BOEM Tells Court it Wants to Resume Review of Permits for SouthCoast Wind
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management formally filed with a federal court on Thursday, September 18, calling for the court to set aside the actions of the Biden administration so that it can restart the environmental review on a Massachusetts offshore wind farm project as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing review of the industry.
The Department of Justice made the filing to the federal court as part of a legal action brought in March 2025 by Nantucket, which was challenging the approval of the Construction and Operation Plan for the proposed 2.4 GW SoutCoast Wind. The Department of the Interior and its BOEM are parties to the suit. They have asked that the case be postponed and the permits, which were granted on January 17, just days before the end of the Biden presidency, undergo further review.
The project, which was approved for up to 141 wind turbines and up to five offshore substation platforms, would be located 20 miles south of Nantucket and approximately 30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. It is being developed by Ocean Winds, which is a joint venture between EDP Renewables and Engie. They won the lease for the project originally known as Mayflower Wind at the end of 2018, and the company points out that it spent four years in the review and approval process before the Department of the Interior issued its Record of Decision on December 20.
The company has vowed to “vigorously defend” its permits. The project, however, still requires additional permits before construction can begin. In addition, it has not completed a power purchase agreement with Massachusetts.
BOEM asserts in its filing that the project’s review process was rushed and may not have fully complied with federal law that requires balancing the use of the coastal waters and protecting the environment and national security. Its action is in part based on the Trump administration’s withdrawal of a 2021 regulation governing the definitions under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and Donald Trump’s executive order signed just hours into his presidency, ordering a full review of the offshore wind energy industry and the leasing processes.
The Trump administration is contending that the Biden administration's policies constrained regulatory review. They have made similar allegations against other offshore wind projects, although in this case BOEM has stopped short of asking the court to vacate the permits. Instead, it says they require additional review. While the review is ongoing, it says the other legal challenges should be stayed.
The filing in the SouthCoast Wind case comes after the administration moved to vacate the permits for Maryland’s offshore wind project. It has also declared that it will be making a filing against the New England Wind project, while the administration is already fighting in court after imposing a stop work order for Revolution Wind being built off Massachusetts.
Ørsted, which is developing Revolution Wind, has challenged the action in a Washington, D.C. court, while the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island are also challenging the actions in a Rhode Island court. This week, the states filed for a preliminary injunction to permit work to resume. The Department of Justice has filed to combine the cases, saying they all involve the same set of issues.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has recently made statements saying he believes the offshore wind industry is over in the United States. He said the administration was reviewing five projects, and with the withdrawal of tax credits and other investments and incentives, the industry is no longer economical. A coalition of U.S. states, however, filed another case earlier this year challenging the administration's review of the industry and continues to call for the construction of renewable energy resources.