[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 16, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34152-34154]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14528]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service (MMS)


Record of Decision for the Cape Wind Energy Project; Secretary of 
the Interior's Response to Comments From the Advisory Council on 
Historic Preservation on the Cape Wind Energy Project

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Record of Decision (ROD) 
and Notice to the Public of the Secretary of the Interior's Response to 
Comments From the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the regulations implementing the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the MMS is announcing the 
availability of the ROD for the Cape Wind Energy Project (the Project). 
The ROD for the Project records the decisions that the MMS reached to

[[Page 34153]]

select the Preferred Alternative at Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound 
described in its Final Environmental Impact Statement (January 2009). 
After careful consideration of all the concerns expressed during the 
lengthy review and consultation process and thorough analyses of the 
many factors involved, the Secretary approved the ROD finding that the 
public benefits weigh in favor of approving the Cape Wind Project at 
the Horseshoe Shoal location. The MMS will offer a commercial lease to 
Cape Wind Associates, LLC (CWA) in response to CWA's application. The 
CWA's rights to construct and operate the Project pursuant to the lease 
are subject to construction and operation approvals from the MMS. The 
Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary) and the Director of the MMS 
co-signed the ROD for the Project on April 28, 2010.
    In accordance with the regulations implementing Section 106 of the 
National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA), the public is also 
notified that on April 28, 2010, the Secretary responded to the April 
2, 2010, comments of the ACHP concerning the Project. The ACHP provided 
comments to the Secretary following his termination of the Section 106 
consultation on March 1, 2010. The Secretary's response explains his 
decision and indicates how the ACHP's comments were taken into account 
in his consideration of the effects of the project on historical and 
cultural resources. The Secretary provides a detailed response for each 
of the ACHP's comments and recommendations.

    Authority: The NOA of the ROD is published pursuant to the 
regulations at 40 CFR 1506.6, implementing the provisions of NEPA 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). The Notice to the Public of the Secretary 
of the Interior's Response to the ACHP is published pursuant to the 
regulations at 36 CFR 800.7(c)(4)(iii), implementing the provisions 
of NHPA (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Cape Wind Energy Project Description

    Following the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) and 
amendments to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), the 
Department of the Interior (the Department) was given statutory 
authority to issue leases, easements, or rights-of-way for renewable 
energy projects on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The Secretary 
delegated this authority to the MMS. Subsequent to the enactment of 
EPAct, the MMS finalized regulations to process and permit offshore 
renewable energy projects in 2009. The CWA submitted an application to 
the MMS in 2005, prior to the promulgation of those regulations, to 
construct, operate, and eventually decommission an offshore wind power 
facility on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound, offshore of 
Massachusetts.
    The Project will be located completely on the OCS, except for 
transmission cables which will pass through Massachusetts' territory. 
The project calls for 130 3.6 megawatt wind turbine generators, each 
with a maximum blade height of 440 feet, to be arranged in a grid 
pattern in approximately 25 square miles of Nantucket Sound. With a 
maximum electric output of 468 megawatts and an average anticipated 
output of 182 megawatts, the facility is projected to generate up to 
three-quarters of the Cape and nearby islands' electricity needs. Each 
of the 130 wind turbine generators will generate electricity 
independently. Solid dielectric submarine inner-array cables from each 
wind turbine generator will interconnect within the array and terminate 
on an electrical service platform, which will serve as the common 
interconnection point for all of the wind turbines. The submarine 
transmission cable system from the electric service platform to the 
landfall location in Yarmouth will be approximately 12.5 miles in 
length (7.6 miles of which will fall within Massachusetts' territory).

Record of Decision

    The decision to offer a commercial lease is based on the 
comprehensive environmental evaluation presented in the Final Cape Wind 
Energy Project Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). The FEIS assessed 
the physical, biological, and socioeconomic impacts of the proposed 
project and 13 alternatives, including a no-action alternative. Since 
the FEIS was published in January 2009, the MMS prepared an 
Environmental Assessment (April 2010) to evaluate whether the MMS 
needed to supplement the FEIS based on new information pertaining to 
the project. The MMS determined that there was no new information that 
necessitated a reanalysis of the range of the alternatives or the 
kinds, levels, or locations of the impacts of the project and that the 
analyses, potential impacts, and conclusions detailed in the FEIS were 
still valid. The MMS concluded that a supplemental EIS was not 
required.
    The ROD summarizes the alternatives considered, the decision, the 
basis for the decision, the environmentally preferable alternative, 
adopted mitigation measures, and bureau undertakings to involve the 
public, other Federal and state agencies, and affected Indian tribes. 
The ROD discusses the Secretary and MMS's careful balancing of the need 
to diversify the Nation's energy portfolio, advance energy 
independence, combat climate change, and create jobs with the need to 
protect and preserve the rich environmental and cultural resources in 
Nantucket Sound. The ROD identifies and adopts a suite of mitigation 
measures and monitoring requirements deemed practicable to avoid or 
minimize the environmental harm that could result from the project.
    Prior to construction and commercial operation of facilities, CWA 
must submit, and obtain the MMS's approval of, its Construction and 
Operations Plan (COP). The MMS reserves the right to approve, 
disapprove, or approve with modifications the COP, pursuant to the 
Renewable Energy Final Rule and other applicable regulations.

Secretary of the Interior's Response to the Advisory Council on 
Historic Preservation (ACHP)

    The ACHP provided comments and recommendations to the Secretary 
concerning the potential adverse effects of the Project, following the 
Secretary's decision to terminate Section 106 consultations. In its 
comments and recommendations, the ACHP indicated that the effects on 
historic properties and cultural resources from the Project would be 
direct and indirect, could not be avoided, and could not be 
satisfactorily mitigated. The ACHP reached this conclusion based on its 
finding that the project would adversely affect the viewsheds of 34 
historic and/or traditional cultural properties in the area and 
potentially adversely affect other cultural resources located on the 
seafloor or buried in the Nantucket Sound. Regulations at 36 CFR 
800.7(c)(4), implementing Section 106 of the NHPA, require the 
Secretary to prepare a response to the ACHP and make that response 
available to the public. The Secretary's response, transmitted on April 
28, 2010, describes the Department and the MMS's efforts to identify, 
assess, avoid, and minimize potential impacts on traditional cultural 
resources and historic properties. The Department and the MMS 
participated in numerous Section 106 meetings with consulting and 
interested parties, as well as Government-to-Government meetings with 
the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and the Mashpee Wampanoag 
Tribe. The Department complied with the Section 106 process for the 
Project. The Secretary took into

[[Page 34154]]

account the Council's comments and documented the decision.
    The Secretary's response provides a detailed description of project 
design changes and mitigation measures adopted by the MMS, as well as 
other Federal and state agencies to avoid and minimize potential visual 
and bottom-disturbing impacts.

Availability of the ROD and Secretary's Response

    To obtain a single printed copy of the ROD or the Secretary's 
Response to the ACHP, you may contact the Minerals Management Service, 
Office of Offshore Alternative Energy Programs (Mail Stop 4080), 381 
Elden Street, Herndon, Virginia 20170. An electronic copy of the ROD 
and Secretary's Response is available at the MMS's Web site at: http://www.doi.gov/news/doinews/Secretary-Salazar-Announces-Approval-of-Cape-Wind-Energy-Project-on-Outer-Continental-Shelf-off-Massachusetts.cfm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Minerals Management Service, Ms. 
Maureen Bornholdt, Office of Offshore Alternative Energy Programs, 381 
Elden Street, Herndon, Virginia 20170, (703) 787-1300.

    Dated: June 7, 2010.
Robert P. LaBelle,
Acting Associate Director for Offshore Energy and Minerals Management.
[FR Doc. 2010-14528 Filed 6-15-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P