Federal regulators on Monday issued their final environmental impact statement for the 704-MW Revolution Wind project proposed off the New England coast.

As with every other EIS drafted or completed so far, it projects major negative impacts on fisheries, on the ability to monitor or survey those fisheries, and on the view people enjoy of the ocean horizon.

The EIS is one of the final milestones in the federal review process — the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said Monday it expects to issue a record of decision this summer on whether to approve, modify or reject the project. Approval would greenlight Revolution as the fourth commercial-scale offshore wind project on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.

Revolution’s developers began fabricating components this spring and hope to begin construction this year. Upon completion, which is projected in 2025, Revolution would send 304 MW of power to Connecticut and 400 MW to Rhode Island via one or two lines making landfall in Rhode Island.

As proposed, it would consist of up to 100 turbines standing one nautical mile apart on a grid pattern at least 16 miles south of Rhode Island.

In an attempt to reduce the project’s impacts on the view from shore and on fisheries, BOEM developed a preferred alternative that would reduce the maximum number of turbines to 65 and the number of positions on that grid pattern to 79. The plan would remain the same in most other details, including power output and supporting transmission infrastructure.

The EIS rates the project twice each on 23 separate criteria ranging from bats and turtles to environmental justice and the economy — once for its impact individually and once cumulatively with all the other offshore wind development anticipated off the Northeast coast.

The project is projected to have minor or moderate adverse or beneficial impacts on most of the 46 metrics; some metrics could see both adverse and beneficial impacts.

Potentially major individual and/or cumulative negative impacts are projected on commercial fisheries; for-hire recreational fishing; cultural resources; demographics, employment and economics; environmental justice; scientific research and surveys, such as federal fisheries monitoring; and scenery.

No major beneficial impacts are projected on any of the metrics.

The EIS also projects the impacts of six alternatives to the project as proposed: the preferred alternative, four other alternatives and a sixth scenario in which the project is not built at all.

However, there is little variation in the degree of projected impacts among the various alternatives; most impacts remain minor, moderate or major under all seven scenarios.

The EIS projects that if Revolution Wind were not built, the continuation of current environmental trends could have a moderate to major adverse impact on both of the fishing sectors; cultural resources; demographics, employment and economics; and environmental justice.

In other words, the details might differ from one scenario to another, but the specific metrics likely will face significant influencing pressures whether Revolution Wind is built or not.

Revolution Wind would occupy an area BOEM leased out in July 2013. It is proposed by Ørsted and Eversource, the world’s largest offshore wind developer and New England’s largest electric utility.

The two are pursuing several other offshore wind proposals in the Northeast waters, including Revolution Wind 2, an 884 MW proposal submitted in March in Rhode Island’s most recent solicitation.

Eversource is in the final stages of selling off its share of the partnership and exiting the offshore wind generation sector. It expects to remain active in transmission of offshore wind power.

Monday’s final EIS began as a draft issued in September 2022. BOEM said it incorporated comments from stakeholders as it developed the final EIS.

“BOEM used the feedback we received from tribal nations, industry, ocean users, communities and stakeholders to help inform our decisions throughout the environmental review process and ensure that we are addressing potential impacts,” BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein said in a news release. “This milestone represents another important step forward in building a new clean energy economy here in the United States.”

Environmental Impact

The EIS issued Monday is the latest in a series prepared by BOEM as it leads an effort to install tens of thousands of megawatts off the U.S. coast in pursuit of President Biden’s goal of 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.

Much of the early development is proposed in clusters between Nantucket, Mass., and Cape May, N.J., a concentration that raises the potential for a combined impact greater than the impact any single project would have.

BOEM has issued final EIS reports for three other projects that it has since greenlighted. The details differ, but each one forecasts many of the same major adverse impacts as are predicted for Revolution Wind:

• • The Vineyard Wind EIS (March 2021) saw potentially major negative impacts on environmental justice; cultural, historical and archaeological resources; both fishing sectors; navigation and vessel traffic; scientific research and surveys; and search-and-rescue efforts.
  • The South Fork Wind EIS (August 2021) flagged both fishing sectors, cultural resources, research/surveys and visual impact.
  • The Ocean Wind 1 EIS (May 2023) flagged commercial fishing, the North Atlantic right whale, research/surveys and cumulative scenic/visual impacts.

The draft environmental impact statements completed for other offshore wind projects follow similar themes, projecting potentially major impacts on fishing, visual and/or cultural resources, and scientific research and surveys.

Additionally, those draft EIS reports state:

• • Empire Wind (November 2022) and Sunrise Wind (December 2022) are expected to have a major negative impact on Coast Guard search and rescue operations.
  • SouthCoast Wind (February 2023) is projected to have a potentially major adverse impact on environmental justice and marine mammals.
  • Atlantic Shores (May 2023) is projected to have a major negative impact on right whales, military/national security operations, and vessel traffic/navigation.

Today’s EIS reports show a marked contrast to early efforts.

The Revolution Wind EIS issued Monday totals more than 4,900 pages with its appendices.

The final EIS for the ill-fated Cape Wind Energy Project, issued in January 2009, was just 800 pages. The Marine Management Service, as BOEM was known then, projected few moderate adverse impacts in the EIS (fisheries not among them) and only one major negative impact: on the view nearby.