[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 163 (Thursday, August 24, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57967-57968]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18244]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

[Docket No. BOEM-2023-048]


Notice of Availability of a Joint Record of Decision for the 
Revolution Wind Farm and Revolution Wind Export Cable Project

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Interior; National 
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration (NOAA), Commerce; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), 
Department of the Army (DA).

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 Revolution Wind, LLC (Revolution 
Wind) for its Revolution Wind Farm and Revolution Wind Export Cable 
Project (Project) offshore Rhode Island. The joint ROD includes the 
Department of the Interior's (DOI) decision regarding the Revolution 
Wind COP, NMFS' decision regarding Revolution Wind's request for 
Incidental Take Regulations (ITR) and an associated Letter of 
Authorization (LOA) under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), and 
the DA's decision regarding authorizations under section 10 of the 
Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (RHA) and section 404 of the Clean Water 
Act (CWA). NMFS has adopted the FEIS to support its decision of whether 
or not to promulgate ITRs and issue a LOA to Revolution Wind under the 
MMPA. USACE has adopted the FEIS to support its decision to issue a DA 
permit under section 10 of the RHA and section 404 of the CWA. 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/renewable-energy/state-activities/revolution-wind.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the Project ROD, 
please contact Jessica Stromberg, BOEM Office of Renewable Energy 
Programs, 45600 Woodland Road, VAM-OREP, Sterling, Virginia 20166, 
(703) 787-1730 or [email protected]. For information related 
to NMFS' action, contact Katherine Renshaw, NOAA Office of General 
Counsel, Environmental Review and Coordination Section, (302) 515-0324, 
[email protected]. For information related to USACE's action, 
contact Ruth Brien, New England District Regulatory Division, (978) 
318-8054 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Revolution Wind seeks approval to construct, 
operate, maintain, and eventually decommission the Project: a wind 
energy facility on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore Rhode 
Island. The Project would be developed within the range of design 
parameters outlined in the Revolution Wind COP, subject to applicable 
mitigation measures. The Project as proposed in the COP would include 
up to 100 wind turbine generators (WTGs), up to 2 offshore high voltage 
alternating current substations, inter-array cables linking the 
individual turbines to the offshore substations, one substation 
interconnector cable linking the substations to each other, offshore 
export cables, an onshore export cable system, one onshore substation, 
and connection to the existing electrical grid at The Narragansett 
Electric Company Davisville Substation in North Kingstown, Rhode 
Island. The WTGs, offshore substations, inter-array cables and 
substation interconnector cables would be located on the OCS 
approximately 15 nautical miles (18 statute miles) southeast of Point 
Judith, Rhode Island, within an area defined by Renewable Energy Lease 
OCS-A 0486 (Lease Area). The offshore export cables would be buried 
below the seabed in the OCS and State of Rhode Island submerged lands. 
The onshore export cables, substations, and grid connections would be 
located in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
    A notice of availability for the FEIS was published in the Federal 
Register on July 21, 2023. On August 15, 2023, BOEM published an errata 
on its website that included certain edits to the summary of impacts by 
alternative tables in the Executive Summary and Chapter 2 of the FEIS 
to include species-specific impact determinations for North Atlantic 
Right Whale at the request of NOAA. The errata also provides numbering 
corrections, and text and footnotes to tables note clarifications in 
Chapter 3, Appendix E-2, and Appendix F. None of these edits

[[Page 57968]]

or corrections are substantive or affect the analysis or conclusions in 
the FEIS. After carefully considering alternatives described and 
analyzed in the FEIS and comments from the public on the Draft EIS, the 
DOI has decided to approve the COP for Revolution Wind under the 
preferred Alternative G, which reduces the installation to 65 WTGs from 
the Project as proposed in the COP. The full text of the mitigation, 
monitoring, and reporting requirements, which will be included in 
BOEM's COP approval, are available in the ROD, which is available on 
BOEM's website at: https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/revolution-wind.
    NMFS has adopted BOEM's FEIS to support its decision of whether or 
not to promulgate the requested ITR and issue the associated LOA to 
Revolution Wind. NMFS' final decision of whether or not to promulgate 
the requested ITR and issue the LOA will be documented in a separate 
Decision Memorandum prepared in accordance with internal NMFS policy 
and procedures. The final ITR and a notice of issuance of the LOA, if 
issued, will be published in the Federal Register. The LOA would 
authorize Revolution Wind to take a small number of marine mammals 
incidental to Project construction and would set forth permissible 
methods of incidental taking; means of effecting the least practicable 
adverse impact on the species and its habitat; and requirements for 
monitoring and reporting. Pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered 
Species Act, NMFS issued a final Biological Opinion to BOEM on July 21, 
2023, evaluating the effects of the proposed action on ESA-listed 
species. The proposed action in the opinion includes the associated 
permits, approvals and authorizations that may be issued.
    USACE has decided to adopt BOEM's FEIS and issue a permit to 
Revolution Wind pursuant to section 10 of the RHA and section 404 of 
the CWA. The DA permit will authorize Revolution Wind to discharge fill 
below the high tide line of waters of the United States. It will also 
authorize Revolution Wind to perform work and place structures below 
the mean high water mark of navigable waters of the United States and 
to affix structures to the seabed on the OCS.
    Authority: This NOA is published in accordance with regulations (40 
CFR parts 1500-1508) implementing the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

Karen Baker,
Chief, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, Bureau of Ocean Energy 
Management.
[FR Doc. 2023-18244 Filed 8-23-23; 8:45 am]
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