Posted on July 16, 2025
The Trump administration said the state didn’t correctly describe options for appealing the approval of a US Wind project.
EPA has directed Maryland regulators to revise a finalized permit for an offshore wind project to avoid having the approval invalidated.
The demand — if met by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) — would give opponents of the project an extra month to challenge its approval before developer US Wind has a final green light.
Maryland’s regulator did not correctly identify the appeals process that project opponents should follow, EPA’s Region 3 Administrator Amy Van Blarcom-Lackey wrote to MDE on July 7. The “error” was directing potential opponents to follow an appeals process outlined in state law, versus an appeals process as defined in federal law, according to the letter.
The snag from EPA is not the first time an offshore wind developer has received a formal federal letter describing a problem with a project during President Donald Trump’s second term. The president is an adversary of wind farms, and his administration has worked to stymie renewable energy projects at nearly every turn..
