By GREGORY ZELLER //
With a crucial public-comment period looming, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is spilling the beans on a major offshore-wind proposal for New York waters.
The BOEM has publicly posted the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Empire Wind projects, lifting the curtain on a plan that could provide clean, renewable electricity for at least 700,000 regional homes.
The bureau plans to follow the DEIS posting with an official Notice of Availability in the Federal Register, the daily journal of the U.S. federal government. The notice, expected to publish Nov. 18, will trigger a 60-day public-comment period that will weigh heavily on the project’s final Environmental Impact Statement.
The BOEM is also planning a series of virtual public meetings in early December to educate regional residents, industry interests and other stakeholders about Empire Offshore Wind LLC’s plans, the bureau’s review process and the status of the final EIS.
Fred Zalcman: Spinning forward.
The announcement of the virtual meetings, release of the DEIS and beginning of the important public-comment period are all good news, according to Fred Zalcman, director of the New York Offshore Wind Alliance, who senses momentum building toward an offshore wind-driven future.
“The issuance of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement … marks a considerable step forward in the development of the significant offshore-wind resources lying off New York’s coastline,” Zalcman said Tuesday. “The DEIS is the culmination of detailed analysis and careful consideration of measures to avoid and mitigate any identified environmental or economic impacts, limited as they are.”
The draft statement dives deep into Empire Offshore Wind’s Construction and Operation Plan, which envisions two wind-energy facilities – producing a combined 2,076 megawatts – dubbed Empire Wind 1 and Empire Wind 2.
The Construction and Operation Plan covers a total of 147 offshore wind turbines, two offshore substations, two offshore electrical cable routes, multiple export and import cable landfalls (up to three each) and two new onshore substations, linking to the existing Greater New York electrical grid in Long Beach and Brooklyn.
The DEIS reviews the environmental impacts of both of Empire Wind’s proposed offshore wind farms and “several alternatives to the proposed action,” according to BOEM, with the goal of helping stakeholders decide whether federal officials should ultimately approve the plan.
Amanda Lefton: All part of the job.
Preparing the detailed draft statement – including heavy interaction with “tribal nations, stakeholders and ocean-users” – was part of the BOEM’s efforts to meet President Joe Biden’s lofty national energy and environmental goals, according to Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Amanda Lefton.
Among other benchmarks, the president has called for 30 gigawatts of national offshore-wind energy capacity by 2030. Including Empire Wind, the BOEM is knee-deep in 10 different offshore-project reviews, with plans to thoroughly review 16 proposals – promising a combined 27 gigawatts of offshore-wind power – by 2025.
“BOEM continues to drive significant progress to meet the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious climate goals, and our commitment to advance offshore wind is keeping pace with our commitment to do this right,” Lefton said in a statement. “As we expeditiously review offshore wind projects, BOEM remains committed to fully analyze impacts with an emphasis on avoidance, minimization and, if needed, mitigation.”
There won’t be much environmental mitigation needed in the waters off Long Island’s southern shores, according to Zalcman, who says the DEIS shows smooth sailing for the Empire Wind projects and predicts the final EIS – due sometime in 2023 – will do the same.
“The [draft statement] paves the way for the responsible construction and operation of this facility,” Zalcman said, adding the Empire Wind farms will “provide quality jobs and carbon-free electricity for years to come.”
