On Nov. 30, BOEM announced its intention to issue a Notice of Availability (NOA) for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) submitted by Vineyard Wind LLC.
The plan would allow the company to build and operate an 800-megawatt wind energy facility offshore Massachusetts. The NOA was published in the Federal Register on Dec. 7, 2018, for a 45-day public comment period. During this time, BOEM expects to conduct five public meetings and accept comments. The input received via this process will go into the final EIS.
Funding for the government expired on Dec. 21, 2018. A lapse in funding means that a number of government activities have ceased due to a lack of appropriated funding and because a number of employees have been temporarily furloughed.
If the federal government shutdown ends by Jan. 7, 2019, the meetings scheduled for Jan. 8, 9, and Jan. 15-17 will be held as scheduled. If the federal government shutdown continues into the morning of Jan. 7, the meetings scheduled for Jan. 8 and 9 will be rescheduled. If the federal government shutdown continues into the morning of Jan. 14, the meetings scheduled for Jan. 15-17 will be rescheduled.
