Stakeholder Engagement and Partnerships
Stakeholder Engagement
What's New?
Save the Date: Atlantic Ocean Energy and Mineral Science Forum
Mark your calendars for an exciting forum about ongoing research in the Atlantic Ocean.
Join us on January 23-24, 2019 at the Atlantic Ocean Energy and Mineral Science Forum. Participants will hear updates about ongoing and recently completed studies funded by BOEM in the Atlantic region in support of the Renewable Energy, Marine Minerals, and Conventional Energy Programs.
Topics to be covered include: fisheries and post construction monitoring, South Atlantic and deepwater studies, social and cultural resources, environmental stressors, data sharing, and research supporting the Marine Minerals Program. Participants will have ample time to ask questions and provide suggestions for future study areas.
The forum will take place at:
Holiday Inn Washington-Dulles International Airport
45425 Holiday Drive
Sterling, VA 20166
http://www.hidullesairport.com
A government rate is available for a block of rooms. The group identification is "BOEM – Atlantic Ocean Energy & Mineral Science Forum" and must be provided at time of reservation to receive the rate. Reservations for the hotel must be made no later than Dec. 21.
Please register for the forum from here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/atlantic-ocean-energy-and-mineral-science-forum-tickets-50855781010 While the forum is free, space is limited.
The agenda is now available.
BOEM documents next steps for Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force Engagement
BOEM's Renewable Energy Task Forces are one of our many vehicles for promoting partnerships. To ensure their continued success, we recently completed a study on how these exchanges can be improved to support the next phase of offshore wind development. This effort included interviews with a representative cross-section of task force members and resulted in recommendations on how to better utilize these groups.
For more information and the complete report, please visit: www.boem.gov/Strengthening-the-Task-Forces/.
Draft Design Envelope Guidelines
In order to take advantage of the rapid pace of technological development within the offshore wind industry, BOEM has issued draft guidelines for the use of a “Design Envelope” approach in Construction and Operations Plans (COPs) for offshore wind energy facilities in the United States. This would afford developers a degree of flexibility and allow them to make certain project-design decisions—such as which turbines to use—at the more commercially advantageous time later in the project-development process.
BOEM welcomes input from industry and other interested stakeholders before finalizing this guidance. To help facilitate this conversation, BOEM hosted a webinar on the draft guidance on January 31, 2018.
Offshore Wind and Maritime Industry Knowledge Exchange
BOEM hosted the Offshore Wind and Maritime Industry Knowledge Exchange on March 5th and 6th, 2018.
At this workshop, subject matter experts discussed the regulatory regime governing offshore wind energy development, including measures to minimize risk to safety and disruptions to maritime transportation operations while supporting the development of domestic renewable energy.
For more information including pre-meeting materials, please visit: https://www.boem.gov/Offshore-Wind-and-Maritime-Industry-Knowledge-Exchange/
Offshore Wind Energy Facilities Emission Estimating Tool
BOEM developed a new tool that will ensure consistency in BOEM’s environmental review process by quantifying emissions associated with the development, operation, maintenance and decommissioning of a proposed offshore wind farm.
A Citizen’s Guide BOEM’s Renewable Energy Authorization Process
In December 2016, BOEM published a guide to help the public understand BOEM’s process for overseeing renewable energy projects on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and to highlight opportunities for public involvement. To access the guide, click on the link below:
Avian Surveys
BOEM is working to update the Guidelines for Providing Avian Survey Information for Renewable Energy Development on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf.
On September 8, 2016, BOEM held a webinar to discuss proposed changes to the guidelines and give participants the opportunity to provide feedback. Please find the slides below:
Atlantic Fishing Industry
BOEM has created a place on our website to help commercial fishers learn more about BOEM’s mission and to outline opportunities for participating in our rule making process, or to just let us know what you think. For more information, click on the link below.
Request for Feedback
Since BOEM promulgated its renewable energy regulations in 2009, we have made substantial progress in our OCS renewable energy planning and leasing efforts. Now that our program has gained experience in implementing a significant portion of these regulations and is moving beyond its nascent stages, we believe the time is ripe to evaluate and assess our existing processes.
To that end, we have published a Request for Feedback (RFF) in the Federal Register. The RFF invites comments on any aspects of BOEM’s renewable energy program that stakeholders have found to be particularly effective, and recommendations for improving any aspects of our program that stakeholders believe to be ineffective or unnecessarily burdensome. The 90 day comment period associated with this ended on December 29, 2015. The comments have been posted via the link below.
BOEM will use the information submitted to inform our strategic planning efforts and in determining whether and how we should change our existing renewable energy processes, including, if warranted, our renewable energy regulations.
For additional information, please contact:
Calendar of Events
Please check out the calendar below for upcoming BOEM events.
Intergovernmental Task Force Meetings
BOEM works with interested and affected federal, state, local and tribal governments through intergovernmental renewable energy task forces, established with 13 coastal states to date. Meetings are following by public question and answer sessions. More information about past and future meetings can be found at: http://www.boem.gov/Renewable-Energy-State-Activities/.
The mission of BOEM’s Office of Renewable Energy Programs (OREP) is to regulate offshore renewable energy development activities. In support of that objective, the archaeologists in OREP coordinate studies and conduct Section 106 reviews under the National Historic Preservation Act, which are intended to identify and protect archaeological sites and other historic properties.
Partnerships
Partnerships are essential for BOEM to achieve its mission to oversee development of our nation's offshore resources.
Partnering with Department of Energy (DOE)
DOE’s Wind and Water Power Technologies Office (WWPTO) and BOEM convened a workshop in December 2015 to obtain individual stakeholder insight into the technical and market challenges regarding the offshore wind industry in the United States. The workshop sought input across the range of U.S. offshore wind stakeholders to better inform efforts to update and refine the 2011 A National Offshore Wind Strategy. A workshop summary - including summaries of the facilitated conversations throughout the day, the participant list, and
the presentations can be found at the following link:
On September 9, 2016, U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced the publication of the 2016 National Offshore Wind Strategy. Click on the links below to see the announcement and publication.
Additional Information
Click on the links below for more information about some of BOEM’s partnerships.