On August 10, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the availability of a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) that assesses the potential impacts of the issuance of commercial and research leases within the nearly 800,000-acre wind energy areas of the New York Bight, and granting of rights-of-way and rights-of-use and easement in the region.
The release of the draft EA initiated a 30-day public comment period on the assessment. BOEM is committed to facilitating robust public engagement in the offshore leasing process. Many stakeholders requested more time to review the draft EA. Additionally, recent weather events in the region and technical issues with the BOEM website may have impacted some stakeholders’ ability to review. As a result, BOEM is extending the comment period for the draft EA until September 23, 2021.