Environmental Notification Form

For office Use Only EEA#: MEPA Analyst:

The information requested on this form must be completed in order to submit a document. . electronically for review under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act, 301 CMR 11.00. Project Name: Revere to Winthrop 23kV Cable Replacement Project Street Address: Utility Rights-of-Way (ROWs) Beneath Multiple Public Roads Municipality: Revere & Winthrop Watershed: Boston Harbor Universal Transverse Mercator Coordinates: Latitude/Longitude Starting Point: Revere Substation #7, UTM Zone 19T Starting Point: Revere Substation #7: Latitude: 4696462.60, 4696462.60 42.402912; Longitude: -71.007636 Ending Point: Winthrop Substation #22, UTM Zone Ending Point: Winthrop Substation #22: 19T -70.976967, -70.976967 Latitude: 42.386538; Longitude: -70.976967 Estimated commencement date: 09/2020 Estimated completion date: 06/2023 Project Type: Utility Status of project design: 90% complete Proponent: Massachusetts Electric Company (MECO) d/b/a National Grid Street Address: 40 Sylvan Road Municipality: Waltham State: MA Zip Code: 02451 Name of Contact Person: Melissa Kaplan, PWS Firm/Agency: BSC Group, Inc. Street Address: 300 Winding Brook Drive Municipality: Glastonbury State: CT Zip Code: 06033 Phone: 617-896-4517 Fax: (860) 652-8229 E-mail: [email protected] Does this project meet or exceed a mandatory EIR threshold (see 301 CMR 11.03)? Yes No If this is an Expanded Environmental Notification Form (ENF) (see 301 CMR 11.05(7)) or a Notice of Project Change (NPC), are you requesting: a Single EIR? (see 301 CMR 11.06(8) Yes No a Special Review Procedure? (see 301CMR 11.09) Yes No a Waiver of mandatory EIR? (see 301 CMR 11.11) Yes No a Phase I Waiver? (see 301 CMR 11.11) Yes No (Note: Greenhouse Gas Emissions analysis must be included in the Expanded ENF.) Which MEPA review threshold(s) does the project meet or exceed (see 301 CMR 11.03)? The Project meets or exceeds the following ENF review thresholds: 301 CMR 11.03(3)(b)(1)(f) Alteration of ½ or more acres of any other wetland [wetlands] 301 CMR 11.03(11)(b) Any Project within a designated [ACEC] 301 CMR 11.03 (6)(b)2b Cut five or more living public shade trees of 14 or more inches in diameter at breast height [Transportation] Which State Agency Permits will the project require? MassDOT State Highway Access Permit (M.G.L. c.81 §21/M.G.L. c.85 § 2); DCR Access Permit (M.G.L. c. 132A, s. 7); and, MWRA 8(m) Permit (Ch. 372 of the Acts of 1984) for construction within easements. Potential: MassDEP Superseding Order of Conditions (upon appeal only)

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Identify any financial assistance or land transfer from an Agency of the Commonwealth, including the Agency name and the amount of funding or land area in acres: Not applicable.

Summary of Project Size 1.1.1.1 Existing Change Total & Environmental Impacts LAND Total site acreage 2.6 miles New acres of land altered None: Temporary Work proposed within Roadways and ROWs Acres of impervious area2 None: Temporary impact 2.06 acres to impervious area: 2.06 0 acres Square feet of new bordering vegetated 0 wetlands alteration Square feet of new other wetland No Change Proposed: alteration3 Temporary impact to 1,020 SF of RFA; Total Temporary impacts to “other” wetlands: 33,052 SF (1,020 SF of RFA and 32,032 SF of LSCSF) Acres of new non-water dependent use of tidelands or waterways 0 STRUCTURES Gross square footage 0 0 0 Number of housing units 0 0 0 Maximum height (feet) 0 0 0 TRANSPORTATION Vehicle trips per day 0 0 0 Parking spaces 0 0 0 WASTEWATER Water Use (Gallons per day) 0 0 0 Water withdrawal (GPD) 0 0 0 Wastewater generation/treatment (GPD) 0 0 0 Length of water mains (miles) 0 0 0 Length of sewer mains (miles) 0 0 0

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Has this project been filed with MEPA before? Yes (EEA # ) No

Has any project on this site been filed with MEPA before? Yes (EEA # ) No

Notes: 1. All trenches (installation and removal) generally were assumed to be 4 feet wide. 2. Impervious surfaces include public rights-or-ways and paved surfaces.

GENERAL PROJECT INFORMATION – all proponents must fill out this section PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

The Massachusetts Electric Company d/b/a National Grid (MECO) is planning to upgrade the 2350, 2351, and 2402 cables from Revere #7 to Winthrop #22 Substation (located in Revere and Winthrop, MA). Winthrop is an electrical peninsula that is surrounded by Eversource Energy territory in East Boston and Deer Island. The 2350, 2351 and 2402 lines are 23kV cables that are routed from Revere #7 to Winthrop #22. These three supply lines are the only source to the Winthrop area. Work will involve installing approximately 2.6 miles of new duct bank and replacing the existing direct buried feeders with new 23kV underground cables in the new duct bank. The 2350 and 2351 cables were installed in the 1950s and are mostly directly-buried paper and lead insulated cables in conduit. The 2402 cable was installed in the 1970s and is a cross-linked polyethylene cable that has a history of dielectric failure that can lead to total failure. The proposed replacements and removal of aging underground cables will improve the reliability and increase load capacity of the circuits and allow MECO to continue to provide reliable electric service to the region. Describe the existing conditions and land uses on the project site: The existing 2350, 2351, and 2402 lines are 23kV lines, comprised of a combination of overhead and underground cables (underground cables consisting of direct buried and underground cable in conduit). The cables run between the existing Revere Substation #7 and Winthrop Substation #22. The lines are located along existing paved surfaces such as roadways or parking lots, adjacent vegetated shoulders or medians or within existing electrical substations. The general Project area is developed, and best characterized as a mix of urban, industrial, and suburban development. Land uses adjacent to the roadways include residential, small businesses, commercial retail centers, and community/municipal buildings. Based on a desktop review, preliminary field reconnaissance and information provided from National Grid, the following resource areas, buffer zones, and environmental constraints are located within and in vicinity of the Project area:  Land Subject to Coastal Storm Flowage  100-foot Buffer Zone to Coastal Bank  100-foot Buffer Zone to Coastal Beach  Belle Isle Marsh section of Rumney Marsh Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC)  Article 97 lands: DCR Winthrop Shore Reservation and Winthrop Parkway  Short Beach Barrier Beach System  Chelsea Creek Designated Port Area south of Railroad Street in Revere  Filled Landlocked Tidelands (Chapter 91)

There are no other sensitive resource areas overlapping with the proposed Project area, such as Bordering Vegetated 8

Wetlands, Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP) Priority or Estimated Habitat for Rare Species, NHESP Certified or Potential Vernal Pools, or Outstanding Resource Waters. The project will not affect the barrier beach system along Winthrop Parkway in Revere. All proposed Project activities are located within existing roadways and disturbed road shoulders, which contain several other existing utilities. No permanent impacts are anticipated within any resource areas. Please see the Project Narrative for further details of resource areas. Describe the proposed project and its programmatic and physical elements: Winthrop is an electrical peninsula which is surrounded by Eversource Energy territory in East Boston and Deer Island. The town is served by the 2350, 2351 and 2402 distribution lines which are 23kV cables routed from the Revere #7 Substation to the Winthrop #22 Substation. The existing 2350, 2351, and 2402 circuits are reaching the end of their useful service life and need to be replaced, primarily due to declining asset condition and maintenance issues. MECO seeks to replace these circuits through the installation of a new underground system within and adjacent to the roadways in the City of Revere and the Town of Winthrop, MA. The new cable will be installed and then energized before the existing cable is de-energized and removed. Proposed Project activities involve installing approximately 2.6 miles of new duct bank within existing roadways, including 6-inch concrete encased conduits; installing twenty-two 2-way, eight 3-way, and one 4-way distribution manholes; installing 6-inch conduits from nearest manholes to the new duct bank; installing five heavy duty handholes for a new fiber-optic cable along the entire route; replacing two existing utility poles, removing approximately 5,650-feet of overhead cable, and installing a new switchgear outside the Winthrop substation on an existing manhole. Please see the Project Narrative for full details of the work. The existing direct buried cables follow the approximate same path as the proposed duct bank, where possible. The Project will be constructed within Railroad Street, Lee Burbank Highway, Revere Beach Parkway, Winthrop Avenue, Winthrop Parkway, Revere Street, and Argyle Street, as depicted on the attached proposed conditions drawings (Attachment B). The Project is anticipated to result in temporary impacts to approximately 32,032 square feet of LSCSF, 1,020 SF of RFA, 5,265 square feet of Article 97 lands, and 6,300 square feet of impact within ACEC. All impacts are temporary, and could include traffic disruption, erosion/sedimentation, noise, and fugitive dust emissions. No significant long-term impacts are anticipated. Please refer to the Project Narrative for further information. The Project will have long-term benefits and serve the public interest by replacing the existing cables, which are reaching the end of its useful life, and improving system reliability while minimizing environmental impacts. NOTE: The project description should summarize both the project’s direct and indirect impacts (including construction period impacts) in terms of their magnitude, geographic extent, duration and frequency, and reversibility, as applicable. It should also discuss the infrastructure requirements of the project and the capacity of the municipal and/or regional infrastructure to sustain these requirements into the future.

Describe the on-site project alternatives (and alternative off-site locations, if applicable), considered by the proponent, including at least one feasible alternative that is allowed under current zoning, and the reasons(s) that they were not selected as the preferred alternative: Please refer to Section 2 Alternatives Analysis in the Project Narrative, which includes an overview of the following alternatives:  Alternative #1 - No-Build Alternative.  Alternative #2 - Underground cable replacement along the same existing route as the old cables. This alternative was rejected, because in order to maintain electrical service throughout construction, the new cables must be installed before the old cables can be de-energized. This would not be feasible within the same duct bank.  Alternative #3 - Preferred Alternative: The proposed project (see above description and the Project Narrative). This route allows for the replacement of some portions of the old cables in their existing alignment, 9