Feds Release Draft Enviro Review of NY, NJ Offshore Wind Areas

WASHINGTON — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has released its draft environmental review of six wind lease areas offshore New York and New Jersey, in an area known as the New York Bight.

The agency estimates that full development of leases in this area, totaling over 488,000 acres, has the potential to create up to 5.6-7 GWs of offshore wind energy, enough to power up to 2 million homes.

A 45-day public comment period on its environment assessment will begin on Jan. 12, after its publication in the Federal Register.

“BOEM welcomes input from diverse stakeholders as we work to meet President Biden’s clean-energy goals that are vitally important to the well-being of the American people,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein in a written statement.

“We look forward to receiving additional public comment to inform this first ever regional environmental review of offshore wind energy development on multiple leases,” she continued, adding, “We are confident that this comprehensive approach can create efficiencies for future project-specific wind energy reviews in a manner that protects the ocean environment and marine life.”

The Biden-Harris administration has set a goal of deploying 30 GW of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030.

In an effort to advance that goal, the Bureau held an auction In February 2022 that brought in over $4.3 billion for the rights to six lease areas in the New York Bight — a record amount for any U.S. offshore renewable or conventional energy lease sale.

This is the first time the agency has conducted a regional analysis of offshore renewable energy development and operations over multiple lease areas.

It decided to take this additional step to complete a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement because of the close proximity of the six lease areas and the anticipated timing of the receipt of future project plans for review.

Additional environmental analyses specific to each proposed wind energy project will build off this programmatic review once the agency receives individual proposed project plans from the leaseholders.

The public comment period will end on Feb. 26. During the comment period, the agency 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 document.

The agency will also hold three in-person and two virtual public meetings as follows:

Jan. 31, 2024, 5:00 p.m. EST – Virtual meeting

Feb. 5, 2024, 4:00 p.m. EST – North Dartmouth, Massachusetts

Feb. 7, 2024, 4:00 p.m. EST – Stony Brook, New York

Feb. 8, 2024, 4:00 p.m. EST – Toms River, New Jersey

Feb. 13, 2024, 1:00 p.m. EST – Virtual meeting

Additional information on the draft document and commenting on it can be found at the bureau’s website.

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