[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 130 (Monday, July 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55977-55978]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14908]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

[Docket No. BOEM-2024-0036]


Notice of Availability of a Joint Record of Decision for the 
Proposed Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind South Project

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

ACTION: Record of decision; notice of availability.

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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 Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind 
Project 1, LLC and Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 2, LLC 
(Atlantic Shores) for its proposed Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind South 
Project (Project) offshore New Jersey. The joint ROD includes the 
Department of the Interior's (DOI) decision regarding the COP; National 
Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) decision, pending completion of all 
statutory processes, regarding Atlantic Shores' requested 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 sections 10 and 
14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1889 (RHA), section 404 of the 
Clean Water Act (CWA), and section 103 of the Marine Protection, 
Research, and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA). NMFS has adopted the final EIS 
to support its decision about whether or not to promulgate the 
requested ITR and issue a LOA to Atlantic Shores under the MMPA. U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has adopted the final EIS to support 
its decision to issue a DA permit under sections 10 and 14 of the RHA, 
section 404 of the CWA, and section 103 of the MPRSA. The joint ROD 
concludes the National Environmental Policy Act process for each 
agency.

[[Page 55978]]


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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information related to BOEM's 
action, please contact Kimberly Sullivan, BOEM Office of Renewable 
Energy Programs, 45600 Woodland Road, VAM-OREP, Sterling, Virginia 
20166, (702) 338-4766, or [email protected]. For information 
related to NMFS' action, contact Katherine Renshaw, NOAA Office of 
General Counsel, (302) 515-0324, [email protected]. For 
information related to USACE's action, please contact Stephen Rochette, 
(215) 656-6515, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Atlantic Shores seeks approval to construct, 
operate, and maintain the Project: two wind energy facilities (Project 
1 and Project 2) and the associated export cables on the Outer 
Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore New Jersey. The Project would be 
developed within the range of design parameters outlined in the COP, 
subject to applicable mitigation measures.
    A notice of availability for the final EIS was published in the 
Federal Register on May 31, 2024. On June 25, 2024, BOEM published an 
errata on its website that included certain edits to Chapter 2, Chapter 
3, and Appendix G: Mitigation and Monitoring Table G-2. None of these 
edits are substantive or affect the analysis or conclusions in the 
final EIS.
    The Project as proposed in the COP would include up to 200 total 
wind turbine generators (WTGs) (between 105 and 136 WTGs for Project 1, 
and between 64 and 95 WTGs for Project 2), up to 10 offshore 
substations (OSSs) (up to 5 in each Project), up to 1 permanent 
meteorological (met) tower, up to 4 temporary meteorological and 
oceanographic (metocean) buoys (up to 3 metocean buoys in Project 1 and 
1 metocean buoy in Project 2), interarray and interlink cables, up to 2 
onshore substations, 2 points of interconnection, 1 operations and 
maintenance facility, and up to 8 transmission cables making landfall 
at 2 New Jersey locations.
    The Atlantic Shores South Project is proposed to be located 8.7 
statute miles (14 kilometers) \1\ from the New Jersey shoreline at its 
closest point, within the area covered by Renewable Energy Lease Number 
OCS-A 0499 (Lease Area).
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    \1\ Equates to 7.6 nautical miles. 1 nautical mile = 1.1508 
statute miles.
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    After carefully considering public comments on the draft EIS and 
the alternatives described and analyzed in the final EIS, DOI selected 
Alternative B, ``Proposed Action,'' in combination with Alternative C4, 
``Habitat Impact Minimization/Fisheries Habitat Impact Minimization: 
Micrositing,'' Alternative D3, ``No Surface Occupancy of Up to 10.8 
Miles [17.4 Kilometers] from Shore: Removal of up to 6 Turbines,'' and 
Alternative E, ``Wind Turbine Layout Modification to Establish a 
Setback between Atlantic Shores South and Ocean Wind 1,'' as well as 
the two proposed mitigation measures that require WTG removal:
     No permanent structures will be placed in a way that 
narrows any linear rows and columns to fewer than 0.6 nautical miles 
(1,100 meters) or in a layout that eliminates two distinct lines of 
orientation in a grid pattern. The Project's proposed OSSs, met tower, 
and WTGs will be aligned in a uniform grid with rows in an east-
northeast to west-southwest direction spaced 1.0 nautical mile (1,900 
meters) apart and rows in an approximately north to south direction 
spaced 0.6 nautical mile (1,100 meters) apart, with the exception of 
WTGs AX01, AZ08, BA09, BC07, BE10, BE12, BE14, BE15, BE16, BF14, BF15, 
and BG13; and
     Atlantic Shores must remove from its Project layout a 
single turbine position approximately 150 to 200 feet (45.8 to 61 
meters) from the observed Fish Haven (Atlantic City Artificial Reef 
Site).
    This combination is the Preferred Alternative identified 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 at: https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/atlantic-shores-south.
    NMFS has adopted BOEM's final EIS to support its decision about 
whether or not to promulgate the requested ITR and issue the associated 
LOA to Atlantic Shores. NMFS' final decision about 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 Atlantic Shores to take small numbers of marine mammals 
incidental to Project construction and would set forth permissible 
methods of incidental taking; means of affecting the least practicable 
adverse impact on the species and their habitat; and requirements for 
monitoring and reporting. Pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered 
Species Act (ESA), NMFS issued a final Biological Opinion to BOEM on 
December 18, 2023, evaluating the effects of the proposed action on 
ESA-listed species. The proposed action in the Biological 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 
Atlantic Shores under sections 10 and 14 of the RHA, section 404 of the 
CWA, and section 103 of the MPRSA.
    Authority: National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 40 CFR 1505.2.

Walter Cruickshank,
Deputy Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
[FR Doc. 2024-14908 Filed 7-5-24; 8:45 am]
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