BOEM Office of Renewable Energy Programs Lunch-and-Learn Webinar: Compensatory Mitigation for the Marine Environment

The Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act are a few of the statutes that analyze impacts associated with offshore wind development in the Outer Continental Shelf. Each of these statutes and associated regulations may require mitigation, monitoring, and reporting conditions to avoid, minimize, or compensate for negative impacts on natural resources. For projects with unavoidable impacts, compensatory mitigation can provide conservation benefit to protected resources.

This webinar will provide a summary of how compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts is currently being implemented across the United States for natural resources such as federally protected species and their habitats. However, most of these mitigation standards have been developed for terrestrial habitats, and if implemented, expectations will likely need to be adapted for marine species and habitats. Mitigation solutions for marine compensatory mitigation need to be identified to provide the offshore renewable energy industry and regulators the information necessary for informed decision making.

In our webinar, we will provide some examples of past compensatory mitigation projects that provide insight into how compensatory mitigation requirements for impacts to marine species can be met. We will leave ample time at the end of our webinar to respond to questions and have discussions about how to move forward with meeting the demand for marine compensatory mitigation.