Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Taking Marine Mammals Incidental to the Ocean Wind 1 Wind Energy Facility Offshore of New Jersey

NMFS has received a request for Incidental Take Regulation (ITR) and associated Letter of Authorization (LOA) from Ocean Wind, LLC (Ocean Wind), a subsidiary of Orsted Wind Power North America, LLC’s (Orsted) and a joint venture partner of the Public Service Enterprise Group Renewable Generation, LLC (PSEG), for the incidental take of small numbers of marine mammals during the construction of an offshore wind energy facility (Ocean Wind 1) in a designated lease area on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS-A-0498) offshore of New Jersey. The requested ITR would govern the authorization of take, by both Level A and Level B harassment, of small numbers of marine mammals over a 5-year period incidental to construction-related pile driving activities (impact and vibratory), potential unexploded ordnances or munitions and explosives of concern (UXOs/MECs) detonation, and high-resolution geophysical (HRG) site characterization surveys conducted by Ocean Wind in Federal and State waters off of New Jersey for the Ocean Wind 1 offshore wind energy facility. A final ITR would allow for the issuance of a LOA to Ocean Wind for a 5-year period. As required by the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS requests comments on its proposed rule. NMFS will consider public comments prior to making any final decision on the promulgation of the requested ITR and issuance of the LOA; agency responses to public comments will be summarized in the final notice of our decision.