Frequently Asked Questions
On the Proposed Long Island Offshore

Several state and federal permits will be required including:

• Department of Interior Minerals Management Service: Lead Federal Agency for National Environmental Policy Act and Outer Continental Shelf Alternate Energy Use compliance
• A US Army Corps of Engineers Section 10 permit to construct facilities on federal lands
• New York State Article VII transmission line siting certificate
• Federal Aviation Administration approval
• US Coast Guard private aides to navigation
• New York State compliance and mitigation of coastal zone management policies

Permitting milestones are subject to agency discretion of permitting activities.  Current target milestones include:

• April 2005 - Submittal of Federal Section 10permit application
• 2006 - Submittal of Article VII application
• Late 2007 - Permit approvals
• Late 2007 - Equipment procurement, transportation and staging
• Early 2008 - Transmission line burial construction
• Spring 2008 -  Wind Park construction begins
• Fall 2008 -  Wind Park operation

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) provides for an interdisciplinary, comprehensive environmental impact assessment.  It was first established by the Congress of the United States of America as part of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969(NEPA). NEPA regulations require all federal agencies to evaluate the environmental consequences of proposed actions and to consider alternatives. NEPA applies to federal actions and federal jurisdictions.

The State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) was established by New York State in 1975, requiring state and local governmental agencies assess environmental effects of discretionary actions before undertaking, funding or approving such actions, unless they fall within certain statutory or regulatory exemptions from the requirements for review.

The Minerals Management Service will serve as the lead federal agency and will make decisions under NEPA on the scoping process and the necessary studies after consultation with other agencies. The full NEPA process involves a scoping process, which solicits input for study and evaluation from the public and interested agencies, the development of environmental documents complying with NEPA requirements, and public comment periods and meetings after an environmental review document is issued. 

In light of the comments received, the public interest in the Project, and size of the Project, the Project currently anticipates that the lead agency will require that the Project be reviewed using the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process under NEPA.

The Minerals Management Service will issue a Notice of Intent concerning its formal determination than an EIS will be conducted to satisfy NEPA requirements.

This Project is in the very early stages of extensive federal and state environmental review and permitting processes. Those processes include many opportunities for the public to voice their opinions. As part of those processes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has provided the public an opportunity to provide written comments and the public will be afforded many more opportunities to raise issues and have their questions answered during the review process. Additionally, since 2002, there has been extensive public outreach and education in collaboration with the Long Island Offshore Wind Initiative (LIOWI), an independent coalition of local, regional, national and international environmental and other stakeholder groups. LIOWI’s primary mission is to educate the public on the wind park proposal and encourage stakeholder participation in the public comment and regulatory review processes. As of the end of 2005, six well advertised and noticed Open Houses have been conducted in the study area with approximately 600 attendees to describe the Project, address its purpose and need, describe and explain the regulatory process, and listen to public issues and concerns.

In addition, over 100 meetings have been held with various stakeholder groups, elected officials and agencies to further communicate and address Project issues. Also, Project information boards were prominently displayed at Town of Babylon local beaches to further inform summer beach users. Based upon the comments received at these meetings and displays, modifications have been made in the Project design to further minimize impacts and to address pertinent issues raised by commenters.  LIPA & FPLE plan to continue their extensive public outreach efforts including Open Houses, presentation meetings, newsletters, and media announcements.

In addition, as part of the environmental review and permitting processes, federal and state agencies will be conducting hearings and soliciting comments from the public on the Project and the analyses provided by Project.  The public is encouraged to continue to provide comments and to participate in future public hearings and outreach meetings.  The Project welcomes the opportunity to make presentations to interested groups and individuals.

Areas within the continental shelf have been used by private entities for many years. These include commercial fishery and clamming interests, as well as an extensive network of telephone communication cables, fiber optic lines, electrical transmission lines, natural gas pipelines, and other uses that have been installed in the vicinity of the Wind Park. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 sets forth a leasing program for offshore renewable energy facilities, such as wind parks, to be managed by the United States Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS). The property rights extended to the Wind Park would be provided by MMS and a lease established.