The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has concluded offshore wind energy leasing activities will have no significant environmental impact in the Humboldt Wind Energy Area (WEA), located 32km off northern California.
The finding follows the conclusion of an environmental review of potential impacts by BOEM.
BOEM’s environmental assessment considered potential impacts from the issuance of leases within the WEA that comprises nearly 53,567 hectares off the coast of Humboldt County, California.
The Humboldt WEA, if developed, could bring up to 1.6GW of clean energy to the grid, enough to power approximately 560,000 homes, BOEM said.
The assessment considered potential environmental consequences of site characterisation activities (that is to say, biological, archeological, geological, and geophysical surveys and core samples) and site assessment activities, such as the installation of meteorological buoys.
It also looked at project easements associated with each potential lease and related right-of-way grants for subsea cable corridors in the Humboldt WEA.
Should a lease sale occur and before approving the construction of any offshore wind energy facility in the Humboldt WEA, BOEM will develop an environmental impact statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act.
This will analyse the project-specific environmental and socioeconomic consequences, in consultation with Tribes and appropriate federal, state, and local agencies, and with participation by stakeholders and the public.
BOEM director Amanda Lefton said: “The completion of this environmental assessment represents an important step forward for ensuring that any future renewable energy development – should a lease sale occur – is done in a responsible manner.
“Working closely with Tribes, state and federal partners and key stakeholders, BOEM remains focused on ensuring that such development is done in a way that avoids or reduces potential impacts to the environment and other ocean users in the region.”