The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has issued its final Environmental Assessment (EA) concerning possible impacts from issuing leases for potential offshore wind development off the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia coasts.
The EA includes site assessment and site characterization activities such as geophysical, geological, and archaeological surveys. It concluded that there would be no significant impacts from lease issuance.
“BOEM is proud to continue to support the clean energy transition in a responsible manner in the Central Atlantic region,” says BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein.
“We will continue to work closely with Tribes, our other government partners, 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.”
The agency plans to hold a sale in the Central Atlantic later this year. A final sale notice (FSN) will be published at least 30 days prior to the sale, detailing the time and date of the lease sale and qualified participants.
For any proposed offshore wind projects, BOEM will develop an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze the specific impacts of those projects before making decisions on whether to approve the proposed construction and operations plan.
BOEM is exploring additional opportunities for offshore wind energy development in the U.S., including in the Gulf of Maine and elsewhere off the Central Atlantic coast.
