Trump’s Justice Department Goes to Bat for Offshore Wind in Maryland

1. Waldo County, Maine – The Republican-led bid to stop an offshore wind industrial site on Sears Island has failed.

• As we told you, GOP legislators introduced a measure to extend an existing conservation easement to stop construction of an assembly site for floating offshore wind projects that political leaders hoped to build in the Gulf of Maine.
  
• This bill failed yesterday, garnering less than a majority of support in a vote before the state Senate.

2. Atlantic County, N.J. – We’re expecting a decision any minute now in the fight over EPA’s decision to rescind a crucial air permit for the Atlantic Shores’ offshore wind project.

• Deliberations before the EPA’s appeals board have reached a boiling point, with Atlantic Shores’ attorneys arguing that the decision cast a pall over the agency’s air permitting regime. Predictably, the EPA has defended its decision, which was prompted by President Donald Trump’s anti-wind executive order.
  
• Late yesterday, Atlantic Shores filed a reply to the EPA’s defense – and we’re expecting a decision to come down any minute after. We’ll tell you when it comes.

3. Worcester County, Maryland – This may surprise you but the Trump administration’s Justice Department argued against opponents of offshore wind.

• Justice Department attorneys filed a motion on March 31 refuting claims filed by coastal towns opposed to the U.S. Wind project off the coast of Maryland under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Coastal Zone Management Act – two of the statutes cited in the lawsuit challenging permits for the project.
  
• The filing didn’t argue against the entirety of the opponents’ claims – just those citing these specific environmental statutes. DOJ’s argument appears to surround the precedent potentially set by these claims; for example, the government’s lawyers put forward that the opponents of the offshore wind project misused the Migratory Bird Treaty Act against the federal government’s authorizations of activities that impact species.
  
• “The MBTA cannot be enforced against a federal agency for permitting a project that could someday result in incidental take of migratory birds,” the filing stated.
• It is unclear if this means the DOJ will stand idle while opponents challenge the permits on other grounds.

4. Wake County, North Carolina – Legislators in Tar Heel County are considering a bill to remove solar tax credits for projects on farmland.

• The bill, which received a hearing earlier this week in the North Carolina Statehouse, will require approval from multiple committees before receiving a full vote and it is unclear if it has the legs to go the distance this session.

5. Lawrence County, Alabama – It looks like at least one solar project in Alabama could get the Trump administration’s blessing.

• Quietly, the EPA gave its conditional sign off on March 3 to the Tennessee Valley Authority for a power purchase agreement allowing it to use energy from the 200-megawatt Hillsboro Solar project backed by Urban Grid.
  
• The EPA’s comments stating officials did not “identify significant environmental concerns” with the project can be found here.

6. Jay County, Indiana – We have a new place to watch for a renewable energy moratorium, folks.

• For weeks, county officials have been whittling away at potential year-long moratoriums on new battery projects and solar projects and just held a county meeting last night to take public comment on these potential bans. We’ll update you when we know more.

7. Renville County, Minnesota – A 200-megawatt Ranger Solar project is nearing final permits from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.

• The administrative law judge overseeing the project – known as Gopher State Solar – told attendees of a recent hearing they’d reach a final decision as soon as June 2. Mark your calendars!

8. Whitman County, Washington – Steelhead Americas is giving up on getting permission from county leaders and going straight to the state for its Harvest Hills wind project.

• Opposition to Harvest Hills – largely rooted in viewshed and environmental concerns – led to development of a county wind ordinance, but Steelhead Americas has reportedly determined there is no path to a “workable ordinance” for the project. Instead it’ll be seeking the state route instead, which bypasses local zoning laws.

9. Apache County, Arizona – Officials in this county are working on a draft renewable energy ordinance with “preferred area[s] that’ll be reviewed as soon as next month, according to one local report.

• Why does Apache County matter? As we told you last week, it’s one of the renewable conflict zones we’re most curious about in America’s sunniest state.