The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has announced that it is seeking comments by Friday, Aug. 13 on the proposed sale of eight lease areas for commercial wind energy development in the New York Bight.
BOEM specifically seeks comments on how to address the following issues through lease terms or stipulations: number, size, orientation, and location of proposed lease areas; transit corridors; benefits to underserved communities; creating a domestic supply chain; tribal, ocean user, and stakeholder engagement; limits on the number of lease areas per bidder; coordinated engagement; prescribed layouts; and rent.
As to tribal, ocean user, and stakeholder engagement, BOEM specifically seeks comment on its proposed stipulation that would require lessees to provide a semi-annual progress report summarizing engagement with ocean users potentially affected by proposed activities, as well as coordination with the fishing industry and consideration of potential conflicts prior to proposing a wind turbine layout in the Construction and Operations Plan.
Interior Sec. Deb Haaland cited the threat of climate change and said that the announcement with new proposed lease stipulations “puts a priority on creating and sustaining good-paying union jobs as we build a clean energy economy,” with BOEM Director Amanda Lefton calling the New York Bight “a prime example of how regional cooperation, partnerships, and stakeholder feedback can come together to identify areas suitable for offshore wind development.”
