U.S. federal ocean energy managers have issued a final assessment of the environmental impacts of issuing leases for offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's final Environmental Assessment (EA) of the Gulf of Maine Wind Energy Area (WEA) sets the stage for future leasing.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Energy designated the Gulf of Maine WEA and announced that BOEM would prepare an EA on potential impacts from offshore wind energy leasing in the Gulf of Maine. BOEM also proposed an offshore wind energy lease sale in the Gulf of Maine featuring eight potential leasing areas offshore Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.
Furthering these processes, on September 6, 2024, BOEM announced the availability of its final EA for offshore wind site leasing in the Gulf of Maine. The final EA evaluated the potential issuance of commercial wind energy leases off the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.
BOEM's September 2024 environmental review considered potential environmental impacts from pre-development activities like conducting surveys and installing meteorological buoys. BOEM found that leasing and these site assessment and characterization activities will not have a significant impact on the environment.
Notably, this EA did not cover the installation of offshore turbines in the Gulf of Maine. Any specific project development of that nature would need to be assessed in a separate environmental review, following lease issuance and a project proposal by a leaseholder.
Separately, in August 2024, the Department of Interior issued a research lease for a floating offshore wind project in the Gulf of Maine. BOEM has called that agreement "the nation's first floating offshore wind energy research lease."
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