Georgia Activities

Proposed lease area offshore Georgia

Overview

On August 24, 2016, Georgia Power submitted a letter to BOEM indicating that Georgia Power would like to withdraw their application for an Interim Policy Lease approximately 3 to 11 nautical miles off the coast of Tybee Island, Georgia, which would authorize the installation and operation of a meteorological tower and/or buoy. Information about the application is below:

• Application - In April 2011, Southern Company submitted an Interim Policy lease application to place a fixed meteorological tower on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to collect site-specific wind and environmental data.
• Addendum A - In May 2012, Southern Company submitted "Addendum A" that also proposed deploying the AXYS WindSentinelTM, a mobile or movable single unit alternative technology.
• Addendum B - In October 2012, BOEM requested additional information and clarifications which were provided by Southern Company as "Addendum B."

Environmental Review

On December 14, 2012, BOEM published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) that requested public comments on alternatives for consideration in the EA as well as identification of important environmental issues associated with issuing a lease for an offshore data collection facility and related activities (77 FR 74512). BOEM considered these public comments in drafting the alternatives and assessing the reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts associated with each. The NOI and comments received in response to the NOI are provided below.

• Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment
• Comments received on the Notice of Intent

On April 1, 2014, BOEM announced the publication of its EA for public review and comment. To view the notice and EA, click on the links below.

• Notice of Availability for an Environmental Assessment
• Environmental Assessment

Environmental Studies

BOEM has funded or considered numerous studies to collect information about the marine environment to support decisions concerning offshore renewable energy development. For more information, please visit http://www.boem.gov/Georgia-Environmental-Studies/.

Public Engagement

• Open House Poster Sessions in Savannah and Tybee Island (April 23-24, 2014)

Related Press Releases

• BOEM Publishes Environmental Analysis of Proposed Wind Energy Data Collection Facility Offshore Georgia (04/01/2014)