Saving Seafood

MARYLAND: Debate Over Offshore Wind Farms Continues at Ocean City BOEM Meeting

September 26, 2024 — Ocean City residents voiced strong opposition Tuesday night at a public meeting hosted by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) regarding potential offshore wind farm developments along the Maryland coast. The meeting discussed areas that could be leased for wind energy projects, which has been raising concerns among residents.

The town of Ocean City encouraged residents to attend the meeting in opposition after BOEM recently approved plans for wind turbines 10.7 miles off the coast. The latest discussion centered on additional potential wind energy areas, though no specific projects are confirmed.

BOEM is seeking public feedback as Maryland aims to generate 8.5 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2031, a key part of the state’s clean energy goals.

BOEM presented a map showing a large stretch of ocean from New Jersey to North Carolina that could be considered for wind energy projects, with some areas as close as three miles off Ocean City’s coast. However, BOEM emphasized that only about 10% of the area would likely be leased for wind development.

Read the full article at WBOC

BOEM begins planning second Atlantic offshore wind lease

September 23, 2024 — The federal agency that identifies offshore wind energy areas is in the early stages of siting another possible commercial lease sale for the East Coast.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held an open house last week at the Crystal Coast Civic Center in Morehead City, the first in the multiyear, multistep planning process for Central Atlantic 2. BOEM manages development of the U.S. outer continental shelf energy, mineral and geological resources.

BOEM Project Coordinator Seth Theuerkauf explained that the agency has just begun the work to identify lease areas in the Central Atlantic region.

“We’re at the call area stage, the first step of our process,” Theuerkauf said, adding that what’s really driving the effort is the remaining offshore wind energy needs for North Carolina and Maryland.

Officials on Aug. 22 published in the federal register the call area, which is 13 million acres off the coasts of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina, and launched the 60-day public comment period that ends Oct. 21.

BOEM has scheduled open houses over the coming weeks in the other states plus a virtual meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 2. Register for the Zoom meeting online. This meeting will feature presentations and offer a chance to comment.

Read the full article at CoastalReview.org

Outer Cape offshore wind auction scheduled; wind area has changed

September 23, 2024 — The federal government has set a date of Oct. 29 to auction ocean leases for offshore wind farms off the Outer Cape, and the number of acres to be auctioned is smaller than previously proposed.

The eight lease areas now total just over 850,000 acres, a reduction of about 12 percent since this summer’s public meeting in Eastham.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it made the change in response to comments from various sources, including the fishing industry, the U.S. Coast Guard, navigation interests, and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Read the full article at CAI

Tribes sue BOEM for lack of research in wind energy project on the Oregon Coast

September 19, 2024 — A lawsuit filed by the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians alleges that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) conducted insufficient analysis of offshore wind energy impacts.

The development of offshore wind energy areas are set to take place in two regions off the Oregon Coast, near Coos Bay and Brookings.

BOEM recently authorized the sale of leases for approximately 195,012 acres for wind energy development, and the plaintiff argues the areas are within the Tribe’s ancestral territory, which contain critical fish and marine wildlife habitats.

Read the full article at KATU

Against the Wind: Questions About BOEM’s Fisheries Analysis

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the final sale notice for the Gulf of Maine offshore wind project lease areas on Sept. 16. The agency shrunk the overall area by 120,000 acres, removing significant portions of the two northern leases off the coast of Maine, carving a transit lane between the two farthest-offshore southern areas, and shaving small portions off other southern areas.

In an email to the Independent, BOEM spokeswoman Alison Ferris said her agency made the changes to avoid North Atlantic right whale areas, establish a barrier around Jeffrey’s Bank Habitat Management Area off Maine, and respond to feedback from at least three different fisheries working groups.

This decision did little to satisfy Jerry Leeman, a Harpswell, Maine-based former commercial fisherman and founder of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA), an organization that opposes the Gulf of Maine offshore wind area.

NEFSA “remains steadfast in its opposition,” wrote Leeman in a press release, “despite the shrinking of the original areas.”

Four days earlier, on Sept. 12, Leeman gave a talk he called a “wind energy informational” at the Truro Public Library. Leeman drew on his own experience and described what he sees as BOEM’s lack of good baseline data for the offshore wind project.

“From a sea captain’s perspective, if you don’t know where you are, then surely you don’t know where you’re going,” Leeman told his audience.

Read the full article at The Provincetown Independent 

Biden-Harris Administration Announces First Offshore Wind Lease Sale in the Gulf of Maine

September 16, 2024 — The following was released by BOEM:

The Department of the Interior today announced it will hold an offshore wind energy lease sale on Oct. 29, 2024, for eight areas on the Outer Continental Shelf off Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. If fully developed, these areas have a potential capacity of approximately 13 gigawatts of clean offshore wind energy, which could power more than 4.5 million homes. The announcement follows the Department’s recent announcement that it has approved more than 15 gigawatts of clean energy from offshore wind projects since the start of the Biden-Harris administration—equivalent to half of the capacity needed to achieve President Biden’s goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030.  

Since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, the Department has held five offshore wind lease sales, including a record-breaking sale offshore New York and sales offshore the Pacific, Central Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico, and approved 10 commercial-scale offshore wind projects. Earlier this year, Secretary Haaland announced a schedule of potential additional lease sales through 2028. 

 

TEXAS: BOEM To Close TX Offshore Wind Public Comment

September 13, 2024 — Stakeholders and much of the Lone Star State’s fishing industry are holding their breath Thursday as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management closes the public comment period at midnight on some contentious potential offshore wind projects.

About 10 parties have commented on the federal BOEM registry as of Thursday afternoon.

In its comments, the Southern Shrimping Alliance (SSA) appeared alarmed at the danger it believes this offshore wind project could pose to a major Texas industry. Over 34 meticulously cited pages, it made its case, concluding, “We are regrettably compelled to call on BOEM to reject Hecate’s unsolicited request for [Wind Energy Area] D to be considered for leasing and development due, among other reasons, to an unacceptably high degree of conflict with shrimp fishing operations.”

SSA then enumerated three concerns, which include fragile wind turbines breaking up into the environment after a level 5 hurricane, a “lack of sufficient scientific research to correctly understand a range of potentially irreversible ecological impacts of offshore wind energy development and operations,” and concerns about turbines disturbing marine radar.

SSA explained its concern in a previous email exchange with The Dallas Express.

“SSA collaborates constructively with BOEM and [National Centers for Coastal Science] to deconflict offshore wind energy development in the Gulf with the shrimp industry, but the unsolicited Hecate project would rob the shrimp fleet of access to valuable fishing grounds at a time when the industry is facing an existential crisis due to shrimp imports,” said John Williams, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance.

Read the full article at The Dallas Express

Federal report OKs Gulf of Maine for offshore wind leases

September 9, 2024 — The federal government is preparing to sell offshore wind power plots in the Gulf of Maine after determining that leasing the area would not harm the environment.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said that installing buoys and conducting surveys to assess leases across one million acres of ocean would have no significant environmental impact.

Read the full article at WSHU

US gives key OK for 15GW floating wind area in Gulf of Maine

September 6, 2024 — US regulator Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has approved its environmental assessment (EA) for a giant floating wind area in the Gulf of Maine holding some 15GW of potential capacity.

The EA authorises developers to carry out site assessment activities such as installation of meteorological buoys and surveys, a key step allowing a lease sale to go forward. Any projects planned for the region following the lease sale will need to undergo a more thorough environmental impact statement (EIS).

Read the full article at Recharge News

BOEM Finalizes Environmental Review of Gulf of Maine Offshore Wind Commercial Leasing

September 6, 2024 — The following was released by the BOEM:

In support of the Biden-Harris administration’s goals for deploying 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030 and 15 GW of floating offshore wind energy capacity by 2035, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced the availability of its final Environmental Assessment (EA) of the Wind Energy Area (WEA) located in the U.S. Gulf of Maine.

The final EA evaluated the potential issuance of commercial wind energy leases off the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. It considered the potential environmental impacts associated with activities such as conducting surveys and installing meteorological buoys, but not the installation of offshore turbines, which would be assessed in a separate environmental review if a leaseholder submits a project proposal. BOEM found that leasing and site assessment and characterization activities will not have a significant impact on the environment.

“BOEM is actively assessing proposed offshore wind activities in the Gulf of Maine by collaborating with Tribes, state and federal agencies, ocean users, local communities, and other stakeholders,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “We are committed to ensuring that future offshore wind development proceeds in a manner that reduces potential impacts on other ocean activities and the surrounding ecosystem.”

On April 30, 2024, the Department of the Interior announced a proposed offshore wind energy lease sale in the Gulf of Maine, which would include eight potential leasing areas within the WEA offshore Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. The eight areas total nearly one million acres and have the potential to generate approximately 15 GW of clean, renewable energy and power more than five million homes. On March 15, 2024, the Department announced that BOEM would prepare an EA on potential impacts from offshore wind energy leasing in the Gulf of Maine.

BOEM held an open comment period on the draft EA between June 21 and July 22, 2024, to receive and consider input from the public, including local communities, Tribes, and diverse ocean users. Comments submitted can be viewed on www.regulations.gov, docket BOEM-2024-0030.

For more information, see: https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/maine/gulf-maine.

— BOEM —

The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) manages development of U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) energy, mineral, and geological resources in an environmentally and economically responsible way.