pdf BOEM Environmental Protocols for Ocean Renewable Energy, Sept. 2012 Popular

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Offshore renewable energy (ORE) development is the construction and operation of one or more devices designed to harness power from the marine environment (wind, tidal, and wave power considered here), and includes any necessary infrastructure, including subsea cables, the vessels necessary to construct or install an ORE development, and the footprint of a project. The motivation for this work was to provide BOEM and the nation with a comprehensive, yet flexible and tested means of making efficient and balanced assessments regarding the impacts of a broad range of ORE projects on marine and human ecosystems. With these tools, BOEM will have the capacity to proactively and comprehensively manage ocean renewable energy resources and implement adaptive management techniques for the benefit of natural and human ecosystems and the nation. The goal of this particular project was to develop and test standardized protocols for baseline studies and monitoring for the collection and comparison of scientifically valid and comparable data for specific ORE issues, which seamlessly integrate with a newly designed conceptual framework and approach for cumulative environmental impact evaluation of ORE development.