On May 17, 2023, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed plaintiffs’ challenges to the Vineyard Wind Project—the United States’s first major offshore wind project. The plaintiffs, nearby residents, challenged the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (“BOEM”) final Environmental Impact Statement and the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (“NMFS”) Biological Opinion related
Wind Energy
BSEE’s Updated Decommissioning Rules Address RUEs and Formalize Predecessor Enforcement Practices
What started in 2020 as a proposed joint rulemaking between the DOI’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”) and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) was recently finalized as a stand-alone BSEE rule addressing decommissioning. BSEE’s new regulations focus on Rights-of-Use and Easements (“RUEs”) and predecessor enforcement practices. At a later date, BOEM intends…
EJ Evolution: New Environmental Justice Executive Order Expands Agency Directives
On April 21, 2023, the Biden administration reinforced and expanded its commitment to promoting environmental justice by signing new Executive Order 14096, “Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All.” This executive order is the latest in a series of actions under the Biden Administration that build upon Executive Order 12898, signed in 1994…
Louisiana Senator Proposes Statutory Framework Governing Rights and Obligations of Parties to Renewable Energy Leases
The Louisiana Legislature’s 2023 Regular Session begins on April 10th, and last Friday, Louisiana Senator Allain of District 21 filed SB 154 proposing to enact a statutory framework directly governing the rights and obligations of parties to renewable energy leases.
The bill defines a “renewable energy lease” as a lease entered into for the purpose…
Department of Interior Takes Steps to Update Offshore Wind Regulatory Scheme
In advance of holding an offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, which is expected this summer, the Department of Interior recently took several steps to update the offshore wind regulatory framework. First, Interior issued a Final Rule, which reassigns the responsibilities for certain regulations governing offshore wind from BOEM to BSEE. This reassignment aligns…
Wind Energy Development in the Gulf of Mexico
Over the past year, the U.S. Department of Interior has taken several important steps toward making wind energy development a reality in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the first in a series of articles in which Liskow’s offshore team will discuss the regulatory framework for wind energy projects in federal waters and highlight legal…
Public Comment Period Extended for GOM Wind Energy Areas and Draft Environmental Assessment
In response to multiple requests from stakeholders and interested parties during the third Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management agreed to extend the public comment periods for the two potential wind energy areas (WEAs) and the draft Environmental Assessment (EA). Both 30-day comment periods…
BOEM Overview of Proposed Gulf of Mexico Offshore Wind Areas and Draft Environmental Assessment
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held its third Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting on July 27, 2022 (3rd Meeting). The first two meetings were held on June 15, 2021, and February 2, 2022, respectively. The primary purpose of this meeting was to present the preliminary…
DOI Identifies Gulf of Mexico Wind Energy Areas
On July 20, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced it is seeking public comments on two draft wind energy areas (WEAs) in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
As illustrated on the map, below, the first WEA, covering 188,023 acres, is located 56 nautical miles off the coast of Lake Charles…
Mitigating Impacts of Offshore Wind: BOEM Draft Guidance Suggests Compensation for Lost Income to Fishermen
On June 23, 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published a draft guidance on mitigating potential impacts of offshore wind development on commercial and recreational fishing. The final guidance document will set forth required information that lessees must submit to BOEM at each stage of a wind project, i.e., Site Assessment Plan (SAP)…