FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date Published: Thursday, October 20, 2022
Washington, D.C. Thursday, October 20, 2022 — On October 18th, 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published a Final Sale Notice (FSN) for two areas encompassing 582 square miles off the California coast. The lease sites included in the FSN, when developed, will be populated by floating offshore wind energy facilities. At present, there are no large-scale such facilities anywhere in the world. A thoughtful and measured approach to design, construction and operation should be ensured given the lack of verifiable scientific data on potential impacts to the environment and ecological function of the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem. The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) commends BOEM for:
- Acknowledging the lease areas, as finalized, still encompass areas that have historically been used by several fisheries.
- Increasing the amount of the bidding credit offered for the Lease Area Use Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) from 2.5 to 5 percent.
- Adding an additional General CBA bidding credit of 5 percent to provide for communities, Tribes, or stakeholder groups affected by potential impacts on the marine, coastal, and/or human environment.
- Requiring lessees to prepare semi-annual progress reports and regular engagement with affected parties (including the fishing industry), to develop communications plans for fisheries, and to discuss strategies for conflict reduction with facility designs and marine vessel operations.
However, BOEM did not incorporate or address several recommendations in RODA’s comment letter on the Proposed Sale Notice. For example,
- Requiring a specific financial commitment to qualify for the CBA credits.
- Establishing an oversight body, including fishing community members, to receive and evaluate the required reports for the fishing industry.
- Incorporating sliding scale bid credits so that more robust mitigation agreements are afforded greater weighting.
- Requiring a fishing industry/community representative on the panel which will be established to “review the non-monetary component” of any bid.
“Fishing community members are hopeful that winning bidders will make financial commitments to impacted communities commensurate with their full, cumulative impacts and induced risk,” said Mike Conroy, RODA’s newly-appointed lead for West Coast activities.
It is encouraging that BOEM has committed to update its processes in an effort to achieve a more transparent Area Identification process. The agency states it is pursuing Wind Energy Area site suitability analyses in locations with preliminary areas identified to facilitate wind energy development, with the goal to “support environmental, economic, and social sustainability; and minimize resource use conflicts.” Provided ocean users are directly involved in this effort, and fishermen’s ecological knowledge is incorporated, such an effort could make progress toward that goal. It is unfortunate that such an analysis was not undertaken for the lease sites identified off California.
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About Responsible Offshore Development Alliance
Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) is a broad membership-based coalition of fishing industry associations and fishing companies — across the United States — committed to improving the compatibility of new offshore development with their businesses. The Alliance works to directly collaborate with relevant regulatory agencies, scientists, and others to coordinate science and policy approaches to managing development of the Outer Continental Shelf in a way that minimizes conflicts with existing traditional and historical fishing.
Connect with RODA on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Contact:
Mike Conroy, mike@rodafisheries.org