BOEM Releases Studies Development Plan for Fiscal Years 2023 and 2024

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 FY 2023-2024 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 for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) environmental assessments. BOEM’s Environmental Studies Program (ESP) 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 the users, including 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 14, 2022 

On July 11 and 14, 2022, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) will hold the 20th meeting of the BOEM Standing Committee on Offshore Science and Assessment (COSA) to provide feedback on selected studies from BOEM’s recently released FY 2023-2024 Studies Development Plan (SDP). The meeting will be an online event open to media and the public. The Academies require advance registration. Meeting details, including a webcast link, are posted on the NASEM website. 

BOEM has selected nine study profiles to present to COSA: 

Alaska OCS Regional Office 

• Cook Inlet Area-wide Recreation and Tourism Inventory
• Tidal Flow Characteristics and Associated Biological Use of Cook Inlet

Gulf of Mexico OCS Regional Office 

• Geodatabase of Benthic Community Habitat in the Gulf of Mexico

Marine Minerals Program

• Accounting for Scale Bias in Marine Minerals Studies
• Minerals and Ecosystems of the Remote Pacific (joint study with Pacific OCS Regional Office)

Office of Environmental Programs

• Piloting an Approach to Community-Informed Characterization of Environmental Justice Communities Potentially Impacted by BOEM-Authorized Activities
• Updating BOEM’s Environmental Sensitivity Methods and Models to Support Oil, Gas, and Wind Energy Development

Office of Renewable Energy Programs

• Environmental Monitoring Study for Carbon Capture, Utilization, Transportation, and Storage (CCUTS) Activities on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)
• Gulf of Maine Socio-Economic Impacts of OCS Wind Development on Fishing

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 develops, funds, and manages rigorous scientific research specifically to inform policy decisions on the development of energy and mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf. Research covers physical oceanography, atmospheric sciences, biology, protected species, social sciences and economics, submerged cultural resources and environmental fates and effects.