An Environmental Appeals Court Judge remanded a Clean Air Act permit, issued in September last year, back to the EPA.
This occurred less than two months after US president Donald Trump called for a review of the federal government’s leasing and permitting practices for wind projects and a temporary withdrawal of all areas on the outer continental shelf from offshore wind leasing.
The presidential memorandum, sent in January, directs an immediate review of Federal wind leasing and permitting practices and provides that the heads of various executive department agencies, including the administrator of the EPA, shall not issue new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects pending the completion of a comprehensive assessment and review of Federal wind.
Following Trump’s move, officials submitted a motion requesting the court to send the permit back to the agency for a review of the environmental impacts of the wind energy project.
In early March, Atlantic Shores argued that there was no “good cause” for the withdrawal of the permit and that it was not in the interest of administrative or judicial efficiency.
However, the withdrawal went ahead and the EPA stated that it would confer with other executive branch agencies regarding further evaluation of various impacts that may result from the project, including impacts on birds, wildlife, fishing, and other relevant environmental concerns described in the presidential memorandum.
According to industry experts, even those projects that have begun construction are vulnerable under this interpretation of Trump’s executive order.
In cases of large industrial projects, companies often have to go back to the regulatory agencies to amend permits, so the agencies can simply block the projects mid-construction. Projects currently under construction include Vineyard Wind 1 and Sunrise Wind off the coast of Massachusetts, Revolution Wind off Rhode Island, Empire Wind 1 off New York, and Dominion’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.
Project developer EDF already wrote down $940m in the value of its stake in the Atlantic Shores project in late February. Its former partner in the project, Shell, did the same in January.
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