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WASHINGTON, DC, US, January 23, 2006 (Refocus
Weekly)
The U.S. Department of Interior is seeking
comments on how it should regulate energy developments on the Outer
Continental Shelf.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorizes DOI’s Minerals
Management Service to grant leases, easements or rights-of-way on
the OCS for development of energy from sources other than oil and
gas. MMS anticipates that most applications for non-oil and non-gas
projects will be for renewables, “specifically for offshore wind
plants, solar installations, and ocean energy projects such as wave,
ocean current, or ocean thermal energy systems.”
The Act directs MMS to develop a comprehensive program and
regulations to implement its new authority by the middle of this
year and, as a first step towards development of a regulatory
program, it issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking on
December 30 to solicit comments.
The public notice was published in the Federal Register to request
comments by the end of February on implementation of section 388 of
the Act, ‘Alternate Energy-Related Uses on the Outer Continental
Shelf.’ Earlier this month, MMS released maps which show the extent
of its offshore jurisdiction for each state.
The regulatory program must “provide access to the OCS in a way that
balances competing and complementary uses of offshore acreage;
ensures consultation with affected states and local governments;
takes into account the evolving nature of the energy industry; and
provides a fair return to the U.S. for access to the OCS,” the
document explains. The OCS provides 30% of domestic oil and 21% of
domestic natural gas, and MMS disbursed mineral revenues of US$9.9
billion last year.
MMS manages offshore oil and gas exploration, as well as renewable
and alternative energy sources such as wind, wave and solar, on 1.76
billion acres of the OCS.
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