The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has identified environmental measures for wind energy development in the New York Bight.
BOEM has issued a Record of Decision identifying measures expected to be applied to future wind energy development of the six lease areas offshore New York and New Jersey.
BOEM estimates that full development of the six lease areas could generate up to 7GW of offshore wind energy, enough to power up to two million homes.
This decision follows BOEM’s announcement of the New York Bight Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement in October. The six lease areas cover over 488,000 acres.
BOEM director Elizabeth Klein said: “As we always commit to do, as part of our environmental review, BOEM engaged with Tribes, federal and state agencies, local communities, ocean users, and key stakeholders and reflected their feedback in our Record of Decision.
“Their valuable input will assist offshore wind energy developers in taking environmental impacts into account in their project plans. Our regional approach will also create a solid groundwork for future environmental reviews of offshore wind projects in the New York Bight.”
The Record of Decision identifies 58 previously applied avoidance, minimisation, mitigation, and monitoring (AMMM) measures BOEM plans to apply across the six lease areas.
To reduce potential environmental impacts, developers can consider these measures in the Construction and Operations Plans they submit to BOEM for subsequent review under the National Environmental Policy Act.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, the Department of the Interior approved more than 15GW of clean energy from 10 offshore wind projects, enough to power nearly 5.25 million homes.
It has also held six offshore wind lease auctions, including the record-breaking New York Bight sale offshore New York and New Jersey and the first-ever sales in the Gulf of Maine and offshore the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coasts.