The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today announced the availability of an environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact for possible wind energy leasing, right-of-way and right-of-use issuance, site assessment, and site characterization activities in ~195,000 acres of federal waters offshore Oregon (Coos Bay and Brookings Wind Energy Areas).
BOEM expects to hold a lease sale later this year, with Director Elizabeth Klein stating that her agency “remain[s] committed to continuing…close coordination to ensure potential offshore wind energy leasing and any future development in Oregon is done in a way that avoids, reduces, or mitigates potential impacts to ocean users and the marine environment.”