EPA’s OCS air permit and NPDES permit are all dependent on the final completion date for the NEPA action and cross-cutting law actions.
Cooperating under NEPA
Description:
The NPDES program is authorized by CWA: Section 402 (40 CFR Part 122). NPDES permits control discharges to waters of the U.S. The program ensures that discharges meet state water quality standards and other Clean Water Act requirements. A NPDES permit is required because the applicant proposes to withdraw cooling water from and discharge pollutants to the Atlantic Ocean from one or more offshore substations.
Milestones:
Ahead of this milestone, EPA recommends a pre-application meeting with the applicant prior to the milestone target date, to discuss expectations for the permit application, including information pertaining to the proposed cooling water intake structure (CWIS) in accordance with CWA Section 316(b), information required to evaluate the potential water quality impacts from the discharge of pollutants, including heat, in accordance with CWA Section 403(c) (Ocean Discharge Criteria), and monitoring/modeling information to support the permit application.
EPA will notify the applicant whether the application is complete or incomplete within 30 days from receiving the application. If incomplete, EPA will require the applicant to submit additional information necessary to make the application complete in accordance with 40 CFR 124.3(c).
Application must have all required elements, including those listed in 40 CFR 122.21.
The milestone will be checked (on the dashboard) when a complete application is submitted by the applicant.
Once the permit application addresses all applicable requirements, EPA will send notification to the applicant confirming that the permit application is complete. The Agency works towards a permit decision (issuance or denial) within one year. Prior to final decision, EPA offers a draft permit for public comment. The draft permit and all supporting information including the notice announcing the public comment period are made available on the EPA regional website. Relevant documents will also be uploaded to “Agency Postings” on the dashboard.
The target date for this milestone is generally scheduled for the later of a) 90 days after Lead Agency’s target date for Issuance of a NEPA Record of Decision (ROD) or combined Final EIS/ROD and b) 1-year after the EPA completeness determination finding the permit application to be complete. EPA may adjust the issuance of final decision/permit approval based on revisions to the NEPA timeline and Lead Agency’s issuance of the ROD.
The target date for this milestone is generally scheduled for the later of a) 90 days after Lead Agency’s target date for Issuance of a NEPA Record of Decision (ROD) or combined Final EIS/ROD and b) 1-year after the EPA completeness determination finding the permit application to be complete. EPA may adjust the issuance of final decision/permit approval based on revisions to the NEPA timeline and Lead Agency’s issuance of the ROD.
PROJECT WEBSITE: Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind
All dates below are specific to the schedule of the Environmental Review and Permitting processes for this project.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND PERMITTING STATUS
IN PROGRESS
ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE OF ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND PERMITTING
02/11/2027
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND PERMITTING PROCESSES
COMPLETED
SECTOR
Renewable Energy Production
CATEGORY
Project Category
FAST-41 Covered Projects
LEAD AGENCY
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
View FAST-41 Postings by Agencies
Other Agencies with Actions or Authorizations:
Department of the Army, US Army Corps of Engineers - Regulatory
Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Department of Defense, US Army Corps of Engineers - Civil Works
Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service
Environmental Protection Agency
Description:
Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, LLC (“Atlantic Shores”) proposes to construct, operate, and maintain the Atlantic Shore North Project (the “Project”; “Atlantic Shores North”), an offshore renewable wind energy facility in Lease Area OCS-A 0549, which is approximately 7.8 statute miles (mi) (12.6 kilometers [km]) from the New Jersey (NJ) shoreline and approximately 60 miles (96.6 km) from the New York State (NY) Coast.
The Lease Area layout is designed to maximize offshore renewable wind energy production while minimizing effects on existing marine uses. The structures will be aligned in a uniform grid with multiple lines of orientation allowing straight transit through the Lease Area. Within the Lease Area, the WTGs and OSSs will be connected by inter-array cables and/or inter-link cables. Energy from the OSSs will be delivered to shore by buried export cables that will be located within designated Export Cable Corridors (ECCs) from the Lease Area through Federal as well as New Jersey and/or New York State waters to landfall sites on the New Jersey and/or New York coastlines.
Atlantic Shores will use horizontal directional drilling (HDD) technology to install the export cables from the end of the ECCs to the landfall sites to minimize impacts to the intertidal and nearshore habitats and ensure stable burial of the cables. From each landfall site, the onshore interconnection cables will travel underground primarily along existing roadways and utility rights-of-way (ROWs) to new or existing onshore substation and/or converter station sites.
The Executive Director granted a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management request to extend the COP, NEPA, Section 106, ESA, EFH, MMPA, Section 10/404, Section 408, NPDES, and OCS Air Permit completion dates on January 2, 2025. The Executive Director determination is posted here.
The target date for this milestone is generally scheduled for the later of a) 90 days after Lead Agency’s target date for Issuance of a NEPA Record of Decision (ROD) or combined Final EIS/ROD and b) 1-year after the EPA completeness determination finding the permit application to be complete. EPA may adjust the issuance of final decision/permit approval based on revisions to the NEPA timeline and Lead Agency’s issuance of the ROD.
The target date for this milestone is generally scheduled for the later of a) 90 days after Lead Agency’s target date for Issuance of a NEPA Record of Decision (ROD) or combined Final EIS/ROD and b) 1-year after the EPA completeness determination finding the permit application to be complete. EPA may adjust the issuance of final decision/permit approval based on revisions to the NEPA timeline and Lead Agency’s issuance of the ROD.
Original Target Date: 08/18/2026
Milestone: EPA authorizes discharge under Individual permit (Agency Action)
Requested extensions greater than 30 days for this Action are shown below:
EPA authorizes discharge under Individual permit (Agency Action) extended by 147
From: 08/18/2026
To: 01/12/2027