A US District Court judge has rejected a request from developer US Wind for an injunction against President Donald Trump’s move to review the developer’s permit for the up to 2200MW Maryland offshore wind farm.
US Wind had argued that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s decision to review the key federal construction permits for the project, issued under the Biden administration, constituted a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.
The developer asked the court for a preliminary injunction to stop the federal agency’s review.
Judge Stephanie Gallagher (pictured) ruled that although BOEM “suggests that the analysis underlying the COP approval was flawed, it expresses no view of the ultimate legality of the COP”.
BOEM’s review is therefore not a “final agency decision” open to judicial review, Gallagher wrote in a decision issued this week.
US Wind had last week pointed to a District Court ruling in a separate case that found President Donald Trump’s January moratorium on offshore wind permitting was “arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law”.
The developer had previously told the court that it is “not currently proceeding with the next steps in developing the project, such as completing the Facility Design Report, because of the significant cost of that undertaking and the risk that US Wind would lose that investment given the alleged decision to revoke the COP approval”.
The judge was unconvinced and wrote: “US Wind may continue to develop the project under the approved COP that remains in force.
“It simply has made a business decision not to do so in light of the political headwinds it perceives.”