Deepwater Wind – North Lease BOEM Site Assessment Plan SITE ASSESSMENT PLAN Deepwater Wind North Lease OCS-A 0486 Prepared for: Deepwater Wind New England, LLC 56 Exchange Terrace, Suite 300 Providence, RI 02903 Prepared by: Tetra Tech, Inc. 160 Federal Street, 3rd Floor Boston, MA 02110 www.tetratech.com Submitted April 1, July 18, and November 16, 2016 i Deepwater Wind – North Lease BOEM Site Assessment Plan TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Authorized Representative and Designated Operator ......................................................... 7 1.2 Certified Verification Agent Waiver Request ..................................................................... 7 1.3 Best Management Practices ................................................................................................ 7 2.0 CONFORMANCE WITH THE COMMERCIAL LEASE AND THE RI-MA EA/FONSI ...................................................................................................................... 8 3.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES ............................................................. 9 3.1 Project Description and Objectives ..................................................................................... 9 3.2 Schedule ............................................................................................................................ 12 3.3 Site Location ..................................................................................................................... 12 4.0 DEPLOYMENT / INSTALLATION .................................................................................12 4.1 Overview of Installation and Deployment Activities ....................................................... 12 4.2 Vessels .............................................................................................................................. 13 4.3 Pre-Installation Briefing ................................................................................................... 13 4.4 Protected Species Avoidance ............................................................................................ 13 4.4.1 Reporting of Injured or Dead Protected Species .................................................. 15 4.5 Marine Trash and Debris Awareness and Elimination ..................................................... 16 4.6 Oil Spill Response ............................................................................................................ 16 4.7 Health and Safety .............................................................................................................. 16 5.0 OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE ...........................................................................16 5.1 Data Collection and Operations for Wind and Metocean Data ........................................ 16 5.2 Maintenance Activities ..................................................................................................... 16 5.3 Reporting .......................................................................................................................... 16 5.4 Potential Faults or Failures ............................................................................................... 17 6.0 DECOMMISSIONING ....................................................................................................17 6.1 Overview of Decommissioning Activities ........................................................................ 17 6.2 Site Clearance Survey ....................................................................................................... 17 6.3 Reporting .......................................................................................................................... 17 7.0 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT, POTENTIAL IMPACTS, AND MITIGATION MEASURES ..................................................................................................................18 7.1 Geologic Conditions ......................................................................................................... 18 7.1.1 Affected Environment .......................................................................................... 18 7.1.2 Potential Impacts and Proposed Mitigation Measures ......................................... 21 7.2 Biological Resources ........................................................................................................ 21 7.2.1 Benthic and Fisheries Resources ......................................................................... 21 7.2.2 Marine Mammals and Sea Turtles ....................................................................... 27 7.2.3 Avian and Bat Resources ..................................................................................... 31 7.3 Physical Resources ........................................................................................................... 32 7.3.1 Water and Air Quality .......................................................................................... 32 7.3.2 Social and Economic Resources .......................................................................... 34 7.3.3 Archeological Resources ..................................................................................... 38 8.0 REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................40 ii Deepwater Wind – North Lease BOEM Site Assessment Plan TABLES Table 1-1 Location of the Deepwater Wind Met Buoy ....................................................................... 1 Table 1-2 Site Assessment Plan Requirements for Commercial Leases Pursuant to §585.105(a), 606(a), 610(a) and (b), and 611(a) and (b) .......................................................................... 3 Table 1-3 Permit Matrix ...................................................................................................................... 6 Table 1-4 Best Management Practices ................................................................................................ 7 Table 2-1 Conformance with the Commercial Renewable Energy Lease Number OCS-A 0486 Stipulations ......................................................................................................................... 8 Table 4-1 Vessels to be Used for Met Buoy Installation................................................................... 13 Table 4-2 North Lease Protected Species Avoidance Stipulations ................................................... 14 Table 4-3 North Lease Injured or Dead Protected Species Reporting Stipulations .......................... 15 Table 7-1 Geological Conditions and Anthropogenic Hazards in the Met Buoy Installation Area .. 19 Table 7-2 Seafloor and Sub-Seafloor Hazards .................................................................................. 20 Table 7-3 Demersal Fish with Identified EFH within the Met Buoy Installation Area (NOAA EFH Mapper 2014; NOAA-GARFO 2014) .............................................................................. 25 Table 7-4 Pelagic Fish with Identified EFH within the Met Buoy Installation Area (NOAA EFH Mapper 2014; NOAA-GARFO 2014) .............................................................................. 25 Table 7-5 Marine Mammal Occurrence in Rhode Island Sound ....................................................... 27 Table 7-6 Deepwater Wind Met Buoy Air Emissions Summary ...................................................... 33 FIGURES Figure 1-1 Met Buoy Installation Area ................................................................................................. 2 Figure 3-1 AXYS FLiDAR 6M™ Meteorological Buoy Proposed for Deepwater Wind ................ 10 Figure 3-2 Mooring Arrangement for the Deepwater Wind Met Buoy .............................................. 11 Figure 7-1 Sediment Classification .................................................................................................... 23 Figure 7-2 Marine Recreational Resources ........................................................................................ 37 APPENDICES Appendix A Permits and Consultations Appendix B Equipment Specifications (CONFIDENTIAL) Appendix C Protected Species Observation Incident Report Appendix D Site Characterization Report Appendix E Marine Archaeological Resource Assessment Report in Support of the Deepwater Wind Offshore Wind Energy Project Met Buoy Placement Area Rhode Island Sound, Rhode Island (CONFIDENTIAL) Appendix F Benthic Assessment Appendix G Air Quality Emissions Calculations iii Deepwater Wind – North Lease BOEM Site Assessment Plan ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS Acronym Full Name BMPs Best Management Practices BOEM Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management BP Before Present BSEE Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement CFR Code of Federal Regulations CMECS Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard CO carbon monoxide CO2e carbon dioxide equivalents CVA Certified Verification Agent Deepwater Wind Deepwater Wind New England, LLC EFH Essential Fish Habitat EPA Environmental Protection Agency ESA Endangered Species Act FAD Fish Aggregation Devices FLiDAR 6M (Met AXYS Floating Light Detection and Ranging 6M buoy Buoy) FONSI Finding of No Significant Impact ft feet GHG Greenhouse Gases Gray & Pape Gray & Pape, Inc. HAPC Habitat Areas of Particular Concern HAPs Hazardous Air Pollutants HRG High-resolution Geophysical