The Coastal Commission conducted reviews of consistency determinations (CDs) from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management of proposed lease areas in federal waters of the North and Central Coasts. The documents below are meant to provide the interested public with information on these CDs, any issues arising from the review, and some information received from the federal agency as part of this review process. The Commission conditionally concurred with BOEM’s CD for the Humboldt Wind Energy Area in April 2022, and conditionally concurred with BOEM’s CD for the Morro Bay Wind Energy Area in June 2022. Adopted findings for both hearings are available in the links below.
One of the conditions of the CD’s was the formation of the California Offshore Wind and Fisheries Working Group. The Working Group members have exceptional knowledge of California fisheries and coastal resources and will collaborate to develop a statewide strategy for avoiding, minimizing, and mitigating impacts to fishing and fisheries. The Working Group has begun to create a statewide strategy will prioritize fisheries productivity, viability, and long-term resilience and fairly and reasonably compensates persons engaged in the commercial and recreational fishing industries and tribal fisheries for economic impacts to ocean fisheries resulting from offshore wind energy projects. The links is green below provide high-level summaries of the Working Group meetings, to date.
On May 11, 2023 Commission staff organized a briefing on the current status of offshore wind permitting and science needs in California. Resources from the briefing are available below:
On September 9, 2021, Commission staff provided an informational briefing on the process of federal consistency review for the proposed offshore wind lease sale. A recording of the briefing is available under Item 7a on the September agenda (time stamp 1:08:22 on the video archive).
With the new development of California’s offshore wind resources in the coming years, comprehensive analysis of potential impacts and a commitment to environmental monitoring and adaptive management are central to ensuring coastal resource protection while also expanding the state’s renewable energy portfolio. The following two-pager provides insight into California's offshore wind energy resources, highlighting the Commission's role in reviewing impacts, the status of the state's two current wind energy areas, and the ongoing coordination efforts with other state agencies.
