February 21, 2023 — A coastal New Jersey congressman introduced a bill Friday for the Government Accountability Office to investigate how federal agencies conduct environmental reviews of offshore wind energy projects.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ, filed bill H.R. 1056 calling for “an immediate, comprehensive investigation into the environmental approval process for offshore wind projects” by the Bureau of Offshore Energy Management and National Marine Fisheries Service, amid continuing demands from wind power opponents in his district to suspend work on the projects after a string of recent whale strandings.
“Nine dead whales have washed up on our beaches since early December, and we still have no meaningful answers from (New Jersey) Governor (Phil) Murphy or the Biden Administration on the broader impact of these projects on the marine environment as they rush to build the largest offshore wind farm in the nation,” Smith said in a prepared statement.
“As part of a full-court press for answers, my legislation will investigate the level of transparency from federal agencies that greenlighted this aggressive offshore wind development and determine how much scrutiny was implemented in reviewing the environmental and maritime safety of this project, especially given its unprecedented size and scale,” said Smith.
Offshore wind critics contend ongoing work to survey wind turbine sites could have contributed to the repeated strandings of humpback whales since December. Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration strongly dispute the claim, saying there is no evidence that the projects are adding to an “unusual mortality event” of humpback strandings the agency has tracked since 2016.