Site Assessment Plan Empire Wind Offshore Wind Farm Project Prepared for: Equinor Wind US, LLC 120 Long Ridge Road #3E01 Stamford, Connecticut 06902 Prepared by: 160 Federal Street, 3rd Floor Boston, Massachusetts 02110 Submitted June 2018; Amended July 2018, August 2018, and October 2018 1 Empire Wind Project Site Assessment Plan TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Authorized Representative and Designated Operator .................................................................... 4 1.2 Certified Verification Agent Waiver Request ................................................................................... 4 1.3 Best Management Practices ................................................................................................................. 8 2. CONFORMITY WITH PRIOR BOEM ACTIONS REGARDING SAP ACTIVITIES ................... 9 2.1 Offshore New York Environmental Assessment ........................................................................... 9 2.2 Lease OCS-A 0512 ............................................................................................................................. 10 3. PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................... 14 3.1 Project Description and Objectives ................................................................................................. 14 3.2 Site Location ........................................................................................................................................ 16 3.3 Mooring Designs, Power Supply, and Instrumentation ............................................................... 16 3.3.1 RPS FLiDAR Buoy.............................................................................................................. 18 3.3.2 Wave and Met Buoy ............................................................................................................ 21 3.3.3 Current Meter CM/CT Mooring ....................................................................................... 23 4. DEPLOYMENT/INSTALLATION............................................................................................................ 25 4.1 Overview of Installation and Deployment Activities.................................................................... 25 4.1.1 RPS FLiDAR, Wave and Met Buoy, and CM/CT Mooring Deployment ................. 25 4.2 Vessels................................................................................................................................................... 26 4.3 Pre-Installation Briefing ..................................................................................................................... 26 4.4 Protected Species Avoidance ............................................................................................................ 27 4.4.1 Reporting of Injured or Dead Protected Species............................................................ 28 4.5 Avian and Bat Protection .................................................................................................................. 29 4.6 Marine Trash and Debris Awareness and Elimination ................................................................. 29 4.7 Oil Spill Response ............................................................................................................................... 29 4.8 Health and Safety ................................................................................................................................ 29 5. OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE ................................................................................................... 30 5.1 Data Collection and Operations for Wind and Metocean Data ................................................. 30 5.2 Maintenance Activities ....................................................................................................................... 30 5.2.1 RPS FLiDAR Buoy.............................................................................................................. 30 5.2.2 Wave and Met Buoy ............................................................................................................ 30 5.2.3 CM/CT Mooring ................................................................................................................. 30 5.2.4 Unscheduled Visits .............................................................................................................. 30 5.3 Reporting .............................................................................................................................................. 31 5.4 Potential Faults or Failures ................................................................................................................ 31 6. DECOMMISSIONING .................................................................................................................................. 32 6.1 Overview of Decommissioning Activities ...................................................................................... 32 6.2 Site Clearance ....................................................................................................................................... 32 6.3 Reporting .............................................................................................................................................. 32 7. AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT, POTENTIAL IMPACTS, AND MITIGATION MEASURES . 33 7.1 Geological Conditions ........................................................................................................................ 33 7.1.1 Buoy Deployment Area 1 ................................................................................................... 35 7.1.2 Buoy Deployment Area 2 ................................................................................................... 36 7.1.3 Natural Seafloor and Sub-Seafloor Hazards .................................................................... 36 7.2 Archaeological Resources .................................................................................................................. 37 7.2.1 Affected Environment ........................................................................................................ 37 7.2.2 Potential Impacts and Proposed Mitigation Measures .................................................. 38 i Empire Wind Project Site Assessment Plan 7.3 Benthic Resources ............................................................................................................................... 38 7.3.1 Buoy Deployment Area 1 ................................................................................................... 40 7.3.2 Buoy Deployment Area 2 ................................................................................................... 40 7.4 Fisheries ................................................................................................................................................ 41 7.5 Marine Mammals and Sea Turtles .................................................................................................... 41 7.6 Avian and Bat Resources ................................................................................................................... 42 7.7 Water Quality ....................................................................................................................................... 43 7.8 Air Quality ............................................................................................................................................ 43 7.8.1 Potential Impacts and Proposed Mitigation Measures .................................................. 43 7.9 Socioeconomic Resources ................................................................................................................. 44 7.10 Coastal and Marine Uses .................................................................................................................... 45 7.11 Meteorological and Oceanographic Hazards ................................................................................. 45 8. REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................................. 46 8.1 General ................................................................................................................................................. 46 8.2 Fisheries ................................................................................................................................................ 46 8.3 Marine Mammals and Sea Turtles .................................................................................................... 47 8.4 Avian and Bat Resources ................................................................................................................... 47 8.5 Water Quality ....................................................................................................................................... 49 8.6 Air Quality ............................................................................................................................................ 49 8.7 Socioeconomic Resources ................................................................................................................. 49 8.8 Coastal and Marine Uses