The NewsRoom
Release: #3370
Date: October 6, 2005
MMS Launches OCS Renewable Energy &
Alternative Use Website
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Minerals Management
Service now has lead authority for renewable energy projects, such as
wave, wind or solar energy on offshore lands, and other projects that
make alternative use of existing oil and natural gas platforms. With
that authority comes the launching of a new Web site explaining
outer continental shelf renewable energy and alternative use.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 granted MMS management authority for
these types of projects through an amendment to the OCS Lands Act.
The Act was signed by President George W. Bush on
August 8th, and since then, MMS has been actively working to establish
the
OCS Renewable Energy & Alternative Use Program.
MMS is required to issue regulations for carrying
out its new authority by mid-May 2006. The Act also designates that
the coastal States will share in 27% of the revenues generated from
alternative energy activities within the area extending three nautical
miles seaward of a State's submerged lands. Therefore, MMS will
establish, by mid-February 2006, a formula for sharing this revenue
among coastal states within 15 miles of a renewable energy project.
Ultimately, MMS will develop and execute an OCS Renewable Energy &
Alternative Use Program that judiciously integrates these new uses
with existing uses of federal offshore resources.
Under this new authority, MMS becomes the lead
Federal agency for permitting and regulatory oversight of the Cape
Wind project, offshore Nantucket, Massachusetts, and any other
projects already submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
However, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will continue to play a key
role in the project pursuant to its authority under the Rivers and
Harbors Act.
MMS, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior,
oversees 1.76 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf, managing
offshore energy and minerals while protecting the human, marine, and
coastal environments. The OCS provides 30 percent of oil and 21
percent of natural gas produced domestically, as well as sand used for
coastal restoration. MMS collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral
revenues from Federal and American Indian lands, and contributes to
the Land and Water Conservation Fund and other special use funds, with
Fiscal Year 2004 disbursements of about $8 billion and more than $143
billion since 1982.
Relevant Web Site:
MMS Main Website
Media Contact:
Nicolette Nye
(703) 787-1011
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for
America
U.S. Department of the Interior
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