[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24859-24860]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07436]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

[Docket No. BOEM-2024-0019]


Notice of Availability of a Joint Record of Decision for the 
Proposed New England Wind Project and New England Wind Offshore Export 
Cable Project

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior; National Marine 
Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
Commerce; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army.

ACTION: Notice of availability; record of decision.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announces the 
availability of the joint record of decision (ROD) on the final 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the construction and 
operations plan (COP) submitted by Park City Wind LLC (Park City Wind) 
for its proposed New England Wind Project and New England Wind Offshore 
Export Cable Project (Project) offshore Massachusetts. The joint ROD 
includes the Department of the Interior's (DOI) decision regarding the 
New England Wind COP, the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) 
decision regarding Park City Wind's request for Incidental Take 
Regulations (ITR) and an associated Letter of Authorization (LOA) under 
the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), and the Department of the 
Army's (DA) 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 final EIS to support its decision of 
whether or not to promulgate the requested ITR and issue a LOA to Park 
City Wind under the MMPA. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has 
adopted the final EIS 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.

ADDRESSES: The joint ROD and associated information are available on 
BOEM's website at: https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/new-england-wind-formerly-vineyard-wind-south.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information related to BOEM's 
action, 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, National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration (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: 
    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 up to a combined maximum 130 
positions for 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

[[Page 24860]]

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 (mi)) 
south of Martha's Vineyard and approximately 38 km (24 mi) 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 EIS evaluates the potential to utilize 
currently unused positions of the VW1 project that VW1 could assign to 
the Project. The offshore export cables would be buried below the 
seabed surface on the OCS and State of Massachusetts-owned submerged 
lands. The onshore export cables, substations, and grid connections 
would be located in Barnstable County, MA, with the possibility of a 
landing site in Bristol County, MA.
    BOEM considered 15 alternatives when preparing the draft EIS and 
carried forward three alternatives for further analysis in the final 
EIS. These three alternatives include the proposed action, one action 
alternative, and the no action alternative. After carefully considering 
public comments on the draft EIS and the alternatives described and 
analyzed in the final EIS, DOI selected a combination of the Habitat 
Minimization Alternative (Alternative C-1) and the Proposed Action 
(Alternative B). This combination would limit the installation of 
export cables to the Eastern Muskeget route or minimize installation of 
export cables to only one in the Western Muskeget route, as described 
in the Preferred Alternative in the final EIS.
    The anticipated mitigation, monitoring, and reporting requirements, 
which will be included in BOEM's COP approval as terms and conditions, 
are included in the ROD, which is available on BOEM's website at: 
https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/new-england-wind-formerly-vineyard-wind-south.
    NMFS has adopted BOEM's final EIS to support its decision of 
whether or not to promulgate the requested ITR and issue the associated 
LOA to Park City 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 Park City 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 February 
16, 2024, 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 final EIS and issue permits to 
Park City Wind pursuant to section 10 of the RHA and section 404 of the 
CWA. The USACE permits may authorize Park City Wind to discharge fill 
below the high tide line of waters of the United States. They may also 
authorize Park City 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: National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 40 CFR 1505.2.

Karen Baker,
Chief, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, Bureau of Ocean Energy 
Management.
[FR Doc. 2024-07436 Filed 4-8-24; 8:45 am]
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