Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Renewable Energy

The Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management funds environmental and oceanographic monitoring studies in support of offshore renewable energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf under CFDA 15.408, with the most recent grant award issued February 1, 2021.

Program activity has substantially declined in recent years. The portfolio encompasses 13 cooperative agreements totaling $4.4 million in federal obligations distributed across a decade-long funding history (2013–2021). Annual award volume peaked at four awards in 2017, but dropped to one award each in 2020 and 2021. No grant awards have been issued in the past five years and eight months. The portfolio is exclusively cooperative agreements structured around three-year periods of performance.

The program funds marine science monitoring directly related to offshore wind facility siting and operation: geophysical surveys and site investigations of proposed wind energy areas; marine fisheries monitoring and acoustic characterization of fish populations; zooplankton ecology studies tracking food web impacts on endangered North Atlantic right whales; autonomous whale detection systems and real-time monitoring buoys; wildlife tracking of nano-tagged birds and bats near operating turbines; and archaeological surveys of submerged sites and paleoshorelines in proposed development zones. Typical awards range from $75 thousand to $300 thousand, though outlier awards reach $1.5 million (MACEC Aerial Surveys, $1.5 million) and $750 thousand (Atlantic geophysical mapping).

The Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is the sole funding agency. Award concentration is minimal—the largest award, $1.5 million to MACEC for aerial surveys, represents roughly one-third of the program total; the remaining $2.9 million disperses across 12 recipients including academic institutions (University of Maine, University of Rhode Island), state agencies (Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, Florida Department of State), and regional partnerships.

Recent grant opportunities posted between 2017 and 2019 were narrowly targeted to specific institutions and projects designated in advance under Section 1345 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). Examples include the FY 2019 Zooplankton Ecology of the Gulf of Maine opportunity (due July 23, 2019, restricted to University of Maine School of Marine Science) and the Pilot Regional Fisheries Monitoring agreement (due February 15, 2019, anticipated award to Massachusetts Clean Energy Center). No grant opportunities are documented as posted after 2019, and no current solicitation is active.