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The North Coast Offshore Wind Community Benefits Network is a diverse group of Tribal Nations, local government agencies and educational institutions, labor leaders, local community-based organizations, and community residents.
We are united in our belief that if our region hosts offshore wind development, it must benefit our communities, especially those who have been left out of these conversations and harmed by past development and that it must be developed sustainably to protect natural resources.
We support and work collaboratively with those communities to create an equitable and secure future for generations to come and center their voices in decision-making.
On August 1, the Network submitted comments in response to BOEM’s Proposed Sale Notice of the Pacific Wind Lease Sale 1. The following Tribal Nations, local leaders, environmental and community-based organizations and local government signed. Many more were involved in its development.
Additionally, the following entities submitted comment letters or have since confirmed interest in being listed as a supporter of the Network’s recommendations:
A 50/50 shared revenue model with the federal government to direct funds into community managed and governed funds for community investments is crucial to ensuring that offshore wind development is successful for all. To support offshore wind build-out at the scale needed to achieve state and national clean energy goals, a portion of the federal revenue generated from this project should be invested directly in the communities who will support its development. These include equitable access to quality careers, natural resource protections, reliable transportation systems, local electrification, childcare, and housing.
Community-governed funds will allow local leaders to direct resources based on the needs of their communities, providing certainty for developers that funds will be well-used as well as providing forums to work through ongoing issues like adaptive management.
Our recommended structure provides certainty and confidence for developers without any additive costs. This package is consistent with BOEM’s authorities under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and key Biden Administration policies.
Our recommendations are rooted in an extensive community engagement process which identified the following direct community benefits for a successful and sustainable build-out of offshore wind:
Our recommendations operationalize the California Coastal Commission’s environmental justice and other conditions included in their conditional concurrence and meet California’s racial equity commitments and commitments to California’s Tribes. Furthermore, the alignments between our recommended community benefits and state agencies’ joint letter offer a clear path to achieving regional environmental justice policy goals.
Equitable offshore wind development in our region presents a unique opportunity to
Equitable Offshore wind investments can lead to our region’s long-term health and prosperity. To achieve processes and outcomes supported by our residents, these investments must be accompanied by
Through the Community Benefits Package, a portion of the revenue generated for the federal government will be redirected back to the North Coast Communities, especially underrepresented communities and Tribal Nations. Our region has experienced multiple cycles of racialized boom and bust extractive natural resource industries. The legacy of underinvestment due to those cycles has resulted in infrastructure needs that must be addressed to support offshore wind. Our recommended package will make paradigm-shifting changes and can empower the most-impacted communities to participate actively, drive the decision-making process, and benefit from offshore wind development.
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