Cape Wind Energy Project Open for Comment

As part of Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar's commitment to issue a decision on the application for the Cape Wind Energy Project, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) is accepting public comments on the historic preservation aspects of the project.

The proposed Cape Wind project would place 130 turbines over 25 square miles in Nantucket Sound off the coast of Massachusetts, and could supply up to 75 percent of the electricity for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Island.

Secretary Salazar announced this public comment period on January 13 in response to the decision by the National Park Service to consider Nantucket Sound for listing in the National Registry of Historic Places.

The MMS prepared a revised version of its Section 106 Finding of Adverse Effect (Revised) document to the proposed Cape Wind Energy Project pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (36 C.F.R. Part 800).

The agency revised the document in response to new information that five additional properties within the Area of Adverse Effect for the project have now been found to be eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

The MMS is making the Revised Finding document for the proposed Cape Wind Energy Project on the Outer Continental Shelf in Nantucket Sound available for public review and comment in the Federal Register on Monday, January 25. The comment period for the Revised Findings document closes on February 12.

The comments on the Revised Finding document will be reviewed and considered by the MMS as part of the ongoing National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 consultation process.

The Section 106 Finding of Adverse Effect (Revised) document is available on the MMS Web site: http://www.mms.gov/offshore/RenewableEnergy/CapeWind.htm

Comments on the Revised Finding document should be mailed or hand carried to:
The Minerals Management Service
Attention: James F. Bennett
381 Elden Street
Mail Stop 4042
Herndon, VA 20170-4817

Envelopes or packages should be marked “Cape Wind Energy Project, Findings Document.” The MMS will also accept comments submitted electronically through its web site at http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html

In the entry titled “Enter Keyword or ID,” enter docket ID MMS-2010-OMM-0002 then click search. Under the tab “View by Docket Folder” you can submit public comments for this Notice.