[Federal Register: January 21, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 12)]
[Notices]
[Page 3635-3636]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21ja09-113]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Cape Wind Energy Project
AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability (NOA) of final Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) for the proposed Cape Wind Energy Project on the Outer
Continental Shelf (OCS) off Massachusetts, in Nantucket Sound; Request
for Comment.
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SUMMARY: The MMS is announcing the availability of a final EIS for the
proposed Cape Wind Energy Project. Cape Wind Associates, LLC (CWA) has
requested a lease, easement or right-of-way, pursuant to section 8(p)
of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) (43 U.S.C. 1337) as
amended, and proposes to construct and operate a wind energy facility
on the OCS off Massachusetts, in Nantucket Sound. The final EIS is
intended to inform the public of the proposed action and reasonable
alternatives, including the ``no action'' alternative; analyze the
direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental effects of the proposed
action and each of the reasonable alternatives; address public comment
received on the draft EIS that was released in January 2008; and
provide information to support decision-making.
Authority: This NOA is published pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321
et seq. (1988)) and regulations (40 CFR 1506.6) implementing the
provisions of NEPA.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The MMS has received a request from CWA for
a lease, easement or right-of-way to construct and operate a wind
energy project on Horseshoe Shoal on the OCS in Nantucket Sound. The
proposed project would consist of 130 offshore wind turbine generators
arranged to maximize the project's full potential electric output of
approximately 468 megawatts. Each turbine would be approximately 440
feet high. The proposed wind turbine array would occupy approximately
25 square miles, and would be located approximately 5.6 miles from the
coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 9 miles from the coast of Martha's
Vineyard, and 13.8 miles from the coast of Nantucket Island. The
proposed array would be in a grid formation where the distance between
each turbine is proposed to be one-third mile from north to south and
one-half mile from east to west. The wind-generated electricity from
each of the turbines would be transmitted via a 33-kilovolt submarine
transmission cable system to a centrally located electric service
platform. This platform would transform and transmit electric power via
two 115-kilovolt lines extending over 12 miles to the Cape Cod
mainland, where it would ultimately connect with the existing power
grid.
In November 2001, CWA filed a permit application with the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers (USACE), New England District, under section 10 of
the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, in anticipation of constructing a
wind project located on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound. The USACE
released a draft EIS concerning issuance of the section 10 permit in
November 2004.
Subsequently, Section 388 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct)
amended the OCSLA to give the Department of the Interior, in
consultation with other relevant federal agencies, authority for
issuing leases, easements, or rights-of-way for alternative energy
projects on the OCS. Additional information on the MMS Offshore
Alternative Energy Program can be found at: http://www.mms.gov/
offshore/alternativeenergy/.
After reviewing the draft EIS prepared by the USACE, which was
completed prior to the EPAct amendment of the OCSLA, the MMS prepared
its own draft EIS analyzing the potential impacts of the project under
the broader authority granted to it under the OCSLA, as amended. The
MMS launched a renewed scoping process by publishing in the Federal
Register (71 FR 30693) on May 30, 2006, a notice of intent to prepare
the EIS. The 1,321 public comments received in response to that notice
were considered and taken into account in the draft EIS, as well as the
final EIS. The MMS also considered and took into account over 5,000
public comments made during the review period for the USACE draft EIS,
as well as those made at USACE public hearings held in Yarmouth,
Martha's Vineyard, Cambridge, and Nantucket, Massachusetts.
On January 18, 2008, MMS published a notice in the Federal Register
stating the availability of the draft EIS. The public comment period
lasted 60 days (until March 20, 2008) and then was extended another 30
days to April 21, 2008, to provide the public with additional time to
review the draft EIS and provide comment. The MMS received comments
through its Public Connect Web site, via e-mails, via oral and paper
copy comments provided at the four public hearings: (the Mattacheese
Middle School in West Yarmouth, Massachusetts; the
[[Page 3636]]
Nantucket High School in Nantucket, Massachusetts; the Martha's
Vineyard Regional High School in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts; and at the
University of Massachusetts Boston Campus in South Boston,
Massachusetts), and via paper copy comments mailed in. In all, more
than 42,000 comments were received. All comments received were logged
in and responded to as appropriate and are included in the final EIS.
Contents of the Final EIS: The final EIS considers all reasonable
alternatives to the proposed action, including several other offshore
sites in the New England region, as well as non-geographic alternatives
at the proposed Horseshoe Shoal site made up of a smaller project
alternative, a condensed configuration, phased development, and the no-
action alternative. Seven alternatives: the proposed action, no action,
a smaller project, condensed configuration, phased development, and
alternative sites at Monomoy Shoals and south of Tuckernuck Island--are
subjected to detailed analysis in the final EIS, including an analysis
of direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental effects, and
identification of the preferred alternative (Horseshoe Shoal). Changes
in the document since the draft EIS include the addition of a final
avian and bat monitoring plan, a finding of adverse visual effects to
29 properties evaluated as eligible for listing on the National
Register of Historic Places, updated mitigation measures, and proposed
mitigation measures to ensure navigation safety from the U.S. Coast
Guard based on a 2008 report by the Coast Guard analyzing two existing
studies regarding the effects of wind turbines upon shipboard radar and
navigation. Although this information was an outgrowth of comments
received on the draft EIS and has not resulted in significant changes
to the analysis of impacts prepared for the draft EIS, MMS is seeking
comments related to these issues that will be considered for the Record
of Decision.
EIS Availability: To obtain a single CD-ROM copy of the final EIS,
you may contact the Minerals Management Service, Environmental
Assessment Branch (MS 4042), 381 Elden Street, Herndon, Virginia 20170.
An electronic copy of the final EIS is available at the MMS's Internet
Web site at: http://www.mms.gov/offshore/AlternativeEnergy/
CapeWind.htm, as are electronic copies of attachments to the final EIS
and reports used in its preparation. For a list of libraries in
Massachusetts that were provided copies of the final EIS, visit MMS's
Internet Web site at: http://www.mms.gov/library/ or contact MMS as
indicated below under the heading FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Comments: Although this is a final EIS, you may provide comments.
No decision on the proposed project will be made until at least 30 days
from the publication of this notice. Federal, state, local government
agencies, and other interested parties may provide written comments on
the final EIS in one of the following ways:
1. Electronically, using MMS's on-line commenting system at: http:/
/ocsconnect.mms.gov/pcs-public/.
2. In written form, mailed or delivered to MMS Cape Wind Energy
Project, TRC Environmental Corporation, Wannalancit Mills, 650 Suffolk
Street, Lowell, Massachusetts 01854.
Public Comment Policy: Be advised that your entire comment--
including your personal identifying information--may be made publicly
available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold
from public review your personal identifying information, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. James F. Bennett, Minerals
Management Service, Environmental Assessment Branch, 381 Elden Street,
Mail Stop 4042, Herndon, Virginia 20710, or by phone at (703) 787-1656.
Dated: January 5, 2009.
Chris C. Oynes,
Associate Director for Offshore Energy and Minerals Management.
[FR Doc. E9-1065 Filed 1-16-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-MR-P