COA Hosts Citizen Hearing on Six Offshore Wind Leases

COA's Citizen Hearing on federal plan for six
offshore wind leases off NY/NJ.

Clean Ocean Action (COA) hosted a Citizen Hearing on February 20, 2024, in Long Branch, NJ, for community members to provide public comments on the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for offshore wind development in six lease areas, totaling 488,000 acres, off the New Jersey and New York coast. Nearly 75 people attended, with 24 people sharing impassioned speeches, moving anecdotes, and illuminating tidbits of information about impacts from offshore wind on fishing, boating, marine mammals, water quality, underwater acoustics, shore life, and more. A professional court reporter captured peoples’ comments, which COA officially submitted to BOEM for the record.

An extension to the comment period was granted to March 13! Thank you to everyone who requested a deadline extension for the massive document, including almost everyone who spoke at the citizen hearing (see more details in the subsection below). While BOEM held two virtual public meetings and three in-person meetings on the Draft PEIS, the federal agency did not provide an opportunity for verbal testimony as would be expected for a traditional, in-person public comment forum. As a result, many community voices were not heard at a federally held public meeting. BOEM was not present at COA's citizen hearing; however, the agency was represented by a physical “brick wall” erected by COA, as many community members feel the agency is not listening to their concerns.

More Time to Share Your Comments

BOEM only provided 45 days for the public to review and provide comments on the 1,420+ page Draft PEIS. On the deadline date for comments, BOEM announced an extension to the public comment period. Comments are now due to BOEM by March 13 at 11:59pm ET. See COA’s website for an action alert detailing how to submit comments, as well as COA’s “Facts and Issues” document about the Draft PEIS. COA’s policy, science, and advocacy staff are also reviewing the Draft PEIS, and attended, asked questions, and testified at the BOEM meetings. COA will be submitting detailed comments highlighting deficiencies, lack of science, lack of transparency and good governance, and concerns for impacts on the marine ecosystem.