Massachusetts Senator and Democrat presidential candidate frontrunner Elizabeth Warren has called on the Federal government to issue Vineyard Wind with a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) to avoid delays to the offshore wind project.
In a statement Senator Warren said that the Trump Administration’s last-minute decision to delay approval of a major offshore wind energy project is “extremely disappointing”.
“The Vineyard Wind project, which is projected to create thousands of jobs and generate clean energy for over 400,000 families and businesses across the Commonwealth, would save money for Massachusetts ratepayers, reduce carbon emissions by over 1.6 tonnes per year, and help the Commonwealth reach its clean energy targets by 2035,” she said.
The 800MW Vineyard Wind project is being developed by a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners off the coast of Massachusetts.
Warren, a co-sponsor of the Offshore Wind Incentives for New Development (WIND) Act, urged the administration to work towards a “solution that will protect the environment, address the concerns raised by our local fishermen, and allow the Vineyard Wind project to move forward without delay.”
On 9 August BOEM indicated that a supplemental EIS would be needed to examine the effects from the offshore wind projects that are expected to be developed off the US north-east coast.
BOEM will notify all stakeholders – including federal, state, and local agencies, elected officials, fishing communities, and the public – when the supplemental EIS is available for public comment and will also hold public meetings during the comment period.
The agency expects to complete the supplemental EIS late this year or early next year.
Under Executive Order 13807 BOEM, as lead agency for offshore wind, must complete all federal environmental reviews and authorisation decisions for major infrastructure projects within two years.
Based on when Vineyard Wind submitted its Construction and Operations Plan, BOEM has until March 2020 to issue a FEIS for the Vineyard Wind project, though development company Vineyard Wind LLC was anticipating the FEIS would be issued by now so it could meet the tight project schedule and begin commercial operations in 2021.
However, BOEM has stated that it will coordinate with the Office of Management and Budget, which oversees the performance of all federal agencies, on potential permitting delays that may result from additional environmental review.
In December 2018, Senator Warren joined other Democrat politicians, Massachusetts Senator Edward Markey and Massachusetts Representative William Keating, as well as Rhode Island Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed, in writing to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) urging consensus between offshore wind and fishing interests.
The WIND Act legislation would spur the growth of offshore wind energy in the US by extending tax credits for the renewable energy industry.