Government Energy Policy, Business and Technology

What a Tangled Web We Weave: Oversight of US Offshore Wind Development is Complicated at Best

Renewable Energy World: The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is the U.S. government agency responsible for overseeing energy development projects located on the United States Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). In most areas of the U.S., the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) starts three miles from the coastline. The exceptions to this are Texas, Florida’s Gulf Coast, and Puerto Rico, where the OCS starts approximately 9 miles from the coast.

BOEM issues leases to offshore wind developers so that they can study whether or not to build an offshore wind farm in that particular area. However, before BOEM lease areas are put up for sale BOEM works with various other agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Coast Guard, and others to ensure that the areas it is considering for leasing would be appropriate for, and could accommodate, offshore wind development, taking into account any concerns identified by other agencies and stakeholders to the extent possible.

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