Public Scoping Meeting and Preparation of Environmental Impact Statement for Baryonyx Corporation, Inc.'s Proposed Wind Farm, Offshore, Willacy and Cameron Counties, TX, 15088-15089 [2012-6128]
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 50 / Wednesday, March 14, 2012 / Notices
d. Potential impacts to Navigation,
commercial and recreational.
e. Potential impacts to the long-term
management of the oceanfront
shorelines.
f. Potential effects on regional sand
sources and how it relates to sand
management practices and North
Carolina’s Beach Inlet Management
Practices.
g. Potential effects of shoreline
protection.
h. Potential impacts on public health
and safety.
i. Potential impacts to recreational
and commercial fishing.
j. Potential impacts to cultural
resources.
k. Cumulative impacts of past,
present, and foreseeable future dredging
and nourishment activities.
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
3. Alternatives
Several alternatives are being
considered for the development of the
protection plan. These alternatives will
be further formulated and developed
during the scoping process and an
appropriate range of alternatives,
including the no federal action
alternative, will be considered in the
DEIS.
4. Scoping Process
A public scoping meeting (see DATES)
will be held to receive public comment
and assess public concerns regarding
the appropriate scope and preparation
of the DEIS. Participation in the public
meeting by federal, state, and local
agencies and other interested
organizations and persons is
encouraged.
The USACE will consult with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service under the
Endangered Species Act and the Fish
and Wildlife Coordination Act; with the
National Marine Fisheries Service under
the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act and
the Endangered Species Act; and with
the North Carolina State Historic
Preservation Office under the National
Historic Preservation Act. Additionally,
the USACE will coordinate the DEIS
with the North Carolina Division of
Water Quality (NCDWQ) to assess the
potential water quality impacts
pursuant to Section 401 of the Clean
Water Act, and with the North Carolina
Division of Coastal Management
(NCDCM) to determine the projects
consistency with the Coastal Zone
Management Act. The USACE will
closely work with NCDCM and NCDWQ
in the development of the DEIS to
ensure the process complies with
current State Environmental Policy Act
(SEPA) requirements. It is the intention
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17:29 Mar 13, 2012
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of both the USACE and the State of
North Carolina to consolidate the NEPA
and SEPA processes thereby eliminating
duplication.
6. Availability of the DEIS
The DEIS is expected to be published
and circulated by the end of 2012. A
public hearing will be held after the
publication of the DEIS.
Dated: March 2, 2012.
Scott McLendon,
Assistant Chief, Regulatory Division.
[FR Doc. 2012–6127 Filed 3–13–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720–58–P
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army; Corps of
Engineers
Public Scoping Meeting and
Preparation of Environmental Impact
Statement for Baryonyx Corporation,
Inc.’s Proposed Wind Farm, Offshore,
Willacy and Cameron Counties, TX
Department of the Army, U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of Intent.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Galveston District, has
received a permit application for a
Department of the Army (DA) Permit
pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and
Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403) and
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33
U.S.C. 1344) from Baryonyx
Corporation, Inc. (SWG–2011–00511)
for the proposed approximately 300turbine offshore wind farm located in
the Gulf of Mexico state waters, offshore
Willacy and Cameron Counties in state
tracts: 1068, 1069, 1085, 1086, 1087,
1088, 1089, 1090, 1126, 1127, 1129,
1130 and 1131. The primary Federal
involvement associated with the
proposed action is the discharge or
dredged or fill material into waters of
the United States, and the construction
of structures that may affect navigable
waters. Federal authorizations for the
proposed project would constitute a
‘‘major federal action.’’ Based on the
potential impacts, both individually and
cumulatively, the Corps intends to
prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) in compliance with the
National Environmental Policy Act to
render a final decision on the permit
applications.
The Corps’ decision will be to issue,
issue with modification or deny DA
permits for the proposed action. The EIS
will assess the potential social,
economic and environmental impacts of
the construction and operation of the
SUMMARY:
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Fmt 4703
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offshore wind farm, associated facilities,
and appurtenances and is intended to be
sufficient in scope to address Federal,
State and local requirements,
environmental and socio-economic
issues concerning the proposed action,
and permit reviews.
DATES: The agency must receive
comments on or before May 14, 2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by any of the following methods: Mail:
Jayson M. Hudson, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Regulatory Branch, P.O. Box
1229, Galveston, TX 77553–1229; Fax:
(409) 766–3931 or Email:
SWG2011511@usace.army.mil. Emailed
comments, including attachments,
should be provided in .doc, .docx, .pdf
or .txt formats. Documents pertinent to
the proposed project may be examined
at https://www.swg.usace.army.mil/reg/
eis.asp.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Jayson Hudson, (409) 766–3108.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Galveston District intends to prepare an
EIS on the proposed Baryonyx offshore
wind farm which would include the
proposed construction of approximately
300 offshore turbines in the Gulf of
Mexico offshore Willacy and Cameron
Counties, TX. Baryonyx Corporation,
Inc. proposed this project and is the
applicant for the DA permit SWG–2011–
00511.
1. Project Background: The applicant
proposes to construct an approximately
300-turbine wind farm in two areas
referred to as the North Rio Grande
Lease and Rio Grande Lease. The project
is located in Gulf of Mexico state waters,
offshore Willacy and Cameron Counties
in state tracts: 1068, 1069, 1085, 1086,
1087, 1088, 1089, 1090, 1126, 1127,
1129, 1130 and 1131. The proposed
project consists of the following:
a. Wind Turbines and Foundations:
Each lease site will be comprised of
100–200 wind turbine generators in a
grid pattern (turbine array). The final
locations will be determined by
consultation with appropriate state and
federal agencies and consideration of
constraints including: wind resource
characteristics; safety and navigation;
technical characteristics of the wind
turbine generators; electrical collection
system characteristics; geophysical site
constraints; and environmental and
ecological considerations. The specific
turbine has not been selected so that
Baryonyx may take advantage of the
latest technologies in wind generation
which may become commercially
available at the time of procurement.
Turbines will be installed onto
individual platform foundations
attached to the seabed. Foundation type
E:\FR\FM\14MRN1.SGM
14MRN1
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 50 / Wednesday, March 14, 2012 / Notices
and design will be determined based on
the technical requirements of the
selected turbines, soils profile, depth,
and site conditions. Typical foundations
may include monopole, gravity based,
suction caisson, or jacket structures.
Scour protection in the form of
prefabricated materials or clean stone
may be placed at the base of the
foundations.
b. Transmission Lines: Installation of
up to 4 substations will be required in
each lease to reduce the number of
transmission lines to shore and reduce
electricity loss. Offshore substations
gather electricity from the rows of
turbines through an inter-array of subsea
cables and convert it into a higher
voltage. Transforming power into a
higher voltage allows for the installation
of fewer export cables, more efficient
transmission of power and minimizes
power loss. The inter-array cables will
be buried to a target depth of 3 feet and
18 inches wide, but will be dependent
on the nature of the seabed. Connection
between turbines and the substation
platform is pre-installed j-tubes which
protect the cable from the seabed to
topside. To transfer the electricity to
shore, up to 2 transmission lines per
substation will be installed which
connect the offshore substation to
onshore electrical facilities. The
dimension of the cables is in the range
of 10 inches. However, for redundancy
and safety issues, the transmission lines
will be kept separate. Routing will be
designed to minimize impacts to natural
and cultural resources by following
previously disturbed areas and areas
devoid of vegetation, reefs, seagrasses,
dunes and other valuable habitats.
Scheduling of the work will also take
into consideration minimization of
impacts to marine mammals, sea turtles,
birds, fisheries and other natural
resources.
c. Planning and Construction: Prior to
Construction, Baryonyx Corporation
will conduct the necessary surveys and
studies to describe and quantify natural
resources. These studies will include
geophysical geotechnical survey,
delineation of aquatic habitats, and
cultural resource surveys. Onshore
construction and assembly will utilize
existing port facilities. No new onshore
or port facilities are anticipated to be
constructed.
d. Mitigation: The Applicant proposes
to avoid impacts to special aquatic sites
and sensitive sea areas where
practicable. No surface areas or
wetlands are proposed to be filled at
this time other than temporary side-cast
material from trench construction.
Horizontal drilling for burial of cables
will be considered under unavoidable
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:29 Mar 13, 2012
Jkt 226001
wetlands, seagrass beds, reefs and dunes
where practicable.
2. Scoping and Public Involvement
Process: A Public Notice was published
on June 15, 2011 to initiate the public
scoping process for the proposed
project. At that time, based on
information provided by the Applicant,
a preliminary review indicated that an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
was not required. However, based on
continuing permit assessment and
information brought forth during the
initial coordination process, areas of
potential significant impact on the
human environment have been
identified. Therefore, the EIS process is
being implemented so that the permit
application can be fully evaluated and
a permit decision can be made. All
comments received to date, including
those provided for review during the
Public Notice comment period, will be
considered by the Galveston District
during EIS preparation. The purpose of
the EIS scoping meeting is to gather
information on the subjects to be
studied in detail by the EIS. In addition
to the EIS, the Applicant has avoided
and minimized impacts identified
during the public notice comment
period by removing the Mustang site,
and its alternate, from consideration
during this permit application. While
the Applicant’s minimization effort is
designed to avoid potential impacts to
the Padre Island National Seashore and
Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, it is
without prejudice to apply for these
sites at another date.
3. Purpose and Need. The basic
purpose of the proposed action is to
construct a power generation facility.
The overall purpose is to provide
electrical generation capacity for current
markets in Texas and potential sale in
the wholesale market utilizing wind
resources offshore. The Corps
recognizes that there is a public and
private need for additional power
generation.
4. Alternatives. An evaluation of
alternatives to the Applicant’s preferred
alternative initially being considered
includes a No Action alternative,
alternatives that would avoid, minimize
and compensate for impacts to the
aquatic environment within the project
footprint, alternatives that would avoid,
minimize and compensate for impacts
to the aquatic environment outside of
the footprint, alternatives utilizing
alternative practices, and other
reasonable alternatives that will be
developed through the project scoping
process which may also meet the
identified purpose and need.
5. Public Involvement. The purpose of
the public scoping process is to
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15089
determine relevant issues that will
influence the scope of the
environmental analysis and EIS
alternatives. General concerns in the
following categories have been
identified to date: potential direct
effects to waters of the United States
including wetlands; water quality;
aquatic species; air quality;
environmental justice; socioeconomic
environment; archaeological and
cultural resources; recreation and
recreational resources; energy supply
and natural resources; hazardous waste
and materials; aesthetics; public health
and safety; navigation; erosion and
accretion; invasive species; cumulative
impacts; public benefit and needs of the
people along with potential effects on
the human environment. All parties
who express interest will be given an
opportunity to participate in the
process.
6. Coordination. The proposed action
is being coordinated with a number of
Federal, State, regional and local
agencies including but not limited to the
Environmental Protection Agency, the
United States (U.S.) Fish and Wildlife
Service, U.S. National Marine Fisheries
Service, the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality, the Texas
General Land Office, and the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department.
7. Availability of the Draft EIS. The
Corps currently expects the Draft EIS to
be made available to the public by
December 2014. A State and Federal
agency scoping meeting will be held at
Holiday Inn Brownsville at 2 p.m. on
March 28, 2012. A public scoping
meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn
Brownsville on March 28, 2012 at 6 p.m.
The Holiday Inn Brownsville is located
at 3777 North Expressway, Brownsville,
TX 78520. The Corps will announce the
public scoping meeting through local
news media and the Corps’ Web page at
https://www.swg.usace.army.mil/reg at
least 15 days prior to the first meeting.
Brenda S. Bowen,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012–6128 Filed 3–13–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720–58–P
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Equity and Excellence Commission
Meeting
Office for Civil Rights, U.S.
Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of An Open Meeting.
AGENCY:
This notice sets forth the
schedule and proposed agenda of an upcoming meeting of the Equity and
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\14MRN1.SGM
14MRN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 14, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15088-15089]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6128]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers
Public Scoping Meeting and Preparation of Environmental Impact
Statement for Baryonyx Corporation, Inc.'s Proposed Wind Farm,
Offshore, Willacy and Cameron Counties, TX
AGENCY: Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.
ACTION: Notice of Intent.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District, has
received a permit application for a Department of the Army (DA) Permit
pursuant to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C.
403) and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) from
Baryonyx Corporation, Inc. (SWG-2011-00511) for the proposed
approximately 300-turbine offshore wind farm located in the Gulf of
Mexico state waters, offshore Willacy and Cameron Counties in state
tracts: 1068, 1069, 1085, 1086, 1087, 1088, 1089, 1090, 1126, 1127,
1129, 1130 and 1131. The primary Federal involvement associated with
the proposed action is the discharge or dredged or fill material into
waters of the United States, and the construction of structures that
may affect navigable waters. Federal authorizations for the proposed
project would constitute a ``major federal action.'' Based on the
potential impacts, both individually and cumulatively, the Corps
intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act to render a final
decision on the permit applications.
The Corps' decision will be to issue, issue with modification or
deny DA permits for the proposed action. The EIS will assess the
potential social, economic and environmental impacts of the
construction and operation of the offshore wind farm, associated
facilities, and appurtenances and is intended to be sufficient in scope
to address Federal, State and local requirements, environmental and
socio-economic issues concerning the proposed action, and permit
reviews.
DATES: The agency must receive comments on or before May 14, 2012.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Mail: Jayson M. Hudson, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regulatory
Branch, P.O. Box 1229, Galveston, TX 77553-1229; Fax: (409) 766-3931 or
Email: SWG2011511@usace.army.mil. Emailed comments, including
attachments, should be provided in .doc, .docx, .pdf or .txt formats.
Documents pertinent to the proposed project may be examined at https://www.swg.usace.army.mil/reg/eis.asp.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jayson Hudson, (409) 766-3108.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Galveston District intends to prepare an
EIS on the proposed Baryonyx offshore wind farm which would include the
proposed construction of approximately 300 offshore turbines in the
Gulf of Mexico offshore Willacy and Cameron Counties, TX. Baryonyx
Corporation, Inc. proposed this project and is the applicant for the DA
permit SWG-2011-00511.
1. Project Background: The applicant proposes to construct an
approximately 300-turbine wind farm in two areas referred to as the
North Rio Grande Lease and Rio Grande Lease. The project is located in
Gulf of Mexico state waters, offshore Willacy and Cameron Counties in
state tracts: 1068, 1069, 1085, 1086, 1087, 1088, 1089, 1090, 1126,
1127, 1129, 1130 and 1131. The proposed project consists of the
following:
a. Wind Turbines and Foundations: Each lease site will be comprised
of 100-200 wind turbine generators in a grid pattern (turbine array).
The final locations will be determined by consultation with appropriate
state and federal agencies and consideration of constraints including:
wind resource characteristics; safety and navigation; technical
characteristics of the wind turbine generators; electrical collection
system characteristics; geophysical site constraints; and environmental
and ecological considerations. The specific turbine has not been
selected so that Baryonyx may take advantage of the latest technologies
in wind generation which may become commercially available at the time
of procurement. Turbines will be installed onto individual platform
foundations attached to the seabed. Foundation type
[[Page 15089]]
and design will be determined based on the technical requirements of
the selected turbines, soils profile, depth, and site conditions.
Typical foundations may include monopole, gravity based, suction
caisson, or jacket structures. Scour protection in the form of
prefabricated materials or clean stone may be placed at the base of the
foundations.
b. Transmission Lines: Installation of up to 4 substations will be
required in each lease to reduce the number of transmission lines to
shore and reduce electricity loss. Offshore substations gather
electricity from the rows of turbines through an inter-array of subsea
cables and convert it into a higher voltage. Transforming power into a
higher voltage allows for the installation of fewer export cables, more
efficient transmission of power and minimizes power loss. The inter-
array cables will be buried to a target depth of 3 feet and 18 inches
wide, but will be dependent on the nature of the seabed. Connection
between turbines and the substation platform is pre-installed j-tubes
which protect the cable from the seabed to topside. To transfer the
electricity to shore, up to 2 transmission lines per substation will be
installed which connect the offshore substation to onshore electrical
facilities. The dimension of the cables is in the range of 10 inches.
However, for redundancy and safety issues, the transmission lines will
be kept separate. Routing will be designed to minimize impacts to
natural and cultural resources by following previously disturbed areas
and areas devoid of vegetation, reefs, seagrasses, dunes and other
valuable habitats. Scheduling of the work will also take into
consideration minimization of impacts to marine mammals, sea turtles,
birds, fisheries and other natural resources.
c. Planning and Construction: Prior to Construction, Baryonyx
Corporation will conduct the necessary surveys and studies to describe
and quantify natural resources. These studies will include geophysical
geotechnical survey, delineation of aquatic habitats, and cultural
resource surveys. Onshore construction and assembly will utilize
existing port facilities. No new onshore or port facilities are
anticipated to be constructed.
d. Mitigation: The Applicant proposes to avoid impacts to special
aquatic sites and sensitive sea areas where practicable. No surface
areas or wetlands are proposed to be filled at this time other than
temporary side-cast material from trench construction. Horizontal
drilling for burial of cables will be considered under unavoidable
wetlands, seagrass beds, reefs and dunes where practicable.
2. Scoping and Public Involvement Process: A Public Notice was
published on June 15, 2011 to initiate the public scoping process for
the proposed project. At that time, based on information provided by
the Applicant, a preliminary review indicated that an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) was not required. However, based on continuing
permit assessment and information brought forth during the initial
coordination process, areas of potential significant impact on the
human environment have been identified. Therefore, the EIS process is
being implemented so that the permit application can be fully evaluated
and a permit decision can be made. All comments received to date,
including those provided for review during the Public Notice comment
period, will be considered by the Galveston District during EIS
preparation. The purpose of the EIS scoping meeting is to gather
information on the subjects to be studied in detail by the EIS. In
addition to the EIS, the Applicant has avoided and minimized impacts
identified during the public notice comment period by removing the
Mustang site, and its alternate, from consideration during this permit
application. While the Applicant's minimization effort is designed to
avoid potential impacts to the Padre Island National Seashore and Naval
Air Station Corpus Christi, it is without prejudice to apply for these
sites at another date.
3. Purpose and Need. The basic purpose of the proposed action is to
construct a power generation facility. The overall purpose is to
provide electrical generation capacity for current markets in Texas and
potential sale in the wholesale market utilizing wind resources
offshore. The Corps recognizes that there is a public and private need
for additional power generation.
4. Alternatives. An evaluation of alternatives to the Applicant's
preferred alternative initially being considered includes a No Action
alternative, alternatives that would avoid, minimize and compensate for
impacts to the aquatic environment within the project footprint,
alternatives that would avoid, minimize and compensate for impacts to
the aquatic environment outside of the footprint, alternatives
utilizing alternative practices, and other reasonable alternatives that
will be developed through the project scoping process which may also
meet the identified purpose and need.
5. Public Involvement. The purpose of the public scoping process is
to determine relevant issues that will influence the scope of the
environmental analysis and EIS alternatives. General concerns in the
following categories have been identified to date: potential direct
effects to waters of the United States including wetlands; water
quality; aquatic species; air quality; environmental justice;
socioeconomic environment; archaeological and cultural resources;
recreation and recreational resources; energy supply and natural
resources; hazardous waste and materials; aesthetics; public health and
safety; navigation; erosion and accretion; invasive species; cumulative
impacts; public benefit and needs of the people along with potential
effects on the human environment. All parties who express interest will
be given an opportunity to participate in the process.
6. Coordination. The proposed action is being coordinated with a
number of Federal, State, regional and local agencies including but not
limited to the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States
(U.S.) Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. National Marine Fisheries
Service, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas
General Land Office, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
7. Availability of the Draft EIS. The Corps currently expects the
Draft EIS to be made available to the public by December 2014. A State
and Federal agency scoping meeting will be held at Holiday Inn
Brownsville at 2 p.m. on March 28, 2012. A public scoping meeting will
be held at the Holiday Inn Brownsville on March 28, 2012 at 6 p.m. The
Holiday Inn Brownsville is located at 3777 North Expressway,
Brownsville, TX 78520. The Corps will announce the public scoping
meeting through local news media and the Corps' Web page at https://www.swg.usace.army.mil/reg at least 15 days prior to the first meeting.
Brenda S. Bowen,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2012-6128 Filed 3-13-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3720-58-P
