FERC and DOI Reach Jurisdictional Agreement for Wave and Tidal Energy Projects
On March 17, 2009, Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, and Acting Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Jon Wellinghoff, announced that the two agencies will draft a memorandum of understanding for the permitting of offshore renewable energy projects.
Until this announcement, a longstanding dispute over which agency had jurisdiction over offshore wave and tidal energy projects hindered the development of such projects. The Department of the Interior (DOI) maintained that it had jurisdiction, through the Minerals Management Service, under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, to grant leases, easements and rights of way for non-oil and non-gas energy projects. FERC argued that it had jurisdiction for hydrokinetic power under the Federal Power Act.
This regulatory certainty is good news for developers of offshore energy projects. FERC will be the lead agency for licensing hydrokinetic projects on the Outer Continental Shelf and in state waters, with the active involvement of DOI. The upcoming memorandum of understanding will describe "the process by which permits and licenses related to renewable energy resources in offshore waters will be developed."
Post authored by Kimberlee Stafford, attorney practicing in the Sustainability and Real Estate and Land Use Groups.
