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The NewsRoom
Release: #3567
Date: October 24,
2006
The Minerals Management Service Issues
Scoping Report on Long Island Offshore Wind Park
Scoping Allowed Agency to Receive the Views of Various
Constituencies to Express Issues and Concerns
WASHINGTON – The Minerals
Management Service (MMS) has posted a
Scoping Report
on its
government web site for the environmental evaluation of the
Long Island Offshore Wind
Park (LIOWP). Scoping for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) took
place from June 19 through August 21, 2006. The MMS
received a total of 2,940 comments from all sources, defined
as a name or an address, in letters, public hearing
testimony, e-mails, hand-delivered reports, documents,
written statements, comment forms, and our Public Connect
commenting web site during the 60-day scoping period. Originating sources included concerned individuals and
businesses, environmental organizations, interest and trade
groups, homeowner or civic associations, and agencies
representing New York State, and the Federal government.
Scoping
allowed the MMS to solicit and receive the views of various
constituencies, including their concerns, at the outset of
our EIS evaluation. Other influences on the form the EIS
will take include the expertise provided by the cooperating
agencies that have established a relationship with the MMS
for this environmental review. A list of Federal and New
York State cooperating agencies is available at
www.mms.gov.
The Scoping Report provides a means for the MMS to trace the
input received back to those who offered it. Volume 1 of
the report explains how inputs were categorized and provides
a cross reference between those categories and the person or
groups who offered the comments. Volume 2 contains a
scanned image of all of letters and submitted materials
received during scoping.
Over the
next few months the MMS will be reviewing the data and
reports generated by LIOWP and identifying any needed
additional information. The MMS will also be defining the
work to be carried out as part of the EIS in consultation
with the cooperating agencies. In the next several months
the MMS will be defining: 1) the table of contents for the
draft EIS, 2) the range of alternatives to be given a hard
look in the EIS, 3) the physical, biological, and
socioeconomic resources that could be impacted by the
proposed wind park, 4) the severity of impacts, and 5) how
impacts could be mitigated.
Interested
parties are encouraged to visit the MMS’s web page
periodically where updates of the evaluation will be posted.
Relevant Web
Site:
MMS
Main Website
Scoping Report of the LIOWP
Media Contact:
Nicolette Nye
202/208-3985
MMS:
Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for
America
U.S. Department
of the Interior
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