BOEM 2017 Renewable Energy

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Office of Renewable Energy is offering cooperative agreement opportunities to develop information to better understand the interactions of offshore renewable energy development and the marine environment. Specifically, the cooperative agreements will be issued to: (1) develop a method for performing statistical cost-benefit analyses of site geotechnical investigation plans; (2) validate and calibrate an autonomous whale detection buoy including detection and classification of existing data and characterization of buoy detection range; and (3) install automated receivers to track nanotagged birds and bats near operating offshore wind turbines near Block Island, RI, so that in coordination with other wildlife tracking efforts in the region, a variety of movement patterns of tracked wildlife near offshore wind turbines under a variety of operating conditions can be described. Eligible institutions are state offices and public universities of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Massachusetts Clean Energy Technology Center) and State of Rhode Island (University of Rhode Island). No other applications are requested at this time, although additional opportunities may be announced in the future. Section 1346 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) mandates BOEM to conduct environmental and socioeconomic studies needed for the assessment and management of environmental impacts on the human, marine, and coastal environments which may be affected by energy development. Section 1345 of OCSLA authorizes the use of cooperative agreements with affected States to meet the requirements of OCSLA and other Federal laws, including the sharing of information, the joint utilization of available expertise, the facilitating of permitting procedures, joint planning and review, and the formation of joint surveillance and monitoring arrangements to carry out applicable Federal and State laws, regulations, and stipulations relevant to outer Continental Shelf operations both onshore and offshore.