Abstract
The Energy Policy Act (EPACT) of 2005, Public Law No. 109-58, added Section 8(p)(1)(C) to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), which grants the Secretary of the Interior the authority to issue leases, easements, or rights-of-way on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for the purpose of renewable energy development (43 United States Code [USC] § 1337(p)(1)(C)). The Secretary delegated this authority to the former Minerals Management Service, now the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). On April 22, 2009, BOEM (formerly the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement) promulgated final regulations implementing this authority at 30 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) § 585. This Biological Assessment (BA) has been prepared pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to evaluate potential effects of the Proposed Action described herein on ESA-listed species. This BA provides a comprehensive description of the Proposed Action, defines the Action Area, describes those species potentially impacted by the Proposed Action, and provides an analysis and determination of how the Proposed Action may affect listed species and/or their habitats. The activities being considered include approving the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) for the construction, operations, maintenance, and eventual decommissioning of the proposed offshore wind energy facility. Proposed is the installation of a wind facility with a maximum capacity of approximately 800 megawatts (MW) and associated submarine and upland cable interconnecting the wind facility to the proposed substation located in Barnstable, Massachusetts. The Wind Development Area (WDA) is located in the northern portion of the Vineyard Wind LLC (Vineyard Wind) Lease Area OCS-A 0501 (Figure 1-1). A separate BA document was prepared for the consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for ESA-listed species under their oversight.