New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith is outraged by the ever rising whale demise toll, that coincides with quickly growing offshore wind improvement. He has launched a a lot wanted invoice calling for an investigation of the impression evaluation practices of these federal businesses that approve and oversee OSW.
His invoice — HR 1056 — is right here.
Smith’s Invoice is brief however sweeping. It requires the Authorities Accountability Workplace (GAO)—generally often called the congressional watchdog—to research the sufficiency of the federal environmental overview course of for “offshore wind tasks, together with the impacts on whales, different marine mammals, industrial and leisure fishing, air high quality and greenhouse gasoline emissions, vessel visitors, tourism, and the sustainability of shoreline seashores and inlets.”
Smith’s press launch places it this fashion: “As a part of a full-court press for solutions, my laws will examine the extent of transparency from federal businesses that green-lighted this aggressive offshore wind improvement and decide how a lot scrutiny was applied in reviewing the environmental and maritime security of this mission, particularly given its unprecedented dimension and scale.”
Within the crosshairs are the Bureau of Ocean Power Administration (BOEM), which does the environmental impression assessments, and NOAA Fisheries which is meant to guard the whales and different sea critters.
I’ve already reported on no less than three obtrusive impression evaluation procedural gaps in prior articles, as follows. Hopefully GAO will flag them.
First, BOEM didn’t conduct an environmental impression evaluation for the OSW leasing program, or for any of the various particular leases it granted. In depth improvement exercise was sure to happen, particularly the sonar web site surveying now implicated within the mounting whale deaths.
See https://www.cfact.org/2022/12/21/ten-whale-groups-slam-atlantic-osw/
Second, NOAA Fisheries didn’t conduct environmental impression assessments when it accredited large and doubtlessly lethal harassment of big numbers of whales and different marine mammals. Every sonar survey and building approval truly estimates the variety of critters in every species that’s more likely to be adversely effected. What the probably impression of those results, particularly panic, stress and/or deafness, is perhaps has by no means been assessed.
See https://www.cfact.org/2023/02/16/whale-hell-looms-in-massachusetts/
and https://www.cfact.org/2022/09/27/how-to-kill-whales-with-offshore-wind/
Third, BOEM’s environmental impression assessments of those large OSW tasks thus far are extremely insufficient. For instance they constantly fail to handle the impression of operational noise. Neither is there any consideration of the cumulative impression of the 1000’s of monster wind generators now within the approval pipeline.
The evaluation necessities of the Nationwide Environmental Coverage Act are primarily based on what’s “fairly probably”. If an company motion within reason more likely to have an environmental impression then that impression have to be assessed. The impacts to be assessed are these which can be fairly more likely to happen. It’s a two step customary.
It’s apparent that leasing an space for offshore wind improvement within reason more likely to result in such improvement, which actually has fairly probably environmental impacts. So evaluation of these impacts ought to have been finished previous to leasing.
It’s likewise apparent that authorizing the noise harassment of 1000’s of whales and different marine mammals within reason more likely to adversely have an effect on them, so these results ought to be assessed previous to authorization. That is true for sonar survey noise, building noise (particularly pile driving) and operational noise.
Furthermore, NEPA is evident that when a number of company actions are contemplated, as a part of an total program like offshore wind improvement, the cumulative impression of those actions should even be assessed. For instance, final yr NOAA Fisheries issued 12 separate authorizations for harassment of huge numbers of whales and different marine mammals.
GAO is generally scrupulously apolitical on the subject of investigating or evaluating company applications. The examine Smith is proposing is desperately wanted, so right here’s hoping his invoice turns into regulation.
Keep tuned to CFACT as this story unfolds.
Writer
David Wojick, Ph.D. is an impartial analyst working on the intersection of science, know-how and coverage. For origins see http://www.stemed.data/engineer_tackles_confusion.html For over 100 prior articles for CFACT see http://www.cfact.org/writer/david-wojick-ph-d/ Out there for confidential analysis and consulting.
