluffs, 
Massachusetts, 5 p.m.
     Thursday, March 13, 2008, at Campus Center Ballroom, 
University of Massachusetts, Boston, 100 Morrissey Boulevard, South 
Boston, Massachusetts, 6 p.m.
    If you wish to testify at a hearing, you should register at the 
site of the hearing as soon as you arrive or pre-register by calling 
703-787-1300. Written statements submitted at a hearing will be 
considered part of the hearing record. If you are unable to attend the 
hearings, you may submit written statements (see below).
    Comments: Federal, state, local government agencies, and other 
interested parties are requested to provide their written comments on 
the draft EIS in one of the following three ways:
    1. Electronically using MMS's on-line commenting system at http://ocsconnect.mms.gov/pcs-public/. This is the preferred method for 
commenting.
    2. In written form, mailed or delivered to MMS Cape Wind Energy 
Project, TRC Environmental Corporation, Wannalancit Mills, 650 Suffolk 
Street, Lowell, Massachusetts 01854.
    3. In person at the public hearings.
    Comments should be submitted no later than insert date 60 days 
after date of publication of NOA.
    Public Comment Policy: Be advised that your entire comment--
including your personal identifying information--may be made publicly 
available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold 
from public review your personal identifying information, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. James F. Bennett, Minerals 
Management Service, Environmental Assessment Branch, 381 Elden Street, 
Mail Stop 4042, Herndon, Virginia 20710, or by phone at (703) 787-1656, 
or Dr. Rodney E. Cluck, Minerals Management Service, Alternative Energy 
Program, 381 Elden Street, Mail Stop 4080, Herndon Virginia 20170, or 
by phone at (703) 787-1300.

    Dated: January 14, 2008.
Chris C. Oynes,
Associate Director for Offshore Minerals Management.
 [FR Doc. E8-845 Filed 1-17-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P