In an Earth Day speech yesterday at a wind turbine tower manufacturing plant, President Barack Obama announced that the Department of the Interior (DOI) has finalized a long-awaited framework for renewable energy production on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).
The framework establishes a program to grant leases and easements for renewable energy development activities, such as the siting and construction of off-shore wind farms, on the OCS.
In addition, the new
program also establishes methods for sharing revenues generated from
OCS renewable energy projects with adjacent coastal States. The framework aims enhance partnerships with Federal,
state and local agencies and tribal governments.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said. “This new framework will enhance our energy security and create the foundation for a new offshore energy sector that will employ Americans developing clean and renewable energy.”
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 granted the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) the authority to regulate renewable energy development on the OCS, but no action had been taken under that authority until yesterday.
The Interior Department and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) cleared the way for the publication of these final rules by signing an agreement earlier this month that clarifies their agencies’ jurisdictional responsibilities for leasing and licensing renewable energy projects on the OCS.
Under the agreement, the MMS has exclusive jurisdiction with regard to the production, transportation, or transmission of energy from non-hydrokinetic renewable energy projects, including wind and solar. FERC will have exclusive jurisdiction to issue licenses for the construction and operation of hydrokinetic projects, including wave and current, but companies will be required to first obtain a lease through MMS.
The proposed wind farm off Nantucket Sound, known as Cape Wind, has been undergoing review independently of the rule making process, and no decision is being made on the project at this time, the DOI said. If approved, it will be subject to the terms of the final framework announced yesterday.
The Final Framework has been submitted to the Federal
Register, and is available at the link below.
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