Lately, the announced resolution of the overlapping claims by FERC and the MMS to jurisdiction over the permitting of offshore wind projects has been much in the news. The dispute breaks down like this: EPAct 2005 gave the Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) the status of lead federal regulator over offshore renewable energy projects, but under the Federal Power Act, FERC is responsible for licensing most hydro projects. Without clarity, many were concerned that development of offshore renewable energy resources would be brought to a standstill.
Everyone’s pleased that this dispute appears to be resolved, but that doesn't mean ocean renewables are out of the woods yet. Earlier this month a group of lawmakers, including Senator Collins of Maine and Senators Whitehouse and Reed of Rhode Island, wrote (pdf) to their former colleague – now Secretary of the Interior – Ken Salazar, on a related problem: the risk of developers taking advantage of the regulatory uncertainty to stake claim to large swaths of ocean under competing regulatory schemes. Comparing this problem to the cybersquatting of the “early days of the internet”, the lawmakers implored Secretary Salazar to develop a workable plan for offshore developers as fast as possible. For those who take a somewhat longer view, try this analogy: the Outer Continental Shelf is the new Wild West!
But at least one alleged squatter, Grays Harbor, strikes a more pragmatic note than might be expected of an outlaw slinging six-shooters or ill-gotten domain names. As Grays Harbor describes its decision to seek permits from FERC: when one regulator (MMS) doesn't have a permitting process, you seek a permit from the regulator (FERC) who does.
Whatever the intent of Grays Harbor in obtaining permits from FERC, at least there’s transparency: all Preliminary Hydrokinetic Permits issued by FERC are available on its website.
No doubt cybersquatting is a powerful cultural reference, but perhaps a better analog here would be the debate over the official Maine State Tartan. As with permits for offshore hydro projects, for Tartans claiming to represent the State of Maine there are multiple places to register: the International Tartan Index of the Scottish Tartan Authority, the Scottish Tartans World Register of the Scottish Tartans Society, and the United States Copyright Office.
Hopefully these conflicts between the offshore permitting processes will soon be resolved. For its part, MMS has announced four stakeholder meetings (pdf) to develop a “comprehensive plan for conventional and renewable energy resources of the [Outer Continental Shelf]”. If we learn of any opportunity to submit public comment on the selection of an official Maine State Tartan, we’ll be sure to post that information here.
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