Donald Trump’s US administration is aiming to revoke a permit for US Wind’s up to 2200MW Maryland offshore wind farm.
Attorneys from the Department of Justice told a Delaware court that the Department of the Interior would move to vacate a construction and operations plan by 12 September, according to several reports.
The development follows Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency in July telling Maryland that the state “identified the incorrect appeals process” in its June approval of the wind farm.
The authority to appeal the permit sits under federal law, the EPA argued in a 7 July letter to the Maryland Department of the Environment, and is not appealable under state law as the June permit reads.
The EPA then directed the state department to reissue the permit with new language underlining federal authority.
“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.
In June, US Wind received an air quality permit for the project, clearing the way for construction to begin.
The wind farm had received the go-ahead from the federal government last December, but was awaiting the final required permit from the state.
The Maryland Department of the Environment, Air and Radiation Administration said it had made a final determination to issue the air quality permit, noting that “the proposed construction and commissioning of the offshore wind project would not cause violations of any applicable air pollution control regulations”.
It was the last permit required from the state, while the final federal permit was awarded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in December. This was for the Maryland project’s Construction and Operations Plan (COP).
US Wind Vice President for External Affairs Nancy Sopko said: “Our construction and operations plan approval is the subject of ongoing litigation, but we remain confident that the federal permits we secured after a multi-year and rigorous public review process are legally sound.”