[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 4, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23798-23799]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-10486]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Minerals Management Service
Environmental Assessment Prepared for Proposed Cape Wind Energy
Project in Nantucket Sound, Offshore Massachusetts
AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability of an Environmental Assessment (EA) and
Finding of No New Significant Impact (FONNSI)
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SUMMARY: The MMS, in accordance with regulations implementing the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), announces the availability of
an EA and FONNSI for the Cape Wind Energy Project proposed for
Nantucket Sound, offshore Massachusetts. On January 16, 2009, the MMS
announced the release of the Final Environmental Impact Statement
(FEIS) for the Cape Wind Energy Project. The FEIS assessed the
physical, biological, and social/human impacts of the proposed project
and 13 alternatives, including a no-action alternative (i.e., the
project is not built), and proposed mitigation.
The MMS prepared this EA to determine whether MMS needs to
supplement the FEIS for the Cape Wind Energy Project by examining
whether there are ``substantial changes in the proposed action that are
relevant to environmental concerns'' or whether ``there are significant
new circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns and
bearing on the proposed action or its impacts'' that either were not
fully discussed or did not exist at the time the FEIS was prepared (40
CFR 1502.9). The MMS reviewed information obtained from the scientific/
technical literature, government reports and actions, intergovernmental
coordination and communications, required consultations, comments made
during the FEIS comment period, and comments received during the 30-day
comment period after the initial circulation of this EA on March 8,
2010. This included the information discussed in the January 13, 2010,
MMS Documentation of Section 106 Finding of Adverse Effect (Revised
Finding), contained in the comments received during the 30-day period
offered after the Revised Finding was circulated, and the information
contained in the April 2, 2010, comment by the Advisory Council on
Historic Preservation.
The MMS has determined that there is no new information that would
necessitate a re-analysis of the range of the alternatives or the
kinds, levels, or locations of the impacts of the Proposed Action on
socioeconomic conditions or biologic, physical, or cultural resources.
The analyses, potential impacts, and conclusions detailed in the FEIS
remain valid. Therefore, the MMS has concluded that a supplemental EIS
is not required. The EA and FONNSI are available at http://www.mms.gov/offshore/RenewableEnergy/CapeWind.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James F. Bennett, Chief, Environmental
Assessment Branch, Minerals Management Service, 381 Elden Street MS-
4042, Herndon, Virginia 20170.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In November 2001, Cape Wind Associates, LLC,
applied for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
under the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 to construct a wind power
facility on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound, offshore Massachusetts.
Following the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) and
associated amendments to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA),
the Department of the Interior was given statutory authority to issue
leases, easements, and rights-of-way for renewable energy projects on
the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Accordingly, Cape Wind Associates,
LLC, submitted an application to the MMS in 2005 to construct, operate,
and eventually decommission an offshore wind power facility on
Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound.
The project calls for 130, 3.6 megawatt (MW) wind turbine
generators, each with a maximum blade height of 440 feet, to be
arranged in a grid pattern in 25 square miles of Nantucket Sound,
offshore Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Island. With a
maximum electric output of 468 MW and an average anticipated output of
182 MW, the facility is projected to generate up to three-
[[Page 23799]]
quarters of the Cape and Islands' electricity needs. Each of the 130
wind turbine generators would generate electricity independently. Solid
dielectric submarine inner-array cables (33 kilovolt) from each wind
turbine generator would interconnect within the array and terminate on
an electrical service platform, which would serve as the common
interconnection point for all of the wind turbines. The proposed
submarine transmission cable system (115 kilovolt) from the electric
service platform to the landfall location in Yarmouth would be
approximately 12.5 miles in length (7.6 miles of which falls within
Massachusetts' territory).
Nantucket Sound is a roughly triangular body of water generally
bound by Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Island. Open bodies
of water include Vineyard Sound to the West and the Atlantic Ocean to
the East and the South. Nantucket Sound encompasses between 500 and 600
square miles of ocean, most of which lies above the OCS. The Cape Wind
Energy Project would be located completely on the OCS, except for the
transmission cables, which would run through Massachusetts' territory
to shore. For reference, the northernmost turbines would be
approximately 5.2 miles (8.4 km) from Point Gammon on the mainland; the
southernmost turbines would be approximately 11 miles (17.7 km) from
Nantucket Island (Great Point); and the westernmost turbines would be
approximately 5.5 miles (8.9 km) from the island of Martha's Vineyard
(Cape Poge).
Dated: April 28, 2010.
Chris C. Oynes,
Associate Director for Offshore Energy and Minerals Management.
[FR Doc. 2010-10486 Filed 5-3-10; 8:45 am]
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