Category Archives: Offshore

Energinethas received orders to initiate preliminary investigations for the Hesseloffshore wind farm and the establishment of a grid connection point onland.

From 22 June 2020 itwas decided that in addition to the two energy islands in the North Seaand at Bornholm, an independent offshore wind farm should also be established.Thisis the so-called "park 2" from the energy agreement 2018. Park2 will be placed at Hesseland the park must be advanced so that it is completed one year ahead oftime, from 2028 to 2027. The Danish government requires that that Hesselis completed at the same time as Thoroffshore wind farm.The schedule for the Hesseloffshore wind farm has been advanced, which means that the feasibilitystudies in particular must be completed in a shorter time.This ispossible because the park is located in Kattegat, which is less exposedto harsh winter weather than the North Sea.This means the feasibilitystudy vessels can sail during the winter season.As early as August, the Danish Energy Agency will submit a draft explorationpermit to Energinet in consultation with the relevant authorities.Thefeasibility study permit will give Energinet the right to start collectingrelevant information on the feasibility study area at sea, including cablecorridors to land, and in particular environmental information.

Transplantation meansthat concession winners are allowed to set up more capacity than the 1,000MW that can be delivered to the electricity grid at the grid connectionpoint.The transplant is expected to help optimise the use of thecables inland, and concession winners can use the extra capacity to ensurea more continuous flow of power to the grid.It is up to the biddersto assess whether this will be financially attractive.Concession winners will also be able to supply the power, including fromthe additional wind turbines, into a Power-to-X system or to a batteryinstead of directly to the grid.

For more information on offshore windfarms worldwide,clickhere.

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Danes expedite Hessel investigations - 4C Offshore

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, reported on Tuesday how automatic reporting in 2019 helped uncover $11 trillion worth of assets in offshore accounts.

The result came as the Common Reporting Standard, or CRS, entered its third year of operation since its launch in 2017.

Unlike many previous iterations of international tax reporting standards, the CRS requires countries to automatically report activity in accounts held by foreign nationals to their respective country of origin. This solves issues deriving from request-based information sharing, which required active suspicion and investigation from the originating country.

This is supported by over 100 countries across the globe, which seek to curtail tax evasion enabled by offshore bank accounts and regulatory arbitrage. Notably, the standard was adopted in 2017 by popular offshore destinations like the Cayman Islands, Seychelles and many others.

Since the introduction of CRS in 2017, the amount of assets that fell under scrutiny increased almost tenfold from $1.2 trillion. The OECD explained that the growth is largely attributable to more countries joining the system, as well as a wider scope of reported information.

Source: OECD report

The organization also discovered in November 2019 that between 2008 and 2019, deposits to foreign-owned accounts decreased by 24%, or $410 billion.

The anonymous and decentralized nature of cryptocurrency can be helpful in filling the void left by traditional offshore banking.

This is why tax agencies across the world are beginning to clamp down on potential evasion routes using cryptocurrency, with the IRS including targeted questions related to digital assets in a 2019 tax filing draft.

The U.K.s tax agency similarly began preparations as it signaled intentions to use blockchain tracking software in January 2020.

As demonstrated quite often, generic blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum are not anonymous and can be tracked quite easily. But even blockchains relative transparency still returns authorities to pre-CRS investigation methods, which require active suspicion.

While privacy solutions can make cryptocurrencies exponentially harder to track, their volatility makes them a tough sell as practical store of value assets legal or not.

Stablecoins can fix the volatility issues, but centralized iterations like Tether and USDC have inbuilt freezing mechanisms that can be used for compliance purposes. Decentralized stablecoins, on the other hand, pose unknown technical risks.

Cryptocurrencies may step in to fill offshore bankings shoes, but mass adoption may not quite be there yet.

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Sun Sets on Offshore Banking as Assets Worth $11 Trillion Uncovered - Cointelegraph

Dive Brief:

The state's central coast presents particular opportunities for offshore wind development, since it is equipped with transmission infrastructure that was built to carry deliveries from the 2,000 MW Diablo Canyon nuclear plant which is scheduled to be decommissioned starting in 2024 and a second retired 1,000 MW power plant.

In late 2018, BOEM published calls for information and nominations for two areas off the California coast. Both, however, are used by the DOD, which determined that offshore wind development could conflict with its activities.

Last year, stakeholders formed the working group, which in May released a report identifying potential zones located in and around the Morro Bay call area that wouldn't interfere with the DOD's activities. There are around 215,000 square miles of federal waters off California's coast, Jean Thurston-Keller, task force coordinator at BOEM, said at the workshop but after taking into account water depth, wind speeds, protected areas and other considerations, only 6% of that is available for possible offshore wind development.

The sites identified by the group include a North and South area, amounting to roughly 240 square miles, located around 15 miles off the coast, as well as a 90-square mile site located within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. However, since BOEM doesn't have the authority to lease out areas in a sanctuary, the group has labeled that site for further discussion.

The DOD is committed to working with stakeholders "to explore the possibility of offshore wind that avoids adverse impacts to our military operations on testing and training requirements," Steve Chung, a DOD representative, said at the workshop.

One of the big advantages of offshore wind is that it complements the profile of solar energy, Nancy Rader, executive director of the California Wind Energy Association, told Utility Dive as the sun goes down, the wind comes up and adding offshore as well as out-of-state wind could reduce the need for storage, saving California around $19 billion per year by 2045, she said.

And advocates also point to the economic benefits of developing offshore wind, especially as the U.S. grapples with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There are 40 million Americans that are unemployed right now. This is a once-in-a-generation economic development and recovery opportunity," Brandon Burke, policy and outreach director for the Business Network for Offshore Wind, said at the workshop.

But the industry faces several challenges in California, Mohit Chhabra, senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council's climate and clean energy program, told Utility Dive. Environmentally, policy-makers need to figure out how to develop facilities without causing harm to marine ecosystems. Navigating the permitting requirements and other obstacles that come from using waters that are used by the DOD can be complicated. And there are economic issues as well.

"When it comes to building specific projects there's a chicken-and-egg problem without actually building, we wouldn't actually know the environmental issues or [be able to] work through all the regulatory issues. But when we do build, we need to build something that's worthwhile enough for investors," because projects have to be big enough to be cost effective, he said.

The prospect of a Central California offshore wind facility has also drawn ire from representatives of the fishing industry. But the industry on the East Coast has confronted similar issues, according to Nancy Kirshner-Rodriguez, Western director for the Business Network for Offshore Wind.

"I am optimistic that we can confront and come to a good result with the military, with the fishing industry," she told Utility Dive, adding, "You're able to see a broad coalition of interested parties coming together to try to figure out how we can put utility-scale renewable energy into the ocean in an environmentally sustainable way."

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Trump officials address prospects and challenges of California offshore wind development - Utility Dive

HYANNIS The U.S. House of Representatives recently adopted the Offshore Wind Jobs and Opportunity Act, introduced by Congressman Bill Keating in early January of last year, into the upcoming INVEST Act.

The bill was co-led by Congressman Joe Kennedy III.

The act would create new grant programs to help unions, colleges and universities, state and local governments, and nonprofits develop offshore wind job training programs.

Offshore wind will be an integral part of our countrys future infrastructure and my bill will provide the means to create the necessary workforce, allowing thousands of Americans to learn new skills and advance their careers by training for the burgeoning offshore wind industry, said Keating.

Skills learned in these programs will not only translate to high paying new jobs offshore, but will also provide lifelong skill sets that are applicable throughout a wide range of industries, both at sea and on land.

The bill prioritizes grants to community colleges, organizations that service minority populations and those helping workers from other industries transition to the offshore wind workforce.

By harnessing the potential of an emerging offshore wind industry, we can power our homes and businesses while growing a local workforce and supporting our local economies, said Kennedy.

Our Offshore Wind Jobs and Opportunities Act will invest in the communities on the front lines of this new era of energy generation. With todays passage in the House of Representatives, it is now critical that the Senate act so that our country gains its position as a leader in offshore wind development.

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Offshore Wind Jobs Act Approved by House of Representatives - CapeCod.com News

Huisman has secured a contract by CSBC Corporation to deliver a 4,000mt Offshore Mast Crane (OMC) for Green Jade, the first Taiwan-built floating heavy-lift offshore wind installation vessel.

The crane will be built at Huismans production facility in China and is scheduled for delivery in 2022 when the CSBC-DEME Wind Energy (CDWE) joint venture will deploy it in the Taiwanese offshore wind market.

In addition to the main crane, the company will deliver a 65mt knuckleboom crane for general lifting purposes.

Both cranes will be installed and commissioned at the CSBC shipyard.

We are very pleased with the confidence shown in Huisman by awarding us this contract. We are commited to deliver value adding assets to CBSC and its partners for the installation of future generation offshore wind turbines, said Anne de Groot, Project Director at Huisman.

CDWE informed in April that ithad initiatedthe contract for early works and ordering of critical packages for Green Jade. The joint venture recently reached the final investment decision (FID) for the vessel construction.

The 216.5m vessel is expected to have large deck space to enable transport and installation of multiple massive next-generation foundations and wind turbines in a single shipment, the joint venture said.

It is set to be deployed on theHai LongandZhong Nengoffshore wind projects in Taiwan.

Read more here:

Huisman to Deliver Cranes for Taiwan's First Offshore Wind Installation Vessel - Offshore WIND

Despite a relatively shallow seabed, oil production 120 miles (190 kilometers) from the coast in the infamously treacherous North Sea has always required a technological approach to make it profitable. Right from the beginning of production in the 1960s, helicopters were a part of making it possible.

By 1997, the rotary-wing industry that had developed in support of offshore production was mature and well established, but a small new operator, based in the Belgian coastal city of Oostende, was preparing to shake up the sector. That company was Noordzee Helikopters Vlaanderen (North Sea Helicopters, Flanders) or NHV, established by Eric Van Hal, his brother Jef De Kinder and another investor, with an Airbus Helicopters (then Eurocopter) AS365 N3.

The company grew rapidly over the following years, even as the regions oil production began to fall. NHVs operations spanned the coasts of Western Europe (both on- and offshore) and West Africa, but the jewel in the crown remained elusive.

The Scottish city of Aberdeen was transformed perhaps like no other by the oil-and-gas industry. It has the worlds busiest commercial heliport, with 37,000 rotary movements per year that almost exclusively serve offshore oil-and-gas. NHV had opened its U.K. base in the East English coastal town of Norwich in 2008, but without an operation in Aberdeen there was a risk of being overlooked as a serious offshore contender.

Getting into Aberdeen was difficult as real estate was very expensive, said Jamie John, NHVs base manager at Aberdeen. We couldnt win any work in Aberdeen without a base there, and we couldnt get a presence without a contract.

To get around this chicken and egg situation, NHV took a base in the far north of Scotland and embarked on an effort to build its reputation in the face of the more established names.

NHV was a player in Europe but little-known in the U.K., explained John. We started operating initially in Wick with a couple of aircraft and that basically got us our name.

After an 18-year career with the Royal Air Force in ground operations, John spent some time in the Middle East before returning to Europe with DanCopter in 2012, which was acquired by NHV along with the rest of the Blueway Group in 2014. At a stroke, this made the company one of the largest helicopter operators in Europe, with a presence in every oil producing country in the North Sea region.

John explained that things started to change in Aberdeen a year later. We won a contract with a large major [oil producer] and began gaining momentum, he said. In 2015, we were awarded a contract for two aircraft, and we flew our first contracted offshore flight from Aberdeen out of a temporary facility in January 2016 while our base was under construction.

That operation supported between 150 and 180 flying hours per month with a team of 20 personnel. Now Aberdeen is NHVs largest flying unit with a fleet of seven aircraft flying 7,000 to 8,000 hours per year and employing 120 staff.

NHV was the launch customer for the H175, and received its 12th of the type in 2019. The Aberdeen fleet would be entirely of that type, which was a departure from the trend.

The [Airbus Helicopters H] 225 and the [Sikorsky] S-92 were still flying, so there was nothing in the medium class flying at Aberdeen, Neil Christie, the bases chief pilot, explained.

John was a key part of the team setting up the Aberdeen base, and while contracts have accumulated and the company footprint expanded dramatically since, the nature of the task hasnt changed much.

We call them bus schedule contracts, he explained. We tend to fly very regular, scheduled runway-to-rig operations that allow predictable working routines.

It seems likely that oil-and-gas passenger transfers in this environment could only be described as routine and predictable by someone who has either spent a lot of time in that business, or none at all.

The North Sea spans lines of latitude that are roughly coincident with Alaska, and if the weather is predictable, then it is predictably terrible. High winds and high seas are only generally absent when the thick regional fog known as the Haar blankets the ocean and coast, sending the air temperature plummeting.

Certainly, most of the flights are similar in profile, but when at least one landing and takeoff must be made to a ship, or a platform hundreds of feet above the waves and surrounded by other vertical obstructions, describing them as routine is understated, to say the least.

It is a hazardous environment in which to undertake the already risky business of oil-and-gas production, and there have been several high-profile incidents and accidents that have well illustrated the dangers including those that led to the lengthy prohibition of EC225 LP and AS332 L2 helicopter operations in the U.K. and Norway.

Unsurprisingly then, safety is at the forefront of everyones mind, not just among the aviation community but also those who they transport to their place of work, miles out to sea. Their representatives in the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) take a keen interest in the operation of aircraft that support the industry, and put in place restrictions over and above those of the regional and national aviation regulators.

This emphasis is keenly felt in the cockpit, where responsibility for the safe conduct of flight ultimately rests.

We want to create the same perfect flight each time, where the passengers can have their nap and arent awoken, said Christie. How we deal with the weather and anything else needs to be standardized, but we train hard to have that peaceful flight.

In common with much else in aviation that involves carriage of passengers, that training and standardization revolves around procedure, but oil rigs are very different from international airports or in fact any airport. While performance-based navigation and even point-in-space approaches have been implemented in other industries, the preferred method to get a large helicopter onto an oil rig involves judicious use of radar. This is not only because of the challenges of the variability of wind direction and strength, but also to aid detection of boats or other obstacles that might have found their way into the path of the approaching aircraft.

Rig approaches typically start at 1,500 feet (460 meters) above the sea level at 6.5 nautical miles (12 kilometers) and an air speed of 90 knots, before a descent to 200 feet (60 meters) is initiated. A 10 degree turn away from the rig ensures separation before the aircraft continues to a missed approach point at mile.

Having flown the AS332 L previously and coming from the H155, Christie was familiar with Airbus Helicopters products and design philosophy.

The H175 came quite naturally; the aircraft simplifies a lot of things, he explained. The cockpit is a lot more automated and simplified, which lends to an easier CRM [crew resource management] environment for the crew. That all leads to reducing the risk of confusion or mistakes.

Christie reserved particular praise for the aircrafts Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS), native to the H175s Helionix avionics setup.

Ive worked on machines in the past where I had less trust in the AFCS, he said. But Ive heard it again and again from crews that theyve never had as much trust in another aircraft as they do in the 175.

At least part of this trust likely comes as a result of the vast array of experience with the aircraft that comes from within the company. NHV has not only been operating the machine for longer than anybody else, but also has the largest fleet anywhere in the world.

Despite having only joined the company in 2019, NHVs U.K. flight ops manager Chris Cooper is a convert to the type, both technically and ideologically.

Its a fantastic aircraft, he said. Weve become the authority on the H175 because weve been involved from the very beginning. A lot of the processes and procedures that have been introduced have come from NHV and the experience we have with the aircraft.

Cooper explained that the variety of landing platforms across the region influenced the companys fleet choices. The smaller decks off Norwich are well suited to the Leonardo AW139, while NHV has chosen the Leonardo AW169 for the even smaller decks off the coast of Blackpool in northwest England for a new contract with Spirit Energy.

With such a modern fleet, it is easy to see why pilots are attracted to NHV, but Christie and Cooper are equally adamant that the strength of NHV comes from its people.

We are good at selecting the right people, said Cooper. We place a big emphasis on that. Obviously, recruits have to have the right technical qualification but with small teams, they also need to have great team skills.

That experience is getting harder and harder to come by. The IOGP sets out rigorous minimum requirements even for first officers. In particular, the requirement for 500 hours in multi-engine aircraft narrows the field enormously.

NHV is taking some steps towards making the process of working in the sector more achievable for inexperienced pilots.

The mainstay of our hiring is experienced people, but weve also been able to bring on some inexperienced pilots that have just got their CPL(H), got their IR and theyve no experience, he said.

NHV has its own ATO to deliver type ratings and line training, but copilots arriving without the requisite hours each have to be approved by the IOGP on a case-by-case basis. This must add cost to the company, but Christie explained that the value went beyond simply filling a cockpit seat and gives the company additional choice in who it hires.

We need everyone to be able to work well together in the cockpit and in the office, he said. But its also fresh eyes; we like to see people coming in and asking why we do things a certain way, it gives us a chance to ask ourselves that.

The companys team spirit has undoubtedly been tested. No sooner had the operation at Aberdeen begun in earnest, it was decided that Britain would leave the European Union, and with it the European Aviation Safety Agency.

NHVs history is filled with examples of operating across national boundaries. For example, while its management of continuous airworthiness is U.K.-registered, the part 145 maintenance operation is Belgian. Until 2018 this was also the case for its Air Operators Certificate (AOC), but with Britain disentangling itself from the European Union, NHV decided to change the whole of the U.K. operation onto a U.K. AOC.

John explained that the planning and preparation took a year and depended not only on the talent that existed in the company, but on others that they needed to bring in.

In the end it was a complete shutdown of the existing AOC and a fresh start over a weekend. Aircraft were deregistered on the Friday and by Monday we were ready to go, he explained. We found the right people to manage the process. We even managed to continue to win contracts while we were doing it.

More recent challenges have had far broader reach. While the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic placed much of the world into lockdown, it was vital that the energy industry continued to be able to operate.

One of the biggest challenges that we had right at the start was gaining any kind of good advice because nobody was an expert in this, said Cooper.

While NHV needed to be able to transport symptomatic patients who didnt meet the threshold for search-and-rescue (SAR), they nevertheless had to be transported back to the mainland. However, adherence to regulation made it difficult to protect people.

We had a dedicated helicopter and a medic with oxygen, and I think that put us ahead of the curve initially, Cooper said. To start with we couldnt get a barrier in for the crew because you needed part 21 approval to do anything, so we had a spare 175 which we put into a cargo fit, which is three seats at the front and three at the back, so at least we had some distance.

Cooper said the companys small, experienced, teams not only enable rapid action in a crisis, but are also critically important to winning and keeping routine business.

The base managers look after the customers. They dont have to go through key account managers, he said. The customers like it because they can come straight to someone who has an answer and they are just dealing with one person.

The coronavirus crisis has undoubtedly injected a fresh and unwanted dose of uncertainty into an oil-and-gas market that was already suffering a downturn. While NHVs U.K. operation doesnt seem distracted from a job it is proud to have succeeded at as the underdog, the wider company has plenty of other experience, from SAR, helicopter emergency medical services and MRO services in Europe, to utility work in Norway. This makes diversification a possibility, in principle at least.

The focus in the U.K. is on our operations supporting oil-and-gas, said John. Were not shy about looking into other markets, but those markets are likely to be linked to offshore services.

NHV has already proved that it can adapt to challenging circumstances, and its likely that itll have plenty of time to adapt further.

Excerpt from:

NHV: Shaking up the offshore market - Vertical Magazine

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has released the answers to questions about the possible location of an electrical interconnection facility at Fenwick Island State Park.

Ths site would bring in power from the proposed Skipjack offshore wind farm.

Last year, rsted requested that DNREC consider allowing electric cables from the companys proposed offshore Skipjack Wind Farm to connect underground to a possible interconnection facility on Fenwick Island park property.

In return, the park would get $18 million in improvements. The project drew immediate fire from wind power critics and some Fenwick residents who claimed DNREC was keeping the out of public view.

rsted anticipates a delay for Skipjack wind power project

DNREC has not made a decision on the use of Fenwick Island State Park as a landing for the power produced from the proposed wind farm.

The proposal is separate from regulatory considerations of the wind farm, which is part of Marylands plans to develop more alternative energy sources. The project has been delayed, due to regulatory matters with the U.S. government.

DNREC offered the following statements in regard to questions on the project:

DNREC received 2,692 survey submissions that offered feedback on the proposed park improvements.

Of those who completed the survey, 44 percent said they would like DNREC to renovate the existing parking area and/or create additional parking facilities, 32 percent want the bathhouse and restroom facilities to be renovated and expanded, 13 percent would like additional food concessionaires and 12 percent felt the proposed improvements would improve traffic flow and parking at Fenwick Island State Park.

Respondents also ranked proposed amenities from first to last, with walking paths to connect Fenwick Island, a nature center, and additional food concessions the most popular.

To see the survey results and read the questions and answers, go to http://www.destateparks.com/FenwickImprovements.

Original post:

DNREC releases results of survey on possible Fenwick link to offshore wind project - delawarebusinessnow.com

Italian wind developer 7 Seas Med S.r.l. has requested a 30-year maritime state concession to develop a 250 MW floating offshore wind farm in the Sicilian Channel.

According to the application filed with Italys Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport Trapani Port Authority, 7 Seas Med S.r.l. plans to install 25 wind turbines with an individual capacity of 10 MW at the site.

The turbines will be mounted on semi-submersible TetraSpar floating foundations, the project documents show.

The site is located 37 kilometres off Marsala on the north-western coast of the Sicily, 32 kilometres from the island of Marettimo, and 34.5 kilometres from the island of Favignana.

The wind farm will also include a floating offshore substation and a 41-kilometre export cable system which will make landfall at the port of Marsala.

According to the local media, the project is expected to enter the construction phase in 2023 and require an investment of around EUR 740 million.

The local reports also say that the project is being developed by Copenhagen Offshore Partners, with assistance from the Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

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Concession Sought for Italy's First Floating Wind Farm - Offshore WIND

EDF and state-owned mining and energy company China Energy Investment Corporation (CEI) have sealed an industrial partnership to develop offshore wind projects in China.

The agreement has resulted in a new project company which is now building and operating 502MW of offshore wind projects in the North Shanghai region.

The first is a 302MW wind farm fully commissioned in December 2019, as well as a 200MW project now in construction and due to be commissioned in 2021.

These will beEDF Groups first offshore wind projects in China.

EDF Group will hold a 37.5% stake in the company through its subsidiaries EDF Renewables and EDF China, while CEI holds the remaining stakes.

Bruno Bensasson, EDF Group Senior Executive Vice-President Renewable Energies and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EDF Renewables said: Thanks to this partnership, EDF which is already present in China through its other businesses: nuclear, solar, onshore wind and energy services, is strengthening its footprint in this strategic market.

This partnership is also part of EDFs 2030 strategy, the group is aiming to double its renewables capacities worldwide from 28GW to 50GW net between 2015 and 2030.

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EDF inks agreement to develop its first offshore wind projects in China - Energy Live News - Energy Made Easy

Sen. Marco RubioMarco Antonio RubioTrump administration eyes new strategy on COVID-19 tests ACLU calls on Congress to approve COVID-19 testing for immigrants Republicans fear backlash over Trump's threatened veto on Confederate names MORE (R-Fla.) is turning to a must-pass defense bill as a way to block offshore drilling off the coast of Florida, but fellow drilling opponents worry his amendment opens the door for the Department of Defense to speed extraction in the sensitive area.

Rubio is making multiple efforts to block any drilling off the states Gulf Coast, home to multiple military installments that use the waters for training.

One amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would extend the current moratorium on offshore drilling in the area through 2032.The other would require the secretary of Defense to sign off on all future lease sales in Floridas Gulf to assure the drilling wouldn't interfere with military operations.

Though the military has long resisted drilling in the area, some worry the amendment would give a presidential appointee the power to greenlight drilling with little oversight from Congress.

This signs over control of when and where drilling can happen to the secretary of Defense. The secretary of Defense works for the president, and this president has made his case very clear that he wants offshore drilling, Diane Hoskins, a campaign director with Oceana, told The Hill.

Its essentially a huge loophole for drilling. So its way too risky, it's a bad approach [and] it does not extend the moratorium," she added. "The bottom line is Florida doesn't want drilling to get an inch closer and any deal that risks that is a raw deal for Florida.

Rubios amendments come amid concern that the Trump administration may pursue drilling off the coast of Florida shortly after the November election.

While the Trump administration said in 2018 it would exclude Florida from its offshore drilling plan, a new version has not yet been released. Meanwhile, numerous sources told Politico the administration was eyeing drilling in Florida if Trump is elected toa second term.

The Department of the Interior has denied the report.

The amendments from Rubio mark the latest of many attempts to block drilling off Floridas coast. A spokesman for the senator said his amendment would not create a loophole but is instead a multipronged effort to limit drilling.

OurNo. 1 goal is to extend the moratorium. But if we aren't able to do that for whatever reason, or let's say that the moratorium did lapse for some reason, then this would be a failsafe, the spokesman told The Hill.

There's no way for the military, for the secretary of Defense, to certify that offshore drilling in that area would not impact national security, he added, citing a lengthy history of military documentation citing the need to restrict drilling in the area.If they're offshore drilling in the area, that would directly impact the ability for them to carry out the functions that they use for military readiness and testing.

Rubios measures have yet to come to a vote, and its not clear whether the Senate will consider amendments to the NDAA or which ones might get included in a managers package.

Florida lawmakers have made numerous attempts to block drilling near the state, arguing any potential spills could devastate an economy that relies on tourism and fishing.

Last year, the House passed numerous bills that would ban offshore drilling across the U.S., including a measure backed by nearly every member of the Florida delegation that would permanently bar drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

The legislation, however, was never taken up by the Senate.

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Rubio looks to defense bill to block offshore drilling, but some fear it creates a loophole | TheHill - The Hill