June 11, 2024 — An environmental assessment of three planned offshore wind energy areas off Delaware, Maryland and Virginia predicts “no significant impacts” from future lease sales on 365,545 acres of seafloor, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy said this week.
Dubbed the Central Atlantic region by BOEM planners, lease sales are already tentatively scheduled for Aug. 14, and the environmental study summarizes “site assessment and site characterization activities such as geophysical, geological, and archaeological surveys,” according to an agency announcement. “The EA concluded that there would be no significant impacts from lease issuance.”
BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein said the agency will work with other government agencies, 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.”
Supporting documents to the environmental assessment do note caveats. Potential conflicts with U.S. military uses and NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia are continuing to be assessed for Wind Energy Area B-1 off Maryland and Virginia.