The administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking to revoke a key federal permit for US Wind’s planned offshore wind project off the coast of Maryland, potentially halting development of the up to 2,200-megawatt (MW) facility.
According to court filings cited in multiple reports, attorneys from the Department of Justice informed a Delaware court that the Department of the Interior plans to vacate the project’s Construction and Operations Plan (COP) by Sept. 12.
The move follows a July letter from the Trump-era Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), which raised concerns about the legal basis for the state’s June approval of the wind farm’s air quality permit.
In the letter dated July 7, the EPA argued that Maryland had “identified the incorrect appeals process” and stated that the authority to appeal the permit lies under federal—not state—law. The agency instructed Maryland to revise the permit to clarify this jurisdictional issue.
“Failure to rectify this error could result in invalidation of the permit on appeal and confusion among relevant stakeholders with respect to where to bring such an appeal,” the EPA wrote.
US Wind’s project had cleared a major milestone in June when the MDE issued the air quality permit, the final state-level approval needed for construction. The state’s Air and Radiation Administration said the proposed wind farm “would not cause violations of any applicable air pollution control regulations.”
At the federal level, the project received approval of its COP from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in December 2023.
US Wind has not yet issued a public comment in response to the latest legal developments.
If vacated, the revocation of the COP would represent a significant setback for the project, which is among the largest offshore wind developments planned along the U.S. East Coast.
