Dear Members of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC):

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1 February 4, 2013 Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council Oliver H. Stedman Government Center 4808 Tower Hill Road Wakefield, RI Submitted via Mailed Hard Copy Re: Deepwater Wind Block Island, LLC Application for a State of Rhode Island Assent to Construct and Maintain the Block Island Wind Farm and Block Island Transmission System (CRMC File # ) Dear Members of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC): National Wildlife Federation (NWF) strongly supports the development of offshore wind energy in a manner that is protective of our coastal and marine resources. As an organization, NWF represents the power and commitment of four million members and supporters joined by affiliated organizations in 47 states and territories and the District of Columbia. NWF and its affiliates have a long history of working to conserve wildlife and wild places. To that end, we are pleased to submit these comments to you today regarding the Deepwater Wind Block Island, LLC (hereafter DWW ) application to the CRMC for the Block Island Wind Farm (hereafter BIWF ) and Block Island Transmission System (hereafter BITS ). NWF is submitting these comments today via mail. NWF recognizes that climate change poses an enormous threat to both the human environment and the earth s biologic diversity. For that reason, NWF has called for a rapid transition to energy sources that do not produce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contribute to climate change. Generating electricity via utility-scale offshore wind energy is an important component of that transition. America can no longer afford to ignore the massive clean energy opportunity in the Atlantic Ocean, and we appreciate the recent efforts by the state of Rhode Island, its neighbors along the coast, and various Federal agencies to finally bring this new energy source ashore. Without immediate and decisive steps to curb GHG emissions, the long-term survival of many wildlife species is in jeopardy. Nevertheless, it is crucial that regulators commit to avoiding sensitive wildlife habitats in siting offshore wind energy development activities. NWF strongly supports the BIWF and BITS. As made evident by Superstorm Sandy, Rhode Island s current and future generations are severely threatened by sea level rise, more intense storms, and heat waves and droughts caused by climate change. Despite the massive energy generation potential off our shores, we do not have a single offshore wind turbine spinning here in America. Rhode Island has an opportunity to lead the nation in pursuing offshore wind

2 energy by advancing this precedent-setting project off Block Island in an environmentally responsible manner that protects our coastal resources and treasured marine wildlife. We urge you to move forward and approve the category B assent and special exception necessary for BIWF and BITS, and we offer these additional comments on the DWW application and related Environmental Report. General Comments NWF supports this project in large part because the location was previously identified in state planning as an appropriate site for wind energy development, based on extensive studies and stakeholder input. Additionally, the project proposal includes a construction plan that avoids risks to North Atlantic Right Whales a critically endangered species that has been seen in large numbers off the Rhode Island coast in recent years. This demonstration-scale project is located approximately three miles southeast of Block Island, entirely in Rhode Island state waters. The wind farm will generate over 100,000 megawatt hours annually, supplying 90% of Block Island s electricity needs. Approximately 90% of the generated power will be exported to the mainland via BITS. The project will provide clean energy, helping Rhode Island meet its renewable portfolio standard goal and thereby helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence on fossil fuels. Block Island is not currently connected to the mainland grid, and therefore has regular barge transports of diesel fuel to power five diesel generators on the island. This dirty form of electricity generation also creates extremely high electricity costs for the island, often in the $.30-$.40/kwh range. A recent study commissioned by DWW indicates that the mainland grid connection and displacement of diesel fuel will result in 40% lower power rates for Block Island, even with the need for ratepayers to contribute to the infrastructure costs. The CRMC comment notice describes the proposal as follows: Deepwater Wind Block Island, LLC proposes to construct and maintain the Block Island Wind Farm (BIWF), a 30-megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm located in Rhode Island state territorial waters. The BIWF will consist of five 6-MW wind turbine generators (WTGs), a submarine cable interconnecting the five WTGs, and a 34.5-kilovolt (kv) submarine transmission cable from the northernmost WTG to an interconnection point on east-central Block Island where the cable will go ashore to a new substation built at the existing Block Island Power Company (BIPCO) property. In connection with the BIWF, Deepwater Wind Block Island Transmission, LLC proposes to construct the Block Island Transmission System (BITS), a 34.5-kV alternating current bi-directional submarine transmission cable from Block Island to the Rhode Island mainland. The WTGs would be attached to the seafloor using jacket foundations secured with four foundation piles or skirt piles driven to a depth of up to 250 feet below the mudline. The WTG foundations will result in approximately 0.35 acre seafloor disturbance from the WTG foundations of all five WTGs, including armoring of the Inter-Array Cable at the base of each turbine. Construction activities would result in up to 1.2 acres of seafloor disturbance associated with jack-up and/or anchored derrick barges used to install the foundations and WTGs. The submarine cables will be installed using a jet plow to minimize sediment resuspension and seafloor disturbance during cable laying. 2

3 DWW signed a breakthrough contract with Siemens to use innovative 6MW turbines instead of 3.6MW turbines as previously planned. By doing so, the number of turbines needed for the project was reduced from 8 to 5, reducing the project s infrastructure needs and associated costs by 40%, and reducing the footprint and potential environmental impact of the project. Additionally, DWW is pursuing an innovative jacket foundation for the turbines that has a significantly smaller overall footprint and less noise from pile-driving than that associated with monopile foundations. Jacket foundations can also support projects in deeper waters farther from shore, helping reduce avian and view shed conflicts and allowing projects with larger capacities and thus better economies of scale. NWF would like to see project developers embrace larger offshore wind turbines and jacket foundations in order to capitalize on their economic and environmental benefits, and we are excited to see this project help show the way forward to other U.S. development. It is time for America to get serious about advancing clean energy and ensure that offshore wind power is major part of our energy future. This demonstration-scale project will provide real benefits to Rhode Island ratepayers, while helping show the viability and economic benefits of offshore wind and of next-generation specialized turbines and foundations. Furthermore, monitoring and research of the performance of the BIWF will help guide larger proposals in nearby federal waters, which will also need to consider using similar technology and have similar planning and siting needs. I. Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan, Project Location, and Public Stakeholder Engagement NWF would like to applaud the State of Rhode Island, the CRMC, and the countless stakeholders whose tireless engagement resulted in the Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan (SAMP). By getting out ahead with this effort, DWW was able to propose a location for the BIWF that is entirely within a suitable Renewable Energy Zone. We believe this collaborative effort to quickly identify ocean resources, uses and information gaps and then proactively coordinate ocean uses will better protect important ocean resources while reducing burdens to industry by providing a more efficient permitting timeline. As our National Ocean Policy moves forward in the months and years ahead, the SAMP should serve as a model of how robust engagement can result in quick and essential product. After careful analysis of the SAMP and the DWW s completed surveys, it is clear that the Renewable Energy Zone for the BIWF and the areas identified for associated transmission cables were selected in order to avoid areas important to marine mammals, birds, bats, fisheries, and benthic habitat and minimize any potential impacts. While proposed for statecontrolled waters three miles south of Block Island, the project is actually miles from the mainland. In addition to the stakeholder engagement associated with the development of the SAMP, DWW engaged environmental stakeholders on several occasions prior to submitting this application. This included sharing some of the results of their environmental surveys with stakeholders and seeking feedback for their project application. At times, wind energy developers have been hesitant to share the results of their surveys with the public, and DWW should be lauded for doing so here at an early stage. Such action gives time to review and understand the details of the permitting request, and facilitates better outcomes. 3

4 Finally, DWW secured the engagement of a professional fishing guide in the area to help facilitate pre-construction coordination with the commercial fishing community and intends to maintain that direct coordination during construction, per the guidance of the SAMP. II. North American Right Whale Protections The North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW) is one of the most critically endangered whales in the world, with an estimated population of only individuals. 1 NARW are producing a very low number of calves and their population numbers are not recovering. Most migration is done by reproductively mature females, pregnant females, and mothers and calf pairs whose conservation is most vital to the NARW conservation. 2 Efforts to survey and research the whales during migration have not been significant to date, though it is thought that mothers and calves and foraging individuals may have a greater presence at the surface, making them more vulnerable to vessel collisions - the leading cause of mortality for the Right Whale. NWF places great value in the effort to collect and compile data on the presence and abundance of the Right Whale in the Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan (SAMP). As noted in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management s Environmental Assessment for the neighboring RI/MA Wind Energy Area (Call Area) (pg 13): Recent sightings data confirm that the endangered North Atlantic right whale is present in the Call Area during the species regular migration. The whales pass through the Call Area during their migration between calving areas off the southeastern coast of the United States and primary feeding areas off the coast of Canada and in the Gulf of Maine. The North Atlantic right whale, which is protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), has been observed exhibiting feeding behavior in the Call Area. According to the NMFS, North Atlantic right whales are found seasonally in the waters off Rhode Island and Massachusetts and have been documented in the waters of the Call Area. The Rhode Island Ocean SAMP includes information about sightings from 1828 to 2007, gathered from historical records, whale watch boats, and NMFS aerial and shipboard protected species abundance surveys and right whale surveys, for a total of 156 records, 91 of which occurred in the spring (Rhode Island CRMC 2010). NWF believes that a flexible approach to avoid the co-occurrence of NARW and offshore wind construction activities is the most important mitigation measure to prevent harm. In this spirit, DWW has committed to a pile-driving schedule starting no earlier than May and finishing no later than October, so as to avoid the peak migration period for the Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. DWW's original construction schedule had impact pile-driving occurring in April. Several towns on Block Island had imposed scheduling restrictions to protect beach seasons that needed to be revised in order to avoid piling in April. NWF is grateful to Block Island leadership and DWW for their flexibility on this vitally important timing issue. Ultimately, this decision was based on advance consultation with the conservation community, leading Right Whale biologists, and NMFS, and is an important condition of NWF s support for this application. 1 The North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, available at: 2 Fujiwara, M., and Caswell, H., Demography of the endangered North Atlantic right whale, Nature 414: (2001); Kraus, S.D., Prescott, J.H, Knowlton, A.R., and Stone, G.S., Migration and calving of right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in the western North Atlantic, Reports of the International Whaling Commission 10: (1986); Ward-Geiger, L.I., Silber, G.K., Baumstark, R.D., and Pulfer, T.L., Characterization of ship traffic in right whale critical habitat, Coastal Management 33: (2005). 4

5 DWW has committed in its Environmental Report to a variety of additional mitigation measures to protect wildlife and habitat from pile-driving and cable-laying impacts. These include: Monitoring and exclusion zone implementation and field verification Visual monitoring program Ramp-up/soft-start procedures Shut-down procedures Time of day restrictions Marine mammal training for all construction personnel. Vessel speed restrictions These measures are in line with current NMFS recommendations and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Standard Operating Procedures in their Environmental Assessment for offshore wind energy in a nearby Wind Energy Area on the Atlantic OCS off Rhode Island and Massachusetts. They are also generally in line with a private agreement for NARW conservation NWF and other colleagues reached with DWW for site assessment and characterization activities in the mid-atlantic region. It is important to note that the aforementioned agreement was not for this location and was not linked to the specific construction activities proposed in this application. In collaboration with the University of Rhode Island and the CRMC, DWW recently applied to the Department of Energy (DOE) for a $20 million grant for a variety of post-construction research on the BIWF and BITS, which included a proposal to install Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) buoys at and around the project to monitor the impact of the project on various marine wildlife. PAM buoys would allow for a cutting edge approach to monitoring construction exclusion zones and tracking abundance, distribution, and behavior of marine mammals to help avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts. Existing efforts to use PAMs near Boston Harbor for real-time monitoring of NARW has been promising, and it could also prove to be especially useful in the summer months when DWW is scheduling construction activities to monitor the exclusion zones for Fin and Humpback Whales. NWF is disappointed that the DWW proposal has not yet been funded by DOE. We believe collaborative funding from State and Federal agencies is an appropriate way to facilitate the use of PAMs. Nevertheless, while DWW commits in the Environmental Report to vessel-based monitoring, they ask for flexibility to complement or replace that monitoring with aerial surveys and PAMs, if appropriate. We understand DWW would like the option to utilize PAM in their pursuit of Incidental Harassment Authorization from NMFS. We encourage DWW to continue to explore the feasibility of including Passive Acoustic Monitoring to monitor for marine mammals during construction, and urge CRMC and the State of Rhode Island to help fund the use of PAMs in order to increase the overall knowledge of marine mammal use of the area. III. Monitoring and data collection To build upon the data collection effort that culminated in the SAMP, NWF urges CRMC and the other relevant agencies to ensure that DWW engage in long-term and robust ecological monitoring during any additional site characterization, as well as during the construction, operation, and decommissioning phases. Additionally, state and federal agencies must continue to conduct year round baseline and site-specific marine bird, marine mammal, and sea turtle visual and passive acoustic surveys. Information generated by DWW should be made public and used to populate the National Ocean Council s National Information Management System, and/or regional data portals, such as the Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC) 5

6 Northeast Ocean Data Portal. A thoughtful approach to making this ecological data public is warranted and will contribute to the ongoing ocean planning in the region. IV. Additional Survey Results DWW s Environmental Report concludes that because of the small overall project footprint and the presence of sandy substrate in the project area, rather than rocky habitat (glacial moraines), potential marine mammal and sea turtle habitat and forage impacts would be temporary and minimal. Starting in September 2009, Deepwater has undertaken robust studies to examine bird and bat abundance, density, flight heights, and presence of rare, threatened, or endangered species in the area. The SAMP also included good information on birds, though bat data was generally limited. Various study protocols have been put in place, including acoustic monitoring, landbased and ocean-based point counts, aerial videography, and horizontal and vertical radar. The Environmental Report concludes there is a very limited bat presence in the area. It also confirms the findings of the SAMP with no identification of Roseate Terns or Piping Plover. The report indicates that neo-tropical migrants generally stay near the mainland coast, crossing water only over the Long Island Sound and not near Block Island. Additionally, the surveys indicated sea duck winter flight height is generally below the rotor swept zone and that the months with the poorest visibility in the project area coincide with the lowest bird use of the rotor swept zone. DWW proposes a project array that runs parallel to estimated migratory pathways, and has committed to two years of post-construction surveys, particularly placing radars directly on turbines to best confirm pre-construction estimates. The proposed location for the turbine foundations and the transmission cables (including the anchor-swept area) are all in soft-bottom areas, avoiding sensitive benthic habitat, confirmed by core sampling and videography surveys. Finally, by avoiding the rocky cobble habitat and heavily fished locations identified in the SAMP, the BIWF will minimize impact on commerciallyfished species. V. Conclusion In conclusion, NWF appreciates the opportunity to comment on this application and looks forward to working with the RI CRMC in the months and years ahead to realize maximum buildout of our offshore wind energy resources while protecting our treasured wildlife in the Atlantic Ocean. We urge you to move forward and approve the Block Island Wind Farm and Transmission System. Now more than ever, America must get serious about advancing clean energy if we are to protect our communities and wildlife from the dangers of climate change. Sincerely, Justin Allegro Manager, Renewable Energy & Wildlife Program National Wildlife Federation 901 E Street NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC