BOEM takes regional approach to New York Bight environmental review

BOEM Director Amanda Lefton: “These two wind energy areas represent exciting progress toward having the first offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, where there is a mature industry base and the know how to advance energy development in the OCS.”

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will conduct a regional environmental review of the six New York Bight offshore lease areas offshore New York and New Jersey. Leases for these six areas were awarded through BOEM’s February 2022 auction that brought in over $4.3 billion, a record for any U.S. offshore renewable or conventional energy lease sale.

This is the first time that BOEM will conducta regional analysis containing multiple lease areas for offshore renewable energy. Additional environmental analyses specific to each proposed wind energy project in the New York Bight will build off this review once BOEM receives individual Construction and Operations Plans (COPs) from the leaseholders.

“The Biden-Harris administration is committed to unlocking the economic potential of offshore wind as a part of combating the climate crisis before us,” said BOEM Director Amanda Lefton. “This new regional approach is an evolution of our process to help ensure timely decisions that advance offshore wind while protecting the ocean environment and marine life. In addition, this approach ensures both a comprehensive view of the New York Bight area and improved process efficiencies for future project reviews.”

BOEM today published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) in the Federal Register. This initiates a 30-day public comment “scoping” period.