BOEM Releases Offshore Wind Environmental Review
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released its draft environmental impact review, analyzing the potential environmental effects of the wind energy projects in federal waters off the coast of California. The Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) is available for a 90-day public comment period beginning November 14, 2024 and ending February 12, 2025.
The report reviews the effects of the two leases in northern California off Humboldt County and three leases in Central California near Morro Bay. It discusses ways to mitigate the impacts on local communities, marine life, and the environment and the mitigation measures that BOEM might require for project approval.
Each leaseholder is required to submit their project plan for approval, and BOEM will subject each plan to an environmental review process. None of the leaseholders has released a project proposal.
The leases are part of the Biden administration’s national target of 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030. (see Offshore Wind Makes Initial Advancements in California.) The Biden administration also announced a multi-department effort to support the deployment of 15 GW of power by 2035 through new floating offshore wind platforms. (see Biden Administration to Support 15 GW of Floating Offshore Wind.)
In May 2022, the Department of the Interior issued a proposed offshore wind lease sale off the California coast, three years after BOEM identified three possible offshore wind energy areas on the Outer Continental Shelf off the California coast: Humboldt, Morro Bay, and Diablo Canyon.
In December 2022, BOEM auctioned the five wind leases, receiving bids totaling $757.1 million for five lease areas that total approximately 373,268 acres. The lease areas could produce more than 4.5 GW of electricity from floating offshore wind facilities.
In April 2024, the Department of Interior announced additional auction rounds for wind leases with a potential California lease in 2028.