OREC Files Comments on US Army Corps of Engineers Proposal

Yesterday, OREC filed comments on the U.S. Army of Corps of Engineers proposal to create a Nationwide Permit for water-based renewable energy projects.  You can view the filed comments here.  In our comments, OREC commended the Corps on this important step towards streamlining the permitting process and offered constructive recommendations for improving the new nationwide permit program even more.

The proposed comments were truly a team effort.  Michael O’Connell of Stoel Rives assisted in identifying many of the key issues in the Corps’ proposal and reviewing and revising the draft comments.  Other useful feedback came from OREC George Wolff and the OPT Team, Julia Wood at VanNess Feldman, Trey Taylor and the Verdant Team and Keren Schlomy, counsel to OREC member Resolute Marine, Ford Ames and Turner Hunt of THOR Power.  Some of the proposed comments slightly conflicted or overlapped, so not all were necessarily adopted verbatim, but all were fully considered and reflected in the final product.

Thanks to all for the input.  We’re looking forward to seeing you at the Global Marine Renewable Energy Conference.