On June 4, FERC inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU)  with the state of Washington to coordinate reviews of hydrokinetic projects located offshore in state waters.  The MOU with Washington comes on the heels of an anticipated agreement between FERC and MMS, which memorialized a truce between the two agencies as to which possessed primary jurisdiction to site hydrokinetic projects in federal waters on the outer continental shelf (OCS).  Following resolution of the dispute between MMS and FERC on issues affecting the OCS, the next big regulatory question centered on how FERC will interact with states in siting hydrokinetic projects in state waters.  The recent MOU with Washington State could shed some light on this issue.

The FERC MOU with Washington directs that the parties will:

•  
  • Notify each other when one becomes aware of a potential applicant for a preliminary permit, pilot project license or license;
  • Agree as early as possible to a schedule that will milestones, and encourage other federal agencies and stakeholders to comply with the schedules;
  • Coordinate the environmental reviews of any proposed projects in Washington state waters, consulting with stakeholders, including project developers, on the design of studies and environmental matters; and
  • Cooperate so that FERC will take into account when licensing any hydrokinetic project whatever plan Washington develops for siting hydrokinetic projects.

This MOU could represent a change in how states and the FERC interact in siting hydrokinetic projects.  Washington previously had opposed FERC’s authority to issue conditional licenses for hydrokinetic projects.  By signing the MOU, however, Washington appears to have backed off its formerly adversarial stance in favor of cooperating with FERC.  Only time will tell, but for now the MOU suggests greater FERC-state cooperation offshore.