The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (“DNREC”) announced last week that it became the first state to obtain delegated authority under the Clean Air Act from the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to enforce and implement offshore wind permitting related to air quality. Delaware has incorporated the federal air quality requirements into its Outer Continental Shelf Air Regulations, which were promulgated last month. The new rules extend Delaware’s on-shore air pollution control requirements to offshore sources within 25 miles of the state’s coastline. DNREC anticipates that the first project subject to the new regulations will be the construction of a meteorological tower associated with the planned Bluewater Mid-Atlantic Wind Farm project. The DNREC views its new authority to implement and enforce air quality permitting as essential to the development of offshore wind.
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On July 21, U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Beistline ruled that the Department of the Interior violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to adequately asses the potential environmental impact of proposals to drill in Lease Area 193 in the Chukchi Sea. This is the latest of several setbacks that companies seeking to drill offshore in the Arctic have encountered. According to the LA Times, the ruling may also prohibit companies from conducting pre-drilling operations, which environmental groups argue are harmful to mammals.
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Yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills focusing on oil spill response. The first, H.R. 2693, reinforces current efforts to research methods of mitigating the effects of oil spills and establishing a committee of executive branch officials to direct these research efforts. The second bill, H.R. 5716, focuses on researching safety measures for deepwater oil and gas wells.
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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) received 120 responses from 112 different respondents to the Request for Information (RFI) it released June 14, 2010 regarding Offshore Wind Demonstration Projects. The RFI was a broad solicitation for public input regarding the research, development and deployment of advanced technology offshore wind demonstration projects. The responses, which were due July 14, 2010, have not been released by DOE. DOE Project Officer Michael Hahn explained the responses will be used to "guide program decision-making." For more information, see today's BNA Daily Report for Executives (subscription required).
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Yesterday President Barack Obama signed an executive order adopting many of the recommendations put forward by the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. The order sets forth policy guidelines for managing the ocean, U.S. coasts, and the Great Lakes, and mandates that executive agencies follow these new guidelines. The order also creates a National Ocean Council to “ensure that executive departments’, agencies’, or offices’ decisions and actions affecting the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes will be guided by the stewardship principles” described by the Task Force.
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Michael Bromwich, Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (“BOEM”) announced yesterday that he will lead a series of public meetings to collect information and views on offshore deepwater drilling safety, well blowout containment, and oil spill response. The meetings are designed to collect input from industry representatives, environmental organizations, the public, state and local leaders, and experts in an effort to enhance the safety of deepwater drilling. The meetings are scheduled to occur in August and September in the following cities: New Orleans, LA; Lafayette, LA; Mobile, AL; Pensacola, FL; Santa Barbara, CA; Anchorage, AK; Biloxi, MS; and Houston, TX. Director Bromwich plans to release dates and specific locations soon. Written comments will also be accepted at the meetings, online, and by mail.
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A bipartisan group of lawmakers from the East Coast on Wednesday delivered a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, urging him to create a new office focused on renewable energy projects on the Outer Continental Shelf. Offshore renewable energy development is managed by the former Minerals Management Service, which is now called the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. The lawmakers are concerned that BOE's attention to the restructuring of its regulation of offshore oil and gas exploration and production will detract from the agency's ability to focus on offshore wind.
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The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) announced yesterday that it has launched the Offshore Wind Development Coalition, known as OffshoreWindDC. As noted in AWEA’s press release, “OffshoreWindDC will both expand and sharpen the focus of the industry efforts already underway through AWEA,” and many industry and government stakeholders are expected to take part in the effort.
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Revising an earlier offshore drilling moratorium that had been enjoined by a federal court, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar issued a directive yesterday that suspends the drilling of offshore wells that use subsea blowout preventers (BOPs) or employ BOPs on a floating facility. According to Sec. Salazar, this “pause” in deepwater E&P operations is necessary to allow for the collection of information regarding the ongoing BP oil spill, to assess national resources for wild well interventions, and to provide time for offshore operators to demonstrate that they have the capability to respond to an incident in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Read more in the New York Times.
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Last night the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an order denying Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar’s request to stay a lower court’s decision to grant a preliminary injunction of a moratorium preventing offshore E&P activities in water deeper than 500 feet. The order notes that the government failed to demonstrate that an irreparable injury would be suffered if the stay were not granted but that Secretary Salazar can apply for emergency relief if deepwater drilling activity “has commenced or is about to commence.” The appeal examining the merits of the moratorium will be handled on an expedited scheduled so that oral arguments can take place during the week of August 30, 2010.
The oral arguments in this case are available on the Fifth Circuit’s website here. In the argument, counsel for the government noted that DOI continues to work on developing new moratorium parameters
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On June 30, the Department of the Interior announced its decision to delay public hearings on the expansion of offshore drilling to an unspecified date. The same day, according to BNA [subscription required], Secretary Salazar welcomed the prospect of an organic statute to govern the Interior Department and its new offshore energy agencies before a hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee.
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The University of Houston has been selected to receive a $2.3 million grant from DOE to establish an offshore wind testing facility. Research efforts will focus on improving the materials used to make wind turbine blades.
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