Two recent events signal New York’s continuing interest in promoting offshore wind development. First, on March 30, 2012, New York signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) intended to streamline offshore wind development in the Great Lakes. The MOU was also signed by Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and several federal agencies with regulatory authority touching on Great Lakes wind development, including the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”) and the White House Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”). The MOU signatories agreed to work together to create and publish a regulatory roadmap for offshore wind development in the Great Lakes within 15 months, with CEQ serving as the primary federal point of contact.
Second, on April 3, 2012, the Renewable Energy Task Force of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management-New York (“BOEM-NY”) convened a meeting to discuss New York’s ongoing activities regarding offshore wind development in the Atlantic, including the progress of studies intended to support a forthcoming proposal to amend the state’s Coastal Zone Management Program to include Atlantic wind development. The Task Force also discussed the New York Power Authority’s request that BOEM grant a commercial lease on the outer continental shelf to the Long Island-New York City Offshore Wind Collaborative, and the process and timeline for BOEM’s leasing decision and environmental impact review.
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Seriously, it’s so much about time that New York finally gets in deeper progress about offshore wind development. Our friends on the west coast showed us how green energy works and how you set it up quickly.
Comment by Sylvia — April 20, 2012 @ 5:23 pm