AT-23-04: Baseline Tourism and Recreation Along the Gulf of Maine

The National Environmental Policy Act requires BOEM to consider the environmental impacts of proposed actions before making decisions that significantly affect the quality of the human environment, which includes understanding impacts on the human environment, such as “aesthetic, historic, cultural, economic, social, or health” impacts (40 CFR 1508.1). This study will provide empirical data regarding the potential impacts on resources (e.g., recreation, employment, small businesses, property values, heritage tourism) from offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine offshore Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. The information from this study is critical to well-informed responses to the concerns of State and local governments, citizens, and various stakeholder groups (e.g., property owners, small business owners, boaters).The objective of this study is to enhance our understanding of impacts on the human environment through a longitudinal study of the areas surrounding the Gulf of Maine.This research will involve observation and documentation of the human environment in the Gulf of Maine pre-development and provide a baseline for changes observed during construction and operations. These observations will establish baseline conditions and will characterize the human environment over multiple years, allowing BOEM to capture trends and gauge change through time. This study will be organized into three phrases: study design, data collection & analysis, and closeout. The study design phase will include a body of integrated and iterative activity, namely site selection for study; stakeholder engagement to determine concerns; indicator identification, refinement, and testing; and development of a sensitivity assessment (vetting the accuracy and reliability measurement). The data collection and analysis phase will include collection of primary and secondary data capturing baseline conditions (pre-construction), conditions during construction and operations, and analysis—along with simultaneous sensitivity testing. The closeout phase would include final analysis, synthesis, and report writing.

See Related Documents Tab for Full Announcement and Instructions (Foa_Content_of_M23AS00359).

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