BOEM Seeking Public Comments on California Offshore Wind Leases
WASHINGTON — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is seeking public comment on the future development of five offshore wind lease areas off California’s central and north coasts.
The request for comment follows the agency’s publication of a Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the areas in the Federal Register on Nov. 15.
The bureau estimates that full development of these leases, totaling over 373,268 acres, has the potential to produce over 4.6 GW of offshore wind energy, enough to power over 1.5 million homes.
“We’re inviting feedback from a wide range of stakeholders as we work towards achieving President Biden’s clean-energy goals, which are essential for the well-being of all Americans,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein in a written statement.
“Public input on our analysis will guide mitigation of future offshore wind energy development across multiple leases offshore California. We believe that this comprehensive regional approach will foster efficiencies for future project-specific wind energy project environmental reviews, all while ensuring the protection of our ocean environment and marine life,” she said.
In December 2022, BOEM held an auction that brought in over $757 million for the rights to five lease areas offshore California — the first U.S. lease areas granted for future floating offshore wind development.
This is only the second time BOEM has conducted a regional analysis of offshore renewable energy development and operations over multiple lease areas. BOEM decided to take this additional step to complete a PEIS because of the relatively close proximity of the five lease areas and the timing of when BOEM expects to receive future project plans for review.
The draft PEIS analyzes programmatic avoidance, minimization, mitigation and monitoring measures that BOEM may require as conditions of its approval for any future proposed offshore wind projects in California.
Additional environmental analyses specific to each proposed wind energy project will build off this programmatic review once BOEM receives individual proposed project plans from the existing leaseholders.
How to Comment
The public comment period runs through Feb. 12, 2025.
During the comment period, BOEM is seeking additional information on important resources and issues, potential impacts to the environment, and programmatic avoidance, minimization, mitigation, and monitoring measures found in the Draft PEIS.
BOEM will hold two virtual public meetings:
- Jan. 28, 2025 at 5:00 pm PT
- Jan. 30, 2025 at 12:00 pm PT
More information on BOEM’s regional environmental review of offshore wind development in California, including a map of the five lease areas, how to register for the public meetings, locations of the in-person meetings, and how to provide comments can be found on BOEM’s website: www.boem.gov/California.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, the Department of the Interior has approved more than 15 GW of clean energy from 10 offshore wind projects, enough to power nearly 5.25 million homes.
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