BOEM identifies two Oregon draft WEAs

Source: BOEM

Opening the path to a potential major floating offshore wind development, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) yesterday identified two draft Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) off the coast of Oregon and opened a 60-day public review and comment period on them.

The Oregon draft WEAs cover approximately 219,568 acres offshore southern Oregon with their closest points ranging from approximately 18 – 32 miles off the coast. A map of the draft WEAs can be found on Oregon state activities page.

Identification of the Oregon WEAs came despite a letter sent BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein on June 9 by Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek asking for a pause in the process. She followed that up with a letter sent Klein on August 3 asking that BOEM hold a series of public meetings to share its draft wind energy areas and solicit feedback.

“As BOEM works to identify potential areas for offshore wind development, we continue to prioritize a robust and transparent process, including ongoing engagement with tribal governments, agency partners, the fishing community, and other ocean users,” said Klein in announcing the WEAs yesterday. “At the request of Oregon’s governor and other state officials, there will be a 60-day public comment period on the draft WEAs and BOEM will hold an intergovernmental task force meeting in addition to public meetings during the comment period. We look forward to working with the state to help us finalize offshore areas that have strong resource potential and the fewest environmental and user conflicts.”

Oregon has major opportunities for offshore wind deployment, which will create good-paying jobs and new economic activity, says BOEM, adding that, due to the deep waters off of Oregon’s coast, “these areas are also an opportunity to accelerate U.S. leadership in floating technologies.”

The draft WEAs would tap up to 2.6 GW of Oregon’s offshore wind power generation potential.

To identify the Oregon draft WEAs, BOEM used a process that involved outreach to potentially impacted stakeholders and ocean users, tribes, and the public to identify the potential offshore locations that appear most suitable for floating offshore wind energy development and took into consideration possible impacts to local coastal and marine resources and ocean users. BOEM collaborated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science to use an ocean planning model that seeks to identify and minimize conflicts.

The two draft WEAs reflect changes based on public, stakeholder, and interagency engagement from the Oregon Call Area that the Department of the Interior released for public comment in April 2022. Public input from this new comment period will be considered before formally designating final WEAs off the coast of Oregon.

PUBLIC MEETINGS AND COMMENTS

During the 60-day public comment period, BOEM will hold public meetings to outline data and information used to inform the draft WEAs and to discuss next steps. The meetings will be open to the public, with one specifically designed for engaging the fishing community. BOEM will also convene an Oregon Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting to discuss the draft WEAs and next steps in offshore wind energy planning in Oregon. Additional information on the webinars will be available on the BOEM Oregon state activities page.

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