[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8718 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8718

 To conditionally prohibit commercial offshore wind energy development 
        in the Columbia Management Area, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 12, 2024

  Ms. Perez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To conditionally prohibit commercial offshore wind energy development 
        in the Columbia Management Area, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON COMMERCIAL OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT 
              IN COLUMBIA MANAGEMENT AREA.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding section 8 of the Outer Continental 
Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337), no lease, license, permit, or other 
authorization may be issued for the development of commercial offshore 
wind energy in the Columbia Management Area unless the Comptroller 
General determines the results of the study conducted under subsection 
(b) show that offshore wind projects in the Columbia Management Area do 
not and will not have adverse impacts on the items described in 
paragraph (2)(A) of that subsection.
    (b) Study.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this section, the Comptroller General shall 
        conduct a study to assess the sufficiency of the environmental 
        review processes of the National Marine Fisheries Service, the 
        Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and any other relevant 
        Federal agency for offshore wind projects in the Columbia 
        Management Area in place as of the date of enactment of this 
        section.
            (2) Contents.--The study required under paragraph (1) shall 
        include consideration of the following:
                    (A) The impacts of offshore wind projects in the 
                Columbia Management Area on--
                            (i) marine mammals;
                            (ii) finfish;
                            (iii) shellfish aquaculture;
                            (iv) the commercial and recreational 
                        fishing industries, including marine equipment 
                        retailers, onshore processors, fish markets, 
                        and other shoreside businesses;
                            (v) air quality and greenhouse gas 
                        emissions;
                            (vi) cultural, historical, and Tribal 
                        resources;
                            (vii) marine invertebrates;
                            (viii) essential fish habitat;
                            (ix) plankton abundance and distribution;
                            (x) recreation and tourism; and
                            (xi) fisheries-dependent communities.
                    (B) How each agency described in paragraph (1) 
                determines which stakeholders to consult with regard to 
                offshore wind projects in the Columbia Management Area 
                and if a timely, comprehensive comment period is 
                provided for local representatives and interested 
                parties with regard to such offshore wind projects.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Columbia management area.--The term ``Columbia 
        Management Area'' means the area described in paragraph (1)(ii) 
        of the definition of the term ``North-South management area'' 
        in section 660.11 of title 50, Code of Federal Regulations (or 
        a successor regulation).
            (2) Essential fish habitat.--The term ``essential fish 
        habitat'' has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the 
        Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 
        U.S.C. 1802).
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