The federal offshore wind program oversees wind energy development in our nation’s federal waters in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The program was first authorized in 2005 and officially began in 2009. As of May 2026, BOEM has issued 53 leases and rights-of-way grants across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico regions and manages 42 active leases.
OCS is defined as “all submerged lands lying seaward and outside of the area of lands beneath navigable water,” and federal jurisdiction over the OCS typically extends from three nautical miles (nm) offshore to the 200 nm boundary of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. Coastal states have jurisdiction over OCS areas within three nm of the coastline, except Texas, the Gulf Coast of Florida, and Puerto Rico, where jurisdiction extends to nine nm from the coastline.
Resources in the OCS in U.S. waters belong to all Americans and must be managed to provide a fair return to taxpayers. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), within the Department of the Interior (DOI), oversees renewable energy development in the OCS, including offshore wind. Federal OCS jurisdiction covers approximately 3.2 billion acres, though new offshore wind leasing is currently paused under an Administration moratorium.
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