Abstract
The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act mandates that federal agencies conduct an Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) consultation for any activity that may adversely affect EFH for federally managed fish species. EFH is defined as “those waters and substrate necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity.” Included in 1996 amendments to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the primary goal of EFH designation is to identify and protect important fish habitat from certain fishing practices and coastal and marine development.
New England Wind is the proposal to develop offshore renewable wind energy facilities in Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Lease Area OCS-A 0534 along with associated offshore and onshore cabling, onshore substations, and onshore operations and maintenance (O&M) facilities. New England Wind will be developed in two Phases with a maximum of 130 wind turbine generator (WTG) and electrical service platform (ESP) positions. Four or five offshore export cables will transmit electricity generated by the WTGs to onshore transmission systems in the Town of Barnstable, Massachusetts. Park City Wind LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Avangrid Renewables, LLC, is the Proponent and will be responsible for the construction, operation, and decommissioning of New England Wind.
The Offshore Development Area is the offshore area where the Proponent’s wind energy generation facilities are physically located and includes the SWDA and OECC. The SWDA is located south of Martha’s Vineyard in the northern Mid-Atlantic Bight of the Northeast United States (US) Shelf Ecosystem. The OECC is the surveyed area identified for routing the offshore export cables.