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HERNDON, Virginia, US, July 5, 2006 (Refocus
Weekly)
The U.S. government has been soliciting input
from the public on the development of offshore wind and wave energy
resources.
The Minerals Management Service of the Department of the Interior
will prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for
the Alternate Energy-Related Use (AERU) Program and Rule. The EIS
analysis will focus on the potential environmental effects of
implementing the AERU program, and associated rulemaking.
MMS will have jurisdiction over AERU projects on the Outer
Continental Shelf (OCS) including offshore wind energy, wave energy,
ocean current energy, offshore solar energy, and hydrogen
generation. It will also have jurisdiction over other projects that
make alternate use of existing oil and natural gas platforms in
federal waters.
The EIS will evaluate the issues associated with AERU and alternate
use project development, including potential monitoring, testing,
commercial development, operations, and decommissioning activities
in federal waters. The public scoping comment period for the OCS
renewable energy EIS closes July 5, and comments received after that
date will be considered if possible.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorizes DOI to grant leases,
easements or rights-of-way on the OCS for the development and
support of energy resources other than oil and gas, and to allow for
alternate uses of existing facilities on the OCS. MMS will oversee
these new operations and will prepare the EIS to apply the
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act.
The EIS “will focus on generic impacts from each industry sector
based on global knowledge and identify key issues that subsequent,
site-specific assessments should consider,” it expains. Projections
for industry activities will be limited to those which will be
pursued within the next six years, and the EIS “will focus on the
environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic impacts associated with
alternative approaches for the establishment of a national alternate
energy program and rules.”
A series of scoping meetings were held during May and June.
An environmental impact statement is prepared to describe the
effects of proposed activities on the natural and physical
environment, and the relationship of people with that environment. A
programmatic EIS evaluates the environmental impacts of broad agency
actions, such as the development of programs or the setting of
national policies.
The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 specifies that an EIS
must be prepared for major federal actions with the potential for
significant impact on the quality of the human environment.
The draft Programmatic EIS will be published by February, followed
by a comment period and the final document published in August 2007.
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