[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 177 (Thursday, September 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 74263]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-20642]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers

[Permit No. NAE-2021-01301]


Notice of Final Federal Agency Action on the Authorization for 
the New England Wind Farm and New England Wind Project

AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of limitation on claims for judicial review of actions 
by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

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SUMMARY: USACE announces final agency action on the USACE authorization 
for the proposed construction and maintenance of the New England Wind 
Farm and New England Wind Project Phase I (New England Wind Phase I 
Project) offshore Massachusetts. USACE has issued a permit authorizing 
the construction and maintenance of the New England Wind Phase I 
Project under section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (RHA) 
and section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The New England Wind 
Phase I Project is a ``covered project'' under title 41 of the Fixing 
America's Surface Transportation Act.

DATES: A claim seeking judicial review of the USACE authorization of 
construction and maintenance of the New England Wind Phase I Project 
will be barred unless the claim is filed not later than two years after 
this notice's publication date. If the Federal law that allows for 
judicial review of the USACE authorization specifies a shorter time 
period for filing such a claim, then that shorter time period will 
apply.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine Jacek, 696 Virginia Road, 
Concord, Massachusetts 01742, 978-318-8026, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that USACE has taken 
final agency action on its authorization for the proposed New England 
Wind Phase I Project by issuing a permit authorizing construction and 
maintenance of the Project under section 10 of the RHA and section 404 
of the CWA. A majority of the work will occur in the Atlantic Ocean 
within the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Renewable Energy 
Lease Area OCS-A 0534, which is approximately eighteen (18) nautical 
miles (NM) south of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Export cable work 
would occur within a forty two (42) NM long offshore export cable 
corridor extending from the lease area, through the Muskeget Channel 
and Nantucket Sound with cable landfall at Craigville Beach, 
Barnstable, Massachusetts. The export cables would also cross the 
Centerville River in Barnstable, Massachusetts.
    The work authorized under the USACE permit includes the 
construction and maintenance of a commercial-scale offshore wind 
facility within a 63,012 acre BOEM Renewable Energy Lease Area OCS-A 
0534. The work includes: (1) the installation of up to sixty two (62) 
wind turbine generators (WTGs) and up to two (2) electrical service 
platforms (ESPs) with up to seventy four (74) acres associated scour 
protection for the structures, (2) the installation of approximately 
133 NM of inter-array cables connecting the WTGs and inter-link cable 
connecting the ESPs to the WTGs with eleven (11) acres of associated 
scour protection for the cables, (3) the installation up to two (2) 
export transmission cables within a single forty two (42) NM offshore 
export cable corridor (OECC) with approximately 2.5 acres of cable 
scour protection on the outer continental shelf (OCS) and 21.5 acres of 
subtidal fills associated with cable scour protection and sand wave 
relocation activities. Each export transmission cable will have a 12 
foot (ft.) wide disturbance zone associated with installation and an 
estimated disturbance area involving up to 75 acres of subtidal 
waters., (4) the refilling of two horizontal directional drilling (HDD) 
exit pits to be excavated for the HDD work associated with the shore to 
landfall work. Each HDD exit pit will be approximately 10,000 square 
feet (sq. ft.) in size with approximately 20,000 sq. ft. of total 
impacts associated with the discharge of excavated material back into 
the HDD pits, and (5) HDD installation of the transmission cables under 
the Centerville River.
    The USACE's decision to issue a permit, and the laws under which 
the action was taken, are described in the New England Wind Project 
Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) published in March 2024, in 
the joint Record of Decision (ROD) issued on April 1, 2024, and in 
other project records. The FEIS, ROD, and other documents can be viewed 
and downloaded from the BOEM project website at https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/new-england-wind-1-and-2. The USACE 
permit can be viewed and downloaded from the USACE website at https://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/permits-Issued/. By this 
notice, USACE is advising the public of final agency action subject to 
42 U.S.C. 4370m-6(a)(1)(A).
    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4370m-6(a)(1)(A).

John P. Lloyd,
Brigadier General, USA, Commanding.
[FR Doc. 2024-20642 Filed 9-11-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P