Page 25: of Marine News Magazine (April 2024)

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though indirectly and not linked to navigation concerns, say, for NOAA’s own ? eet. Rather, NOAA hands-off the issue to its Integrated Ocean Observing System which suggests that

BOEM include a requirement, as a condition of project ap- proval, that wind companies “must develop a high frequency radar wind tower interference mitigation plan.” IOOS notes that none of the mitigation measures mentioned among

BOEM’s discussion documents are helpful for IOOS radar.

After the NAS 2022 report, the volunteer expert study committee disbanded. Since then, according to the study’s chair, no one from any federal agency has contacted com- mittee members seeking advice about following up on the study’s recommendations. The NAS study – BOEM’s study – sits on the proverbial shelf.

DOE seems to be leading next steps on radar/wind tur- bine research. Two recent efforts of note include – • A request for information, published last Novem- ber 2023, seeking insights about correcting wind tower/ radar degradation. Comments were due in January. But

DOE will not share the comments it received (if any).

A DOE spokesperson said, “We are not currently in a position to share the responses received for this RFI.” A freedom-of-information request was unanswered by the deadline for this report.

• Just over a year ago, in January 2023, DOE along with Defense, FAA, NOAA and BOEM signed an up- dated (from 2016) Memorandum of Agreement for the “Establishment of the Wind Turbine Radar Interference

Mitigation Working Group.” (Note: The Coast Guard and Homeland Security are not part of the MOA.) The

MOA was to establish an Executive Steering Group, ap- prove a 5-year study plan and prepare a yearly progress report, among other signi? cant tasks.

DOE was asked about the yearly progress report. A spokesperson said a 2023 report was completed but the report falls into the Controlled Unclassi? ed Information (CUI) category and cannot be released to the public. A “multi-agency review” will occur in March. Then, a steer- ing group will discuss whether portions of the report may be released. No answer about why this material is classi? ed.

The USCG is accepting public comments on the pro- posed fairways until April 18.

With offshore wind and competing ocean issues, many topics still need to be resolved.