Offshore wind farm air quality regulatory support and compliance management

Challenge

As the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the United States, South Fork Wind faced a complex regulatory landscape. Located offshore of an ozone nonattainment area, the project was subject to stringent air quality requirements under its Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) air permit. Orsted, the operator of this project, needed a reliable way to monitor compliance with the underlying air quality permit issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and document emissions from a diverse fleet of vessels operating within a 25-mile radius of the project during construction and ongoing operations.

Regulatory support for such a project wasn’t just technical; it was operational, requiring daily compliance checks, emissions tracking, and consistent training across contractors to ensure every activity aligned with permit conditions. Orsted sought a quality service provider to support the operation.

Solution

SLR was selected to work on the project, with knowledgeable subject matter experts and almost 20 years of experience providing extensive regulatory permitting support for the OCS. At the heart of SLR’s solution was a proprietary Compliance Management Tool (CMT), specifically designed for the needs of Orsted to capture and organize the data required by the OCS air permit.

SLR’s Air Quality team built, tested, and continues to operate the tool, conducting daily reviews of vessel activity checklists to verify compliance.

SLR’s ongoing duties also include the verification of nitrogen oxide emissions across all project vessel activities, to ensure adequate emission credits are secured for the project, and ongoing training to SFW contractors for air permit awareness and CMT use required in their daily activities.

Impact

SLR’s work has helped Orsted maintain full compliance with its air permit requirements, avoiding regulatory delays and ensuring South Fork Wind project’s environmental integrity. The CMT has become a trusted resource for real-time data validation, emissions tracking, and operational transparency.

By proactively managing air quality and training contractors, SLR not only supported the success of the project, but also demonstrated how thoughtful environmental compliance can enable clean energy innovation.