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Federal filing puts Ocean City offshore wind approval back under review
The Trump administration has asked a Baltimore judge to send US Wind’s Ocean City project permit back to the Interior Department for reconsideration, while leaving the permit in place for now. The town welcomed the move; the developer says it expects the permits to withstand court review.
The Trump administration has formally asked a federal judge to return the construction permit for US Wind’s proposed offshore project near Ocean City to the Interior Department for another review, arguing that federal officials did not adequately assess the project under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
The request, filed this week in Baltimore federal court, asks that the permit be sent back “without vacatur.” That would allow it to remain in effect while the department reconsiders its approval. The matter is before U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher in a lawsuit filed by Ocean City nearly two years ago to challenge the permit.
Federal officials cited potential effects on North Atlantic right whales, ocean views, commercial fisheries and scientific research. The administration first told Gallagher in August that it intended to seek reconsideration, reversing its earlier defense of the permit, which was issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, an Interior Department agency.
Ocean City praised the filing, saying federal officials had acknowledged that the project’s effects on ocean views, fisheries, marine life and other ocean uses were not adequately addressed in the earlier review. US Wind said it remains confident a court will uphold its permits and prevent action against them. The company’s vice president of external affairs, Nancy Sopko, said several federal agencies had completed more than a decade of analysis before issuing final permits for what she described as one of the region’s largest new energy projects.
The federal filing also disputes the town’s claims against NOAA Fisheries, arguing that the agency adequately assessed risks to protected whales and that some of Ocean City’s allegations are inaccurate. NOAA’s analysis recognized that construction noise could cause temporary behavioral disturbance and stress, but concluded the effects were not expected to harm whales’ long-term health or their ability to migrate, feed, breed or calve. Project rules include seasonal limits on pile driving and requirements for noise-reduction equipment.
US Wind previously asked Gallagher to block the federal government from revoking its permit. In December, she denied that request, saying the company would have to wait for an agency decision with legal consequences before challenging it.
The dispute comes amid a broader Trump administration campaign against offshore wind development, which has included halting coastal leasing, issuing stop-work orders for projects under construction and seeking to buy back previously issued wind leases. The judge’s decision on the latest request could determine whether the Ocean City permit remains in place during the federal review.