Mr. Garay joined CHIPS in April 2024 as an Advisor for Environmental Review and Permitting.
Previously, he worked for PSEG’s Renewables Development Group: acting as an Onshore Permitting Lead and Environmental Scientist for Orsted's Ocean Wind 1 offshore wind project. The onshore development consisted of two planned substations and HDD onshore connection. Additionally, Mr. Garay was the Sr. Env Sci for PSEG Nuclear’s Estuary Enhancement Program: managing one of the largest, privately owned wetland and habitat restoration programs in the country which consists of ~15,000 acres of restored Delaware Bay salt marsh habitat from Salem County to Cape May County, NJ. He managed an extensive biological monitoring program within the Delaware Bay Estuary consisting of beach seine and bottom-trawl, with supplemental responsibilities with the Salem Nuclear Plant intake entrainment and impingement sampling. He acted as a senior technical adviser for the Salem Nuclear Plant NJPDES Permit Renewal and compliance enforcement of 40 CFR §316(b) Part 122 (fish entrainment and impingement within cooling water intake structures) and had previously done so for several other chemical and energy facilities across the United States.
His biological and ecological expertise previously focused on the Delaware Bay/River Estuary system, and NJ Atlantic coastal habitat. He has a broad range of environmental experience spanning several practices; has performed siting and licensing work for nuclear generation, onshore and offshore wind energy, natural gas pipeline and transmission projects. His environmental remediation experience extends across multiple states within the Northwest, Northeast, the Middle Atlantic, and the Gulf Coast states.
He holds dual bachelor’s degrees (Marine Biology; Conservation Biology and Ecology) from the Florida Institute of Technology, and an MBA with a Finance concentration from Monmouth University.