CX-100781 Categorical Exclusion Determination

Long-Range Target Detection and Classification System for Environmental Monitoring at MHK Sites Award Number: DE-EE0007824 CX(s) Applied: A9, B3.16 Water Power Technology Office Date: 12/8/2016 Location(s): WA Office(s): Golden Field Office

Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance

December 12, 2016
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Long-Range Target Detection and Classification System for Environmental Monitoring at MHK Sites
Award Number: DE-EE0007824
CX(s) Applied: A9, B3.16
Water Power Technology Office
Date: 12/8/2016
Location(s): WA
Office(s): Golden Field Office

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to provide funding to BioSonics Inc. to develop and field test a purpose built perimeter active acoustic monitoring system to detect targets at long range as they approach marine hydrokinetic devices.

The proposed project would be divided into three Budget Periods, with a Go/No Go decision point between each Budget Period. This NEPA review is for Budget Period 1 (BP1) only. BP1 would include the design, fabrication, and in water testing of the device. Design work would occur at BioSonics offices in Seattle, WA. Fabrication would occur at AIRMAR technologies manufacturing facility located in Milford, NH. The design and fabrication work would occur in facilities purpose built for that type of work, requiring no modifications to those facilities. Testing of the device would occur at the Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL) Marine Science Laboratory (MSL), specifically in Sequim Bay, WA. The device would include active acoustic sensors and would emit audible sounds into the marine environment.