Abstract
This document constitutes the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM), the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS), and the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) joint record of decision (ROD) for the final environmental impact statement (EIS) prepared for the SouthCoast Wind Project construction and operations plan (COP) submitted to BOEM by SouthCoast Wind Energy LLC (SouthCoast Wind). The ROD addresses BOEM’s action to approve with conditions the COP under Subsection 8(p)(4) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), 43 U.S.C. § 1337(p)(4)); NMFS’ action to issue a Letter of Authorization (LOA) to SouthCoast Wind under Section 101(a)(5)(A) of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as amended, 16 U.S.C. § 1371(a)(5)(A); and USACE’s action to issue a permit under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (RHA; 33 U.S.C. § 403) and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA; 33 U.S.C. § 1344). This ROD was prepared following the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq. and 40 CFR §§ 1500-1508.