Last modified on July 3rd, 2024 at 11:05 am

TAKE NOTICE THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (“NJDEP”) has decided to hold public hearings and fact-finding meetings in response to the submission of State permit applications to the NJDEP’s Division of Land Resource Protection (“Division”) by Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind LLC (now known as Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 1, LLC and Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 2, LLC) for the Atlantic Shores South Offshore Wind Project.  The Atlantic Shores South Offshore Wind Project is comprised of Project 1 and Project 2 (collectively, the “Projects”).

 

The State permit application for Project 1 requests a CAFRA Individual Permit, Waterfront Development Individual In-Water Permit, a Freshwater Wetlands Special Activity Transition Area Waiver for Linear Development, and a Freshwater Wetlands Letter of Interpretation and proposes the installation of the portion of the electric transmission export cable within New Jersey State waters within the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Atlantic City in Atlantic County, the landfall of this export cable in Atlantic City, the installation of the onshore portion of the export cable to a proposed onshore substation located on Fire Road in Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic County, and the installation of the remainder of the export cable to a point of interconnection for the Cardiff substation in Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic County.  The NJDEP’s file number for the Project 1 application is 0000-21-0022.2 LUP240001 & LLI240001.  The NJDEP has determined that public hearings on the CAFRA portion of the application are necessary due to the scope and environmental impact of proposed Project 1 in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:7-26.5(a).  The NJDEP has determined that fact-finding meetings on the Waterfront Development Individual In-Water Permit and Freshwater Wetlands Special Activity Transition Area Waiver for Linear Development portions of the application are necessary for the reasons outlined above and in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:7-26.2(h) and N.J.A.C. 7:7A-19.1(g), respectively.

 

The State permit application for Project 2 requests a Waterfront Development Individual In-water Permit and proposes the installation of the portion of the electric transmission export cable within New Jersey State waters within the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the Borough of Sea Girt in Monmouth County.  The NJDEP’s file number for the Project 2 application is 0000-21-0022.3 LUP240001.  The NJDEP has determined that fact-finding meetings on this Waterfront Development Individual In-Water Permit application are necessary due to the scope and environmental impact of proposed Project 2 in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:7-26.2(h).

 

The goal of these public hearings and fact-finding meetings is to gather information from members of the public to assist the NJDEP in its evaluation of potential impacts.

 

The overall Atlantic Shores South Offshore Wind Project consist of  up to 200 wind turbine generators (WTGs), up to 10 offshore substations (“OSSs”), up to 1 permanent meteorological (“met”) tower, up to 4 temporary meteorological and oceanographic (“metocean”) buoys, interarray and interlink cables, and export cables that will be located in Federal offshore waters approximately 8.7 miles from the New Jersey shoreline within Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) Lease Area OCS-A 0499 (“Lease Area”) as well as accompanying electric transmission cables from the Lease Area to two landfall points in Atlantic and Monmouth counties.  Additionally, the Projects consist of work within State waters and onshore as described above.  Please note that the portion of the Projects within Federal waters was determined to be consistent with the enforceable policies of the Coastal Zone Management Rules (N.J.A.C. 7:7-1.1 et seq.) on April 1, 2024 under Federal Consistency Certification #0000-21-0022.1 CDT210001.

 

The Projects would contribute to New Jersey’s goal of 11 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy generation by 2040 as outlined in New Jersey’s Governor’s Executive Order No. 307, issued on September 21, 2022.  Further, Project 1 is intended to fulfill the New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities (“NJBPU”) September 9, 2020 second solicitation for 1,200 to 2,400 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind that was awarded to Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind for 1,510 MW of offshore wind on June 30, 2021 (NJBPU Docket No. QO21050824).

 

The scheduled public hearings/fact-finding meetings will consist of two (2) virtual public hearings/meetings and one (1) in-person public hearing/meeting.  The scheduled two (2) virtual public hearings/meetings will be held on Tuesday May 14^th, 2024 starting at 6 pm with a maximum end time of 9 pm and on Wednesday May 29^th, 2024 starting at 1 pm with a maximum end time of 4 pm.  The scheduled in-person public hearing/meeting will take place in the auditorium of Central Regional High School located at 509 Forest Hills Parkway in Bayville, New Jersey on Tuesday May 28^th, 2024 starting at 5 pm with a maximum end time of 8 pm.  Please be advised, the public hearings/meetings may conclude before the above specified end times in the event no additional commenters wish to speak.  Members of the public may participate in the virtual hearings/meetings via video conference or by telephone.  Those planning to offer comments at the in-person hearing/meeting may sign up to do so during the hearing/meeting.

 

Registration for the May 14^th, 2024 virtual public hearing/fact-finding meeting can be made by visiting the following link:

 

https://cbi-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMtdeqhrDgoHNFD9OWZyyMy8zwcGhXloIeH

 

Registration for the May 29^th, 2024 virtual public hearing/fact-finding meeting can be made by visiting the following link:

https://cbi-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAsc-Gorj4tHdakgpcTAHE0jKm09jwIlm27

 

Once registered for one or both virtual public hearings/fact-finding meetings, a confirmation email will be sent to the registered email address containing further information about joining the virtual public hearing(s)/fact-finding meeting(s).

 

Project information is available to review at: www.nj.gov/dep/offshorewind/outreach.html#comment

 

The applications for the Projects can be reviewed by prior scheduled appointment at the NJDEP’s Trenton Office or by requesting an electronic copy of the application by contacting https://www.nj.gov/dep/opra/opraform.html as part of an Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) request submitted to the NJDEP’s Trenton Office.

 

The NJDEP welcomes comments and any information that you may provide.  The NJDEP encourages the submission of written comments electronically within fifteen (15) days of the close of the May 29^th, 2024 virtual public hearing/fact-finding meeting at www.nj.gov/dep/offshorewind/comments.html.  Written comments may also be submitted to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Land Resource Protection, P.O. Box 420, Code 501-02A, Trenton, New Jersey 08625, attn: Janet Stewart, Manager.

 

There is no need for duplicate electronic and hard copy submissions. All comments submitted will be maintained by the NJDEP.