June 6, 2024 — The following was released by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management:
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced the availability of its final Environmental Assessment (EA), which considers possible impacts from issuing leases for potential offshore wind development off the Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia coasts, including site assessment and site characterization activities such as geophysical, geological, and archaeological surveys. The EA concluded that there would be no significant impacts from lease issuance.
“BOEM is proud to continue to support the clean energy transition in a responsible manner in the Central Atlantic region,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “We will continue to work closely with Tribes, our other government partners, ocean users, and the public to ensure that any development in the region is done in a way that avoids, reduces, or mitigates potential impacts to ocean users and the marine environment.”
Since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, the Department of the Interior has approved the nation’s first eight commercial-scale offshore wind energy projects. BOEM has held four offshore wind lease auctions, including sales offshore New York, New Jersey, and the Carolinas; and the first-ever sales offshore the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coasts. BOEM is exploring additional opportunities for offshore wind energy development in the U.S., including in the Gulf of Maine and elsewhere off the Central Atlantic coast. The Department also continues to take steps to evolve its approach to offshore wind to drive towards union-built projects and a domestic-based supply chain.