The interim milestone, “ESA Consultation Package Submitted” is aligned with the date BOEM submits the draft DEIS for cooperating agency review and is dependent on NMFS receiving a consultation request from BOEM (as lead Federal agency), consisting of a draft Biological Assessment, that considers effects of all proposed Federal actions.
The interim milestone, “NOAA Determines ESA Package is Complete,” is dependent upon NMFS receiving sufficient information from BOEM and the other Federal action agencies to deem the package complete and initiate the ESA consultation. This includes receipt of: a complete final Biological Assessment responding to any previous information requests, the final draft or published proposed MMPA Incidental Take Authorization from NMFS OPR, and the public availability of the DEIS. This milestone is aligned with the MMPA milestone for publication of the proposed ITA, as the publication date of the proposed ITA is when we anticipate that all of the information necessary to initiate the ESA consultation would be available. This is consistent with the nominal timeline for OSW.
The final Milestone, “ESA Consultation Concludes,” must be at least 150 days after determining the ESA package complete (135 day regulatory timeline plus 15 days to allow for BOEM review of the draft Opinion). Note that the Milestone date for publication of the Final EIS date must allow for adequate time for incorporation of the findings of the ESA consultation into the Final EIS.
Cooperating under NEPA
Milestones:
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Monthly Status Report for June 2025:Project paused until January 2026 consultations will resume when project restarts.
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Monthly Status Report for May 2025:BOEM is on track to meet the milestone completion date.
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Monthly Status Report for April 2025:BOEM is on track to meet the milestone completion date.
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Non-conformance Explanation:BOEM was unable to conform with this milestone for Atlantic Shores North (ASOW N) due to uncertainty in the project timeline. The Presidential Memorandum, Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects, discusses the development of a comprehensive assessment and review of Federal wind leasing and permitting practices. Further guidance as to how the assessment will impact the project is necessary to conform to this milestone.
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.
Original Target Date: 02/03/2026
Milestone: ESA Consultation Concludes (Agency Action)
Requested extensions greater than 30 days for this Action are shown below:
ESA Consultation Concludes (Agency Action) extended by 146
From: 02/03/2026
To: 06/29/2026