Saving Seafood

BOEM Releases Final Environmental Statement on First NJ Offshore Wind Farms

May 28, 2024 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is continuing its efforts to push forward with the review and approval of U.S. offshore wind projects. In the latest step, they are releasing the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for two New Jersey projects which are critical to the state’s efforts to jump-start its renewable wind energy efforts.

Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, a joint venture partnership between Shell New Energies US and EDF-RE Offshore Development, submitted a combined Construction and Operations Plan for two wind energy facilities and associated export cables on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore New Jersey. If approved, the two projects could generate about 2,800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power almost one million homes.

“We are encouraged to see forward progress and getting another step closer to delivering New Jersey’s first offshore wind projects,” said Joris Veldhoven, chief executive officer of Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind.

Read the full article at The Associated Press

BOEM Releases Final Environmental Impact Statement for Two Wind Projects Offshore New Jersey

May 23, 2024 — The following was released by BOEM:

In support of the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced the availability of the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for two wind energy projects offshore New Jersey. If approved, the two projects could generate about 2,800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power almost 1 million homes.

Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind submitted a combined Construction and Operations Plan for two wind energy facilities and associated export cables on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore New Jersey: Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project 1 and 2, collectively referred to as the Atlantic Shores South Wind Project. The combined proposal includes up to 200 total wind turbines and up to ten offshore substations with subsea transmission cables potentially making landfall in Atlantic City and Sea Girt. Read more…

Concerns rise over offshore wind in Gulf of Maine

May 22, 2024 — Ocean grabbing is a term frequently used in relation to private interests’ takeover of the ocean commons. While the Department of the Interior’s April 30 announcement that it would sell one million acres of leases for offshore wind power development in the Gulf of Maine may have shocked some, it’s been in the pipeline since 2010.

The proposal has moved ahead despite a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) determination of no competitive interest for Gulf of Maine Research Lease Applications as recently as March 2023. Over the past year, BOEM has forged on and developed a wind leasing process for the Gulf of Maine conducted a draft environmental review and analysis of the Gulf of Maine and finalized the wind energy area for the Gulf.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

After new study, feds aim to preserve historic shipwrecks in Gulf of Mexico

May 20, 2024 — In late 2011, technicians for the petroleum company Shell were surveying the Gulf of Mexico for potential drilling sites when they came across an anomaly.

About 274 miles south of Galveston, Texas, and roughly 4,300 feet below the surface, sonar illuminated a rare sight. It was the hull of an 84-foot long sailing ship, its masts broken and cast to the sides.

The techs reported their discovery to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, an agency within the Department of Interior which currently manages a database of around 4,000 shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico, plus thousands more on the East and West coasts. The agency partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to explore the shipwreck. Researchers ultimately found two more sunk ships in the vicinity, naming them Monterrey A, B and C.

The Monterrey shipwrecks are now among 13 sites nominated by the BOEM for placement on the National Register of Historic Places. Texas State University, which helped with Monterrey excavation, has called the find “one of the more significant shipwreck sites discovered in the Gulf.”

The BOEM last month published a series of videos showcasing the findings from each site — the result of a comprehensive study that was part of the nomination process. Authors hope their study will serve as a template for future nominations.

“Not all shipwrecks are created equal,” said James Delgado, an independent marine archaeologist who wrote the study. “They all have their own significance for their own reasons.”

Along with two other BOEM-nominated shipwreck sites, the Monterrey shipwrecks appear to be early 19th century ocean-going commercial traders.

Read the full article at the Courthouse News Service

 

Interior defends Virginia offshore wind farm in court

May 7, 2024 — The Biden administration and the developer of a $9.8 billion wind farm off of Virginia Beach, Virginia, assured a federal court Friday that the project has all necessary approvals, amid claims that construction would harm the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

The joint court filing from the Interior Department and Dominion Energy comes in response to a request to halt work on the massive Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which is slated to include 176 turbines and is the largest project of its kind currently under development in the United States.

Dominion and Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management filed their response following an order from Judge Loren AliKhan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking clarity on whether NOAA Fisheries — which handles Endangered Species Act consultations for marine life — had approved mitigation plans to protect the vulnerable right whale.

Read the full story at E&E News

8 Gulf of Maine sites picked for possible commercial offshore wind leases

May 2, 2024 — The federal government is proposing eight areas in the Gulf of Maine as possible sites for commercial offshore wind farms.

The proposed lease areas cover about 1 million acres and have the potential to generate 15 gigawatts of energy, enough to power five million homes, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said Tuesday.

Two of the sites, encompassing nearly 254,000 acres, are off the Maine coast. The remaining six are located off Massachusetts.

In choosing the lease sites, BOEM said it wanted to avoid offshore fishing grounds and transit routes for ships. The eight proposed sites represent about half of the 2 million acres that BOEM chose as its “final wind energy area” for the Gulf of Maine, which the agency announced last month.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Dominion Energy says court challenge not delaying Virginia wind project

May 2, 2024 — A coalition of groups opposing the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project was in a Washington, D.C. federal court this week, seeking a preliminary injunction to stop construction work in May. 

Conservative activist groups the Heartland Institute, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) sued Dominion Energy and the Biden administration over federal permits for the planned 2.6 gigawatt project of 176 turbines.

The plaintiffs claim the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and other federal agencies “have not done the legally required research to determine the project won’t harm the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale,” according to a Heartland Institute statement.

U.S. District Court Judge Loren AliKhan called on lawyers for Dominion, the government and plaintiffs to file more papers and responses by May 9, before she rules on the groups’ request for a preliminary injunction.

Read the full story at WorkBoat

BOEM Proposes Offshore Wind Area Auctions in Gulf of Mexico and Oregon

May 2, 2024 — The U.S. Department of the Interior took its next steps in the aggressive plans to accelerate the development of offshore wind energy in the U.S. They released proposals for two new wind areas off the coast of Oregon and in the Gulf of Maine which they said combined could provide 18 GW of energy. It however includes more controversial areas especially along the Oregon coast.

The Biden Administration highlights that it has already approved eight offshore sites with a combined capacity of more than 10 GW, which they said will power nearly four million homes. They are also continuing the lengthy review process for additional proposals after having conducted four auctions including the New York Bight, offshore of the Carolina, and the first sales off the coast of California, and in the Gulf of Mexico.

Today’s proposals include eight lease areas offshore Marine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Combined it represents nearly one million acres in the Gulf of Maine and the potential for 15 GW. The Bureau of Offshore Energy Management (BOEM) is proposing to conduct simultaneous auctions for each of the eight lease areas. Before finalizing the plan, they said they are seeking feedback on various aspects including the size of the lease areas, orientation, and location. They are also looking for input if any areas should be prioritized for inclusion or exclusion.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

Activists seek lockdown on New England wind project

April 28, 2024 — A Rhode Island-based environmental group asked a federal court to freeze work on the Revolution Wind project, saying the plans require a new biological opinion on potential effects on endangered sei and fin whales.

Green Oceans filed its original lawsuit in January challenging the southern New England offshore wind project.  On April 18 the group’s lawyers were back at U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth’s court in Washington, D.C., with a motion to stay all permits and approvals for the project.

The activists say they made their move because the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Protected Resources reinitiated a required consultation under the Endangered Species Act.

Originally issued by NOAA in July 2023, the ESA process was restarted because of

“insufficient protections for the endangered sei and fin whales and for two species of endangered turtles,” Green Oceans said in a statement. “The Biological Opinion, a required element for the approval and construction of any offshore wind project, is a comprehensive assessment of the anticipated impacts on marine animals during the life of the project, from construction to decommissioning.”

Read the full article at Workboat

Biden administration announces plans for up to 12 lease sales for offshore wind energy

April 25, 2024 — A new five-year schedule to lease federal offshore tracts for wind energy production was announced Wednesday by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, with up to a dozen lease sales anticipated beginning this year and continuing through 2028.

Haaland announced the plan at a conference in New Orleans.

Under the plan outlined Wednesday, which includes some previously announced lease auctions, three of the anticipated sales would be for Gulf of Mexico tracts to be offered this year, in 2025 and in 2027. Central Atlantic area leases would be sold in 2024 and 2026.

Other anticipated sale areas include the Gulf of Maine (2024 and 2028); Oregon waters (2024); an area of the Atlantic known as New York Bight (2027); and California, Hawaii, and an as-yet unspecified U.S. territory (2028).

The sales will be coordinated by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Read the full article at the Associated Press