Static cable design elements:

• All static cables should be buried to a minimum depth of 6 feet below the seabed

• Avoid installation techniques that raise the profile of the seabed

• Cable protection measures should reflect the pre-existing conditions at the site

Facility design elements:

• The facility design should maximize access to fisheries, including by consideration of: 1) Transit and traditional fishing within the area, 2) Consolidation of infrastructure, where practicable, to reduce space-use conflicts, 3) Consideration of larger turbine sizes to reduce total project footprint and meet energy production commitments, and 4) Coordination of turbine and substation array layouts between and among neighboring lease areas.

• Turbine locations should be sited to avoid known sensitive benthic features, such as natural and artificial reefs

• Facility planning should use nature inclusive designs, where applicable, to maximize available habitat for fish

• Charting all facilities and obstructions resulting from construction and operations of an offshore wind energy facility and providing that information to NOAA, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and navigational software companies

• Considering installation techniques and time windows that minimize disruption to fishing activities (e.g., simultaneous lay and burial, or conducting activity during the appropriate time of year).

• Employing liaisons from the commercial fishing industry to provide safety and communication services during construction

• Monitoring cable burial in real-time and report all potential hazard events to the USCG as soon as possible

• Using digital information technology platforms (e.g., smartphone applications) to bring together survey and construction schedules and locations in addition to standard local notices to mariners via the USCG

• Marking facilities and appurtenances with permanent identification of the project and company

• Providing training opportunities for the commercial fishing industry to simulate safe navigation through a wind facility in various weather conditions and at various speeds

• Monitoring safety threats (e.g., radar disruption, ice shedding, vessel allisions and collisions, security threats, and impacts on search and rescue efforts) throughout the life of a project

• Consulting with the fishing industry and the USCG to identify which structures would be most appropriate for Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders consistent with BOEM’s Lighting and Marking Guidelines

• Considering lessee-funded radar system upgrades for commercial and for-hire recreational fishing vessels (e.g. solid state Doppler-based marine vessel radar systems).

• BOEM recommends that lessees work with State and Federal fisheries management agencies to explore the need and methods to monitor changes in fishing activity as a result of proposed offshore wind energy development

• BOEM provides recommendations for conducting and reporting the results of baseline collection studies in separate guidelines

• In 2021 the Responsible Offshore Science Alliance (rosascience.org) worked with State, Federal, and fisheries constituents to develop the Offshore Wind Monitoring Framework and Guidelines document

• This document is an important resource in understanding necessary considerations in developing pre-construction, construction, and post-construction fisheries monitoring surveys

Types of Financial Compensation:

Gear loss

• The lessee should reimburse for fisheries gear loss resulting from its own action that damages fishing gear

• The lessee must honor the review of claims filed within 90 days after the date of first discovery of the incident

• The lessee should fully compensate for the repair or replacement of the damaged gear and up to 50% of gross income loss during the period from the discovery of the lost or damaged gear to when the gear is repaired or replaced

• The lessee should also compensate for reasonable feeds paid to an attorney, CPA, or other consultant for the preparation of the claim

Lost Income

The scope of impacts or losses that should be addressed by compensatory mitigation should be based on the impacts identified in the various environmental documents including the lessee’s construction and operations plan and/or assessments prepared by BOEM analyzing the potential effects of the action proposed in the lessee’s submitted plan. Minimum considerations include:

• Construction: Recommends 100% reimbursement during construction

• Operations: It should be assumed that there is an adjustment period for fisheries post construction. BOEM recommends that 100% of revenue exposure be available for claimants for the first year after construction, 80% of revenue exposure available for claimants 2 years after construction, 70% of revenue exposure available for claimants 3 years after construction, 60% after four years, and 50% available for five years post construction

• Decommissioning: Since only conceptual decommissioning is evaluated in the COP EIS, BOEM recommends that the Decommissioning Application required under 30 CFR 585.906 contain the measures to mitigate impacts to commercial and recreational fishing in that application. In general, the same principles as described under construction (above) would apply

Claims

• Management of funds: BOEM recommends that funds be managed by a neutral third party on behalf of the lessee. These funds may be established at the project level, company level (multiple project), or on a regional multi-lessee level. The 3rd party management is not limited to financial responsibilities but also includes processing of claims

• Eligible Entities: Lessees should not limit claimants to vessel owners and operators. Negatively impacted businesses may include shoreside businesses such as seafood processors and bait dealers who can demonstrate in a claim that their business experienced a loss of income due to unrecovered economic activity resulting from displaced fisheries

• Claims Process: While BOEM is supportive of claims processes that provide funds more directly to an impacted community for disbursement by community members, the model that ensures that funds are received by the impacted businesses is one that relies on individual claims. This ensures that claims are commensurate with the impacts of the claimant rather than pooled into a more general fund that may benefits the fishing industry more broadly, or a model that disburses funds equally amongst a fishing community for the period of impact. Claims should be honored for up to 2 years after the income loss was experienced.

Recommend fisheries mitigation processes (including processes for filing claims, timing of initial proposals).

Recommend methodology to determine the sufficiency of funds to compensate fishing communities for negative impacts arising from offshore wind energy development activities approved by BOEM.

Propose measures that could result in fair, equitable, and predictable methodologies used by developers for mitigating impacts of offshore wind energy on all offshore renewable energy projects.

Enforce compliance with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) regarding contributions proposed by the lessee that were part of the approved Construction and Operations Plan (COP) or other appropriate plan approval, regardless of said contributions being required by a state or not.

Create a central fund. BOEM lacks legal authority to create or oversee a central funding mechanism for compensatory mitigation. BOEM also lacks authority to require contributions to a particular compensation fund, absent a previous commitment or obligation for the lessee to do so (e.g., commitment/obligation under state contracts or the proponent’s own proposed COP).

Administer funds. BOEM lacks the legal authority to hold funds received or assess industry fees for mitigation.

Require regional mitigation. BOEM cannot require a lessee to mitigate regional impacts as part of a COP approval, unless BOEM’s environmental impact analysis demonstrates the regional impacts of the specific project. This environmental impact analysis must be supported by the record and the effects analysis cannot be based on speculation.