Site Mitigation & Monitoring

Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to Construction of the Vineyard Wind Offshore Wind Project

Source/Sponsor: 
Federal Register
Creator/Author: 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Description: 

In accordance with the regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as amended, notification is hereby given that NMFS has issued an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to Vineyard Wind 1, LLC (Vineyard Wind) to take, by Level A harassment and Level B harassment, marine mammals during construction of a commercial wind energy project offshore Massachusetts.

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Publication Date: 
Friday, June 25, 2021
1 MB
Resource Type: 
Document

Taking and Importing Marine Mammals; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Construction of the Ocean Wind 1 Wind Energy Facility Offshore of New Jersey

Source/Sponsor: 
Federal Register
Creator/Author: 
Federal Register
Description: 

NMFS has received a request from Ocean Wind, LLC (Ocean Wind), a subsidiary of Orsted Wind Power North America, LLC's (Orsted), for authorization to take small numbers of marine mammals incidental to construction activities associated with the Ocean Wind 1 wind energy facility in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's (BOEM) Lease Area Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)-A-0498 Commercial Lease of Submerged Lands for Renewable Energy Development on the Outer Continental Shelf off of New Jersey over the course of 5 years beginning in 2023. Pursuant to regulations implementing the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS is announcing receipt of Ocean Wind's request for the development and implementation of regulations governing the incidental taking of marine mammals. NMFS invites the public to provide information, suggestions, and comments on Ocean Wind's application and request.

pdf
Publication Date: 
Monday, March 7, 2022
209 KB
Resource Type: 
Document
State: 

Vineyard Wind-NGO Agreement

Source/Sponsor: 
Vineyard Wind, LLC, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Conservation Law Foundation
Creator/Author: 
Vineyard Wind, LLC, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Conservation Law Foundation
pdf
Publication Date: 
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
806 KB
Resource Type: 
Document
Multi-State:

New York Releases GEIS for Offshore Wind Energy Procurement

Source/Sponsor: 
New York State Public Service Commission
Creator/Author: 
New York State Department of Public Service, Ecology and Environment, Inc.
Description: 

This Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (draft GEIS), prepared pur- suant to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), ana- lyzes the potential environmental impacts associated with the State’s procurement of this 2.4 GW of offshore wind energy by 2030, and builds upon and incorporates by reference relevant material from NYSERDA’s Offshore Wind Master Plan.

The docket for this matter can be found here.

 

Tags: 
pdf
Publication Date: 
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
3 MB
Resource Type: 
Document
State: 

NYSERDA Completes Initial Data Collection in an Offshore Wind Area

Source/Sponsor: 
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
Creator/Author: 
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
Description: 
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has completed the first of three years of data collection in an offshore wind area via aerial surveys of birds and marine mammals as the state pursues its goal of achieving 50 percent of its electricity from renewable resources by 2030.
 
The survey is gathering the highest resolution images ever for a project of this scale. With each pixel corresponding to 1.5 centimeters on the ocean surface, the images provide sufficient detail to allow taxonomists to identify the species for an extremely high percentage of the birds and marine animals.
 
A website has been developed for the project that allows the public to see some of the different animals that have been recorded.
pdf
Publication Date: 
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
62 KB
Resource Type: 
Document
State: 

Tourist Viewshed Externalities and Wind Energy Production

Source/Sponsor: 
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review
Creator/Author: 
Jacob R. Fooks, Kent D. Messer, Joshua M. Duke, Janet B. Johnson, Tongzhe Li, and George R. Parsons
Description: 

This study uses an experiment where ferry passengers are sold hotel room “views” to evaluate the impact of wind turbines views on tourists’ vacation experience. Participants purchase a chance for a weekend hotel stay. Information about the hotel rooms was limited to the quality of the hotel and its distance from a large wind turbine, as well as whether or not a particular room would have a view of the turbine. While there was generally a negative effect of turbine views, this did not hold across all participants, and did not seem to be effected by distance or hotel quality.

Placement of wind turbines has prompted public concerns related to their effects on wildlife and scenic views. This has been especially relevant in coastal areas, where the proposed development of large offshore wind energy facilities in states including Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, and Oregon have been seen as a potential threat to the tourism industry. The response from the tourism industry has delayed or even blocked development of offshore wind facilities in some of these states.

pdf
Publication Date: 
Friday, July 28, 2017
253 KB
Resource Type: 
Document

Will Communities "open-up" to Offshore Wind?

Source/Sponsor: 
Energy Research & Social Science
Creator/Author: 
Sarah C. Klein, Terre Satterfield, Suzanne MacDonald, Nicholas Battista, Kai M.A. Chan
Description: 
In this study published in Volume 34 of Energy Research & Social Science, the authors conducted interviews and document analysis to assess the extent to which design principles from the analytic- deliberative process literature arose during public engagement on three New England islands adjacent to proposed offshore wind farms. In their study sites—amongst the array of criteria in the literature—good public engagement boiled down to two key themes: enabling bidirectional deliberative learning and providing community benefit. Decision processes perceived as effective occurred when (1) participants, including experts and local stakeholders, learned from each other while reconciling technical expertise with citizen values; and (2) outcomes included the provision of collaboratively negotiated community benefits. The findings highlight that community benefits are not the same as benefits to groups of individuals. Attending to these key themes may improve the quality of interactions among communities, government authorities and developers when deciding if and where to site renewable energy infrastructure. 
 
The study sites were Block Island (RI), Martha's Vineyard (MA), and Monhegan Island (ME).
 
pdf
Publication Date: 
Thursday, June 29, 2017
1 MB
Resource Type: 
Document
Multi-State:

BOEM Publishes Study of the Effect of Offshore Wind Farms on Commercial Fishing

Source/Sponsor: 
BOEM
Creator/Author: 
BOEM
Description: 

The report is titled Socio-Economic Impact of Outer Continental Shelf Wind Energy Development on Fisheries in the U.S. Atlantic. Recognizing the importance that commercial and recreational fisheries play in the U.S. economy and to food supply, BOEM worked with the National Marine Fisheries Service to better understand fishing activity as it relates to areas of potential offshore wind energy development.

 
This report will inform BOEM's decision-making related to future offshore wind energy development by identifying potentially affected fisheries that may require additional information and analysis.
 
pdf
Publication Date: 
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
10 MB
Resource Type: 
Document
Multi-State:

Marine Wildlife Survey Results from BOEM and MassCEC

Source/Sponsor: 
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Mass Clean Energy Center
Creator/Author: 
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Mass Clean Energy Center
Description: 

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) announce the results of two new multi-year marine wildlife survey efforts that focus on collecting baseline biological occurrence and distribution data for whale, turtle, and bird species within the Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) offshore Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The wildlife surveys found that the Massachusetts and Rhode Island WEAs avoid the high concentrations of protected species of whales, turtles and seabirds in these areas.

Reports:

Abundance and Distribution of Seabirds off Southeastern Massachusetts, 2011-2015.

Northeast Large Pelagic Survey Collaborative Aerial and Acoustic Surveys for Large Whales and Sea Turtles.

 

pdf
Publication Date: 
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
4 MB
Resource Type: 
Document
Multi-State:

NRDC Public Comments Concerning the Block Island Wind Farm

Source/Sponsor: 
National Resource Defense Council
Creator/Author: 
Katherine Kennedy, Michael Jasny
Description: 

NRDC provides public comments in support of the Block Island Wind Farm, with recommendations to protect marine life.

pdf
Publication Date: 
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
2 MB
Resource Type: 
Document
State: 

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