Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Vineyard Wind hearing rescheduled for Valentine’s Day

February 5, 2019 — After more than a month’s delay due to the government shutdown, a public hearing on the environmental effects of Vineyard Wind has been rescheduled for Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.

The hearing in New Bedford is one of five across the region that will address environmental issues in Vineyard Wind’s construction and operations plan. The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is collecting public comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement before the draft is finalized.

As the winner of Massachusetts’ first commercial contract for offshore wind energy, Vineyard Wind intends to build 84 turbines in federal waters south of Martha’s Vineyard. The hearings are a required part of the federal permitting for the 800-megawatt project.

On Friday, Vineyard Wind Chief Development Officer Erich Stephens spoke at a meeting of local business leaders, who have been looking for details about how the money the company has committed for worker training and business development will be put to use.

The New Bedford hearing will take place at the Waypoint Event Center, with an open house from 5 to 8 p.m. and presentation and question-and-answer session at 6 p.m.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Government shutdown delays meetings between fishermen, Vineyard Wind

January 29, 2019 — Despite the partial federal government shutdown ending, public comment meetings led by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management regarding Vineyard Wind’s plan to construct an offshore wind-turbine farm have been indefinitely postponed, according to David Bernhardt, acting secretary of the interior.

Meetings were scheduled Jan. 8, 9, 15, 16 and 17 but were continually pushed back as the government shutdown extended and BOEM workers were forced to stay home. Bernhardt tweeted Jan. 24 that BOEM would “reschedule public meetings for the Vineyard Wind offshore renewable project very soon,” but gave no timeline on the issue.

Despite the delay in public comment meetings, “construction activities on the site will begin by the end of this year” if all permits are secured, Vineyard Wind spokesman Scott Farmelant said. “Every single permit is expected to be getting in by the end of the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter,” he added. Vineyard Wind has a tax credit from the federal government should they begin building in 2019, so the timeline for construction is crucial. “They’re eligible for 12 percent tax credit if they begin construction this year,” Farmelant said. “That program is expiring as of right now.”

Vineyard Wind is confident the project will remain on schedule despite the effects of the shutdown, Farmelant said.

Read the full story at The Brown Daily Herald

Vineyard Wind offers concessions to fishermen, environmentalists

January 25, 2019 — Vineyard Wind officials are not waiting for federal officials to return to their desks: The company has reached an agreement with environmental groups to protect North Atlantic right whales and has offered Rhode Island fishermen a $6.3 million deal to compensate them for any economic damages they may incur from the wind farm’s construction and operations.

“We have not voted yet,” said Lanny Dellinger, chairman of a fisheries advisory board of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council. “We are currently in the process of reviewing (the Vineyard Wind) proposal.”

On both fronts the company’s intention, in part, is to pave a smooth path for the 800-megawatt wind farm project planned south of Martha’s Vineyard, which is on a tight schedule to take advantage of federal investment tax credits that are expiring at the end of the year.

The 84-turbine wind farm is expected to deliver enough electricity to power about 400,000 homes in Massachusetts via an underwater, high-voltage cable that will land on a Barnstable beach, company officials said. As planned, it could be the nation’s first industrial-size offshore wind project.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Massachusetts wind-power project to move forward despite shutdown

January 25, 2019 — The U.S. Interior Department will press forward with a wind power project during the partial government shutdown using money already granted by Congress, its acting head announced Thursday.

The move could assuage Democrats’ concerns about the Trump administration pushing for oil drilling in the Arctic during the shutdown, which has lasted 34 days.

Avangrid Renewables wants to build an 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts near Martha’s Vineyard. Public meetings on the project were canceled during the shutdown and will be rescheduled, according to acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.

Wind is generally viewed as an alternative to fossil fuels that is better for the environment because it is renewable, readily available and does not create air emissions.

Read the full story at Reuters

No word on extension for input on wind farm south of Martha’s Vineyard

January 23, 2019 — As deadlines near for public comment on state and federal environmental reviews of Vineyard Wind’s proposed offshore wind energy project, the federal cutoff of Tuesday remains up in the air due to the ongoing partial government shutdown.

“The project team hasn’t heard anything from (the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management) as the agency remains shuttered,” Vineyard Wind spokesman Scott Farmelant said.

An email to a spokeswoman for the bureau generated an automatic response that she is out of the office and not authorized to work at this time because of the shutdown.

Read the full story at Cape Cod Times

New Hampshire Enters the Offshore Wind Race

January 22, 2019 — New Hampshire may soon join the handful of New England states actively pursuing offshore wind energy development.

On January 2, Governor Chris Sununu sent a letter to Walter Cruickshank, the acting director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, requesting that the agency establish an intergovernmental offshore renewable energy task force. The move is the first step in a multiyear process.

“The task force will mirror those in other states,” said Matthew Mailloux, an energy advisor with New Hampshire’s Office of Strategic Initiatives, in an email.

“Its purpose is to facilitate coordination with federal and New Hampshire stakeholders to determine the feasibility of offshore wind in federal waters off New Hampshire’s coast. This is a preliminary step in a lengthy process prior to any decision,” he said.

Read the full story at Green Tech Media

Court: No new offshore drilling work during federal shutdown

January 21, 2019 — A federal judge in South Carolina has turned back the Trump administration’s attempt to continue preparatory work for offshore drilling during the federal government’s partial shutdown, issuing a ruling in a federal lawsuit challenging the overall expansion plans.

In his order, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel halted federal agencies “from taking action to promulgate permits, otherwise approve, or take any other official action” for permits to conduct testing that’s needed before drilling work can begin.

The ruling comes a few days after President Donald Trump’s decision this week to recall workers at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management so they could continue to process testing permits for possible drilling off the Atlantic coastline. The recall drew an objection from the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee chairman, Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva (gri-HAWL-vah) of Arizona. He called on Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to reverse course or provide a briefing on the legal justification for the move.

Earlier this month, South Carolina joined a federal lawsuit opposing the administration’s plans to conduct offshore drilling tests using seismic air guns. Gergel is overseeing that case, initially filed by environmental groups and municipalities along the state’s coast.

The suit challenges permits for the testing that precedes the drilling itself. It claims the National Marine Fisheries Service violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act in issuing the permits.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

DAILY PRESS: Seismic blasting is too risky along Atlantic Coast

January 15, 2019 — Imagine the misery of living next to a rock quarry in a place where local laws did not inhibit the company’s use of explosives or the times they could blast.

That constant, annoying presence is what some environmental protection groups fear will happen to marine life if the Atlantic Coast is opened for underwater oil and gas exploration.

The Atlantic Ocean is a virtually untapped expanse for energy companies, and the Trump administration wants to open nearly 200,000 square miles from New Jersey to Florida for companies to seek out subsea oil and gas deposits as a way of shoring up the country’s energy independence.

The first step in that process is seismic blasting, a practice that environmental activists and coastal communities — including business groups that rely on seafood and marine tourism — are decrying as potentially harmful to their ways of life.

If allowed, boats would traverse Atlantic Ocean waters for months towing two to three dozen air guns that create underwater explosions of up to 180 decibels every 10 to 15 seconds.

Read the opinion piece at the Daily Press

US Government Shutdown Slows Progress on Offshore Wind Projects

January 14, 2019 — Vineyard Wind has emerged as the first U.S. offshore wind project to face delays caused by the ongoing federal shutdown.

Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners were due to start building the 800-megawatt wind farm off of Massachusetts this year, but they have already seen postponements to two public meetings relating to the project’s draft environmental impact statement.

The meetings were scheduled for Jan. 8 and 9 with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, an agency within the Department of the Interior. Further public meetings with BOEM on Jan. 15 and 16 seem likely to be pushed back as the partial shutdown continues.

“As far as I’m aware, there’s no clarity on when they will be held,” said Richard Heap, editor-in-chief at the wind industry information service A Word About Wind.

BOEM’s press team was not available to comment because of the shutdown. An out-of-office message confirmed staff are not allowed to work until the federal budget issue had been resolved.

On Jan. 7, Vineyard Wind issued a statement encouraging members of the public to submit comments online to BOEM. “BOEM continues to accept online comments during the shutdown,” Vineyard Wind said.

Read the full story at Green Tech Media

New England Council Update – January 8, 2019

January 11, 2019 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

This is an important update regarding New England Fishery Management Council meetings during the partial government shutdown.

IS THE COUNCIL IMPACTED BY THE SHUTDOWN: The Council staff is at work and conducting business as usual. However, most of our federal partners at the NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO) and the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) are on furlough during the shutdown.

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS: Since many GARFO and NEFSC scientists and fishery management specialists are key contributors to the Council’s Plan Development Teams (PDTs) and provide critical input and analyses during Committee meetings, the Council is rescheduling or modifying the agendas of several meetings where NOAA Fisheries representatives were expected to provide pivotal presentations, reports, and/or analyses.

WHAT ABOUT THE COUNCIL’S JANUARY 2019 MEETING: The Council’s January 29-31, 2019 meeting in Portsmouth, NH will proceed on schedule. The Council will not be taking final action on any agenda items during this meeting. If the partial government shutdown remains in place, the Council will conduct as much business as possible given the federal furlough. The agenda and additional information can be found at NEFMC January 2019 meeting.

GROUNDFISH: Groundfish PDT meetings have been revised or postposed. The Recreational Advisory Panel (RAP) meeting that was scheduled for Tuesday, January 15, 2019 has been postponed. The Groundfish Committee will meet on January 15 at the Doubletree by Hilton in Danvers, MA beginning at 10:00 a.m. under a revised agenda. All groundfish-related meetings and agenda updates will be posted on the Council’s groundfish webpage. Check back frequently during the shutdown.

RECREATIONAL WORKSHOPS: GARFO and Tidal Bay Consulting were scheduled to host three workshops to collaboratively brainstorm short- and long-term approaches for possible future recreational fisheries management strategies that could be shared with the Council, Groundfish Committee, and RAP. The January 8 Recreational Fishing Workshop in Portsmouth, NH has been postponed. The January 10 workshop in Narragansett, RI and the January 12workshop in Plymouth, MA also may be postponed. Interested parties are encouraged to continue checking the workshop registration page at the dates above for more developments.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: The Council’s Executive Committee will meet on Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at the Four Points by Sheraton in Wakefield, MA. Meeting details will be available shortly at Executive Committee.

SCALLOPS: The Council’s Scallop Advisory Panel (AP) will meet on Thursday, January 17, 2019 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Boston beginning at 9 a.m. Learn more at Scallop AP. The Scallop Committee will meet the following day, Friday, January 18, 2019, at the same hotel. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. Meeting materials will be posted in the near future at Scallop Committee.

EBFM: The Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management (EBFM) PDT meeting that initially was scheduled for January 9, 2019 has been rescheduled for January 18. The revised meeting notice and agenda are available at EBFM PDT. The EBFM Committee will meet for two days, Wednesday and Thursday, January 23-24, 2019, at the Boston Marriott Quincy in Quincy, MA. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. both days. Visit the EBFM meeting webpage for more information.

NEW ENGLAND COUNCIL UPDATES: Any further updates to the Council’s January PDT and Committee meetings will be posted on the Council website. Visit the homepage at www.nefmc.org and click on the fishery management plan or Committee you are interested in.

COUNCIL PRIORITIES: During its December 2018 meeting, the New England Council adopted 2019 priorities for each of its fishery management plans, committees, and other responsibilities with partner agencies. View the list at NEFMC 2019 Priorities.

BOEM: Also of interest to New England Council stakeholders, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has postponed a January 8 meeting in New Bedford and a January 9 meeting in Narragansett, RI that were intended to gather public comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Vineyard Wind. Check the Vineyard Wind Website for updates on these two meetings, as well as the January 15 and 16 meetings currently scheduled for Hyannis and Nantucket, MA respectively.