Saving Seafood

BOEM Invites Public Comment on Draft Environmental Analysis for Proposed Wind Energy Project Offshore New Jersey

June 17, 2022 — The following was released by the Bureau of Ocean Management:

As part 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) is announcing the release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed Ocean Wind 1 wind energy project offshore New Jersey.

BOEM’s DEIS for the proposed Ocean Wind 1 Offshore Wind Farm analyzes the potential environmental impacts of the proposed action described in Ocean Wind’s project plan for constructing and operating an offshore wind energy facility. This is the first DEIS published by this Administration for an offshore wind energy project.

The Notice of Availability for the DEIS will publish in the Federal Register on June 24, opening a 45-day public comment period, which ends on August 8. During the comment period, BOEM will conduct three virtual public meetings and accept comments on the DEIS. The input received via this process will inform preparation of the Final EIS.

“BOEM remains committed to an environmental review process that establishes a strong foundation for offshore wind projects in the U.S. while promoting ocean co-use and avoiding or reducing potential conflicts,” said BOEM Director Amanda Lefton. “The feedback provided by ocean users and our many stakeholders will help inform the Final EIS and provide invaluable insight to decision makers.”

Over the past year, the Biden-Harris administration and the Interior Department have launched the American offshore wind industry by approving and celebrating the groundbreaking of the nation’s first two commercial-scale offshore wind projects in federal waters. The Department also announced plans to potentially hold up to seven new offshore lease sales by 2025, including the  record-breaking New York Bight auction and Carolina Long Bay auction held earlier this year. BOEM also expects to complete the review of at least 16 plans to construct and operate commercial, offshore wind energy facilities by 2025, which would represent more than 22 GW of clean energy for the nation.

Ocean Wind proposes to construct up to 98 wind turbines generators (WTGs) and up to three offshore substations within the lease area, located 15 statute miles southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey, with export cables making landfall in Ocean County and Cape May County, New Jersey. If all 98 WTGs are approved for installation, the estimated capacity range will be from 1,215 to 1,440 megawatts, capable of powering up to 504,000 homes per year.

BOEM will use the findings of the EIS to inform its decision on whether to approve Ocean Wind’s proposed project.

Public Meetings

During the comment period, BOEM will hold three virtual public meetings, where the public can learn more about: the review process, the EIS schedule, potential impacts from the proposed project, and proposals to reduce potential impacts. There will also be an opportunity for participants to provide comments on the DEIS.
The public meetings will be held on the following dates and times. All times are Eastern:

•Thursday, July 14, 2022; 1:00 p.m.

•Wednesday, July 20, 2022; 5:00 p.m.

•Tuesday, July 26, 2022; 5:00 p.m.

Registration for the virtual meetings is encouraged.

A virtual meeting room, information about how to register for the virtual meetings and instructions for how to submit comments will be published on BOEM’s website on June 24, 2022: https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/ocean-wind-1.

The virtual meeting room will be available throughout the 45-day comment period and will include a copy of the DEIS, fact sheets, posters, and pre-recorded presentations.

If you require a paper copy of the DEIS or public meeting materials, or require call-in information for the virtual meetings (for those without reliable internet access), please contact BOEM at boempublicaffairs@boem.gov.

 

CALIFORNIA: Coastal Commission greenlights surveys for Morro Bay offshore wind energy development

June 10, 2022 — The California Coastal Commission is allowing the proposed Morro Bay wind energy development a path forward.

In a unanimous vote on Wednesday, commissioners accepted a staff report that laid out certain conditions the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) must follow as it allows wind energy developers to survey the Morro Bay site for potential construction of floating wind turbines.

This means that the Coastal Commission determined those survey activities are consistent with the California Coastal Act, the law the commission is charged with upholding. The law mandates the protection of coastal resources and “the economic, commercial and recreational importance of fishing activities,” among other things.

Site assessment activities may include the placement of ocean buoys with data collection equipment and an expected 873 boat trips in the wind energy area over three years, according to the Coastal Commission.

Read the full story at the San Luis Obispo Tribune

CALIFORNIA: Process for offshore wind energy lease auction outlined

June 7, 2022 — A task force on renewable energy in California, as well as members of the public, last week heard how credits will be assigned to bidders in a lease auction of offshore tracts to develop wind-powered systems that could generate up to 3 gigawatts of electricity.

More than 300 people — most of them from companies related to the power generation industry — attended the online meeting of the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s California Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force.

An update on the lease sales included a timeline to the online auction scheduled for this fall and an explanation of various plans bidders will have to submit and credits that can be granted for their plans to support the workforce and mitigate impacts.

Some task force members from Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties expressed concerns over project effects on a proposed national marine sanctuary and the low percentage of credits for mitigating impacts.

Amanda Lefton, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said seven lease sales are planned by 2025, including off the coasts of New York and the Carolinas, with a goal of producing 30 gigawatts of power by 2030.

Read the full story at the Santa Maria Times

Federal agency to hold public meetings on US Wind project off Ocean City coast as it begins to examine impacts

June 7, 2022 — The federal agency responsible for reviewing offshore wind projects will hold a series of virtual public meetings later this month as it begins the process of evaluating a planned wind farm off the coast of Ocean City and southern Delaware.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said Tuesday that it will formally launch its review of the environmental impacts associated with a wind farm of up to 121 turbines that US Wind LLC plans to build by 2026.

The agency will describe its review process to the public at online meetings at 5 p.m. June 21 and June 23 and at 1 p.m. June 27. The process involves collecting input from the public to determine what environmental impacts the project could have, what alternatives to US Wind’s plans might exist, and what measures could be taken to reduce any impacts.

Bureau Director Amanda Lefton said in a statement the agency would use “the best available science and traditional knowledge to inform our decisions and protect the ocean environment and marine life.”

Read the full story at the Baltimore Sun

Five California offshore wind leases proposed

May 27, 2022 — Five areas totaling 373,268 acres off central and northern California are proposed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for the first West Coast offshore wind energy lease auction.

The proposed sale notice, to be published May 31 in the Federal Register, will kick off a 60-day public comment period. Three lease areas are proposed for the Morro Bay wind energy area off the central cost and two in the northern Humboldt area.

“Today’s action represents tangible progress towards achieving the Administration’s vision for a clean energy future offshore California, while creating a domestic supply chain and good-paying union jobs,” said BOEM Director Amanda Lefton in announcing the plan. “BOEM is committed to robust stakeholder engagement and ensuring any offshore wind leasing is done in a manner that avoids or minimizes potential impacts to the ocean and ocean users.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

New England task force convenes to plan the next phase of offshore wind development

May 25, 2022 — Last year, President Joe Biden announced plans to start leasing areas of the Gulf of Maine to offshore wind energy developers by 2024.

On Thursday, May 18, the federal Bureau Of Ocean Energy Management convened a task force of officials from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and tribal governments to consider the next phase in the push to stand up a new “green” industry off the shores of Northern New England.

Leases for wind projects have been stacking up the past few years off Atlantic states from Massachusetts south. Attention now turns to the Gulf of Maine, where deeper waters will likely require deployment of new “floating platform” technologies that Maine researchers and international developers are pioneering.

“So the Gulf of Maine, off the coast of Maine, floating is the only option. We don’t have any other options,” said Habib Dagher, the University of Maine engineering expert who has led development of a prototype floating-platform wind turbine in state waters off Mohegan Island.

Dagher is also part of the team that has proposed a larger array of as many as a dozen turbines in federal waters off the midcoast, aimed at researching the technology’s viability and its effects on ecosystems and fisheries.

Officials at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on May 18 outlined their plans for handling Gov. Janet Mills’ proposed 16-square-mile lease site for the research array.

Backers such as Dagher say it can set a course early for responsible development of commercial-scale projects off the East Coast.

Read the full story at Maine Public Radio

 

OREGON: Coastal Leaders Push Back Against Location of Wind Energy Plants

May 24, 2022 — There is little doubt that floating offshore wind farms are coming to the southern Oregon coast. The region’s small, ocean-reliant communities are worried about potential damage to sea habitat and the loss of fishing grounds.

In February, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) designated 2,100 square miles of federal water for potential development of floating offshore wind as part of the Biden administration’s goal to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. On the day of the announcements regional stakeholders started pushing back, asking why BOEM would consider placing hundreds of 980-foot-high wind turbines in a globally productive ecosystem.

On April 7, in a rare display of unity, 27 conservation groups and fishing organizations wrote  BOEM asserting, “Siting of wind energy facilities is the single most important decision that will be made for wind development off Oregon’s Coast.”

The following week, Nick Edwards, a southern Oregon fisherman, addressed Oregon’s U.S. Senator Ron Wyden on behalf of Oregon’s seafood industry during a virtual Town Hall meeting.

“Senator, I’ve been a commercial fisherman for 43 years and a board member of the Oregon Wave Energy Trust in Portland for seven. If there ever was a fisherman involved with ocean renewable energy, I would be that person.

I’m here to tell you the current BOEM (Bureau of Ocean Management) process for siting offshore wind in Oregon waters is extremely flawed. [In January] Governor [Kate] Brown sent a letter to BOEM providing a list of parameters to develop offshore wind in Oregon. She stated, ‘This is an opportune time to move these Wind Energy Areas offshore to 1300 meters (4265 feet) in depth and beyond. This would essentially protect the NW upwellings providing one of the most sustainable ecosystems in the world.’ Instead, BOEM is doing the opposite.

Senator Wyden, for the sake of our ocean resources, are you willing to sit down with a small advisory group to discuss these important issues with sighting OSW (offshore wind) in Oregon waters?”

Representatives of the fishing industry, environmental groups, and civic organizations have stated that offshore wind-energy production should be sited in waters deeper than 1,300 meters to protect the region’s coastal upwelling, which is vital to southern Oregon’s sea habitat.

Susan Chambers, deputy director of West Coast Seafood Processors Association, stated in an interview with me:

“It’s infuriating. Yes, we need to transfer away from fossil fuels to clean energy, but I’m not sure if anyone has thought through the damages this technology could do to our oceans. Everyone has been full steam ahead. Until now. We have no bargaining power except to keep pushing in the media, pushing to our congressmen, to our local legislators, to our governor. We just keep pushing.”

Read the full story at the Daily Yonder

For Offshore Wind, The Magic Numbers Are 30, 30, & 3

May 16, 2022 — Numerologists, sharpen your pencils. Last year President Joe Biden pitched an offshore wind goal of 30 gigawatts by 2030 for the US. Now California has just chimed in with a 3-gigawatt goal of its own. In the meantime, the relatively small nation of Norway has just let slip word of a 30-gigawatt goal, too. Norway might be the most interesting case among the three, considering that it already has 34 gigawatts in hydropower under its belt. So, what gives?

US Goes From (Practically) Zero To Thirty

The Atlantic coast alone has a 22-gigawatt potential, but so far just a few turbines are currently operating off the coast of only two Atlantic states, Rhode Island and Virginia. All together they add up to a handful of megawatts, while other nations are piling on the gigawatts.

The Obama administration did try to coordinate offshore wind development along the Atlantic coast, only to be stymied by coastal state governors, among other objectors. Then, the Trump administration dug in its heels against the US offshore wind industry, which is no surprise considering the former President’s notorious distaste for wind turbines, especially those located out at sea.

Actually, there was a surprise. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which is a branch of the US Department of the Interior, apparently did not get the Trump administration’s offshore wind memo. BOEM continued to work on offshore lease auctions throughout the Trump administration. BOEM also put the finishing touches on a first-of-its-kind process aimed at speeding up the offshore permitting process.

Read the full story at CleanTechnica

Commercial fish and seafood workers rally against wind farms on the Oregon coast

May 12, 2022 — Commercial fish and seafood workers rallied along the Coos Bay boardwalk on Tuesday taking a stand against proposed wind farms that are slated for the Southern Oregon coast.

The rally was hosted on the second day of an “Offshore Wind Industry Fly-In” held just down the street at the Mill Casino. The industry conference, hosted by three non-profits with missions dedicated to developing energy along the pacific and Oregon coast, is described as an event that “will bring leadership from the floating offshore wind industry to the coast of Oregon for direct engagement with state and local leadership,” with the goal of “charting the course for Oregon’s first 3 gigawatts of offshore energy.”

This comes less than two weeks after the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced its call areas in Brookings and Coos Bay for offshore energy projects it has been in talks with Oregon about. Tickets for the five-day fly-in event were sold for between $1000 and $1500.

One of the rally’s organizers, Lori Steele, executive director of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association said the event was, at least in part, held as a way to show energy companies and leaders at the conference that “there’s already a very, very big industry here for seafood and fishing,” and that “we are here to stay.”

Read the full story at KMTR

Survey conflicts test relations between wind, fishing industries

April 27, 2022 — The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and offshore wind energy developers are pledging to do better by commercial fishermen – with fisheries studies, scout boats to head off survey conflicts with fishing gear, and bringing on highly experienced and respected fishermen as industry liaisons.

Incidents of survey boats towing through fixed gear in Mid-Atlantic waters are putting those processes to the test. Conch and black sea bass trap fishermen who have had gear damaged off the Delmarva coast and New Jersey brought their complaints to the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

At an April 5 briefing Amanda Lefton, director of the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and wind developers Ørsted and Atlantic Shores updated the regional fishery management council on plans for two adjacent turbine projects off Atlantic City and Long Beach Island, N.J. – and BOEM’s recent $4.37 billion sale of New York Bight wind leases that could become even bigger arrays farther out on the continental shelf.

Then they heard from fishermen who have seen their conch and black sea bass gear dragged and damaged by survey vessels working on wind leases off New Jersey and the Delmarva peninsula.

New Jersey captain Joe Wagner Jr. told the council how he lost 157 bass traps in 2021 during a survey around the Ørsted Ocean Wind project area.

“The only reason I got somewhat of a payment (compensation) is because I caught their vessel at 3 o’clock in the morning pulling three of my high flyers behind their boat,” said Wagner.

Read the full story at National Fisherman