As part of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) commitment to acquire and use the highest quality scientific information in its decision making, the bureau has released its FY2025-2026 Studies Development Plan (SDP). The SDP is a key component of BOEM’s rigorous planning, review and procurement process to meet the nation's research needs to inform Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) environmental analyses.
BOEM prepares the annual SDP to cover a two-year planning period. The plan outlines BOEM’s research priorities and includes brief study profiles that describe proposed studies for the upcoming fiscal year and for one successive year. These studies are designed to collect the information necessary to meet the needs of BOEM scientists, rule writers, modelers and decision makers. Proposed studies are evaluated for program relevance, programmatic timeliness and scientific merit.
BOEM’s Meeting with the National Academies
Committee on Offshore Science and Assessment
July 11 and 12, 2024
On July 11 and 12, 2024, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) will host the 26th meeting of the Standing Committee on Offshore Science and Assessment (COSA) to provide feedback on selected studies from the FY 2025-2026 SDP. The meeting will be held in Washington, DC and is open to media and the public. The Academies require advance registration. Meeting details, including a webcast link for remote attendees, are posted on the NASEM website.
BOEM has selected 10 study profiles to present to COSA:
Alaska OCS Regional Office
Assessment and Minimization of Avian Collision Risk Associated with Renewable Energy Infrastructure in the Cook Inlet Planning Area, Alaska
Gulf of Mexico OCS Regional Office
Offshore Wind Energy Facilities Impact on Hydrodynamics and Primary Production in the Gulf of Mexico
Oil and Gas Vessel Strike Risk Analysis: Cetaceans in the Northern Gulf of Mexico with a Focus on the Endangered Rice’s and Sperm Whale
Pacific OCS Regional Office
Impacts of Floating Offshore Wind Subsurface Infrastructure to Hydrodynamics, Biogeochemistry, and Primary Productivity in the Pacific OCS
Marine Minerals Program
Protected Smalltooth Sawfish Occurrence in BOEM OCS Sand Resource Areas
Office of Environmental Programs
All Impacts Are Not Equal: Artificial Intelligence Approaches for Understanding Impacts of Wind Energy Construction on Sperm Whale Vocal Clans
Modeling Carbon Dioxide Leakage and Potential Environmental Impacts from Carbon Sequestration Projects on the OCS
Verification of OCS Air Quality Standards and Development of a Satellite-based Top-down Emissions Inversion System
Office of Renewable Energy Programs
Applying Distributed Acoustic Sensing Technology to Monitor Large Whales at Atlantic Offshore Wind Areas
Integrating High-quality Movement Data from Proxy Species into Stochastic Collision Risk Assessment for Movement (SCRAM)
BOEM consults with COSA as a source of independent, scientifically credible and objective information on topics of interest for the environmental studies and assessment activities. Collectively, these inputs contribute to the development of research plans.
BOEM’s Environmental Studies Program (ESP) develops, funds and manages rigorous scientific research specifically to inform policy decisions on the development of energy, mineral and geological resources on the OCS. Research covers physical oceanography, atmospheric sciences, biology, protected species, social sciences and economics, submerged cultural resources and environmental fates and effects.
