[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 3, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12494-12495]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04392]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management


Notice To Resume the Preparation of a Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Construction and Operations Plan for Vineyard Wind 
LLC

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice to resume the preparation of a final environmental 
impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is resuming the 
preparation of a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the 
Construction and Operations Plan (COP) submitted by Vineyard Wind LLC 
(Vineyard Wind) concerning the construction and operation of an 800-
megawatt wind energy facility offshore Massachusetts (Vineyard Wind 1 
Project or Project).

DATES: Preparation of the FEIS resumed after BOEM completed its 
independent review of information provided in Vineyard Wind's January 
22, 2021, letter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, please 
contact: Michelle Morin, BOEM, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, 
45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, Virginia 20166, (703) 787-1722 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In December 2017, Vineyard Wind submitted a 
COP to BOEM for the Vineyard Wind 1 Project. On December 7, 2018, BOEM 
published a draft EIS for the proposed Project in accordance with the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
seq.). On June 12, 2020, BOEM published a supplement to the draft EIS 
in response to requests from the public, Federal agencies, and 
stakeholders for an expanded cumulative analysis and an analysis of 
fishing data previously unavailable to BOEM. On December 1, 2020, 
Vineyard Wind withdrew the COP ``from further review and decision-
making by BOEM pursuant to 30 CFR 585.628'' to conduct additional 
technical and logistical reviews associated with the inclusion of the 
General Electric Haliade-X wind turbine generator in the final project 
design. In its letter, Vineyard Wind stated that it required additional 
time to review updated project parameters to confirm that the 
parameters fell within the project design envelope previously reviewed 
during the BOEM NEPA analysis.

[[Page 12495]]

    In response to Vineyard Wind's December 1, 2020, letter, BOEM 
published a Federal Register notice on December 16, 2020, informing the 
public that ``preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement'' for 
the COP was ``no longer necessary'' for the sole reason that ``the COP 
ha[d] been withdrawn from review and decisionmaking.'' See 85 FR 81486 
(Dec. 16, 2020). Accordingly, BOEM ``terminated'' the ``preparation and 
completion'' of the EIS. Id.
    On January 22, 2021, Vineyard Wind notified BOEM via letter that it 
had completed its technical and logistical due diligence review and had 
concluded that inclusion of the Haliade-X turbines did not warrant any 
modifications to the COP. Vineyard Wind therefore informed BOEM that it 
was rescinding its temporary withdrawal and asked BOEM to resume its 
review of the COP. Because Vineyard Wind has indicated that its 
proposed COP is ``a decision pending before BOEM,'' BOEM is resuming 
its review of the COP under NEPA. Id. Vineyard Wind's COP and BOEM's 
draft and supplemental EISs can be found at: https://www.boem.gov/vineyard-wind.

    Authority: This notice was prepared under NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 
et seq.) and is published in accordance with Council on 
Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-508).

William Y. Brown,
Chief Environmental Officer, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[FR Doc. 2021-04392 Filed 3-2-21; 8:45 am]
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