Posted on August 11, 2025
WASHINGTON – The Interior Department on Thursday launched what it described as a “full review” of the nation’s offshore wind energy regulations to ensure they align with the energy policies of the Trump administration.
Among the regulations slated to be scrutinized is the Biden-era Renewable Energy Modernization Rule, which streamlined the approval process for a wide range of renewable energy projects.
The department will also be looking at financial assurance requirements and decommissioning cost estimates for offshore wind projects, to ensure federal regulations do not provide preferential treatment to what it described in a press release as “unreliable, foreign-controlled energy sources” over “dependable, American-made energy.”
The review will be led by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
While carrying out the effort both agencies have been tasked with considering updates to Biden-era rules that gave preferential treatment to renewable energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf and allowed previously built oil and gas infrastructure to be reused for clean energy projects.
“The department is fully committed to making sure that offshore energy development reflects President Trump’s America First Energy Dominance agenda and the real-world demands of today’s global energy landscape,” said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in a written statement.
“We’re taking a results-driven approach that prioritizes reliability, strengthens national security and upholds both scientific integrity and responsible environmental stewardship,” the secretary said.
Earlier this year the Interior Department paused approvals for all offshore wind energy projects, including the granting of leases, permits, rights-of-way and loans.
Last month, BOEM rescinded all wind energy areas that had been designated on the Outer Continental Shelf by the Biden administration, and just last week the agency scrapped the requirement to publish a five-year schedule of offshore wind energy lease sales and to update the lease sale schedule every two years.
