The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking judicial permission to revisit the approval of US Wind’s Maryland Offshore Wind project, proposing that its construction and operations plan (COP) approval remain effective during an Interior Department reassessment.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that approval on 3 December 2024. It covers up to 114 turbines and a meteorological tower, together with a maximum of four offshore substations and up to four corridors for export cables.
Federal lawyers outlined the new request in a memorandum submitted on 13 October 2026. The proposed remedy is remand without vacatur: the approval would return to Interior for another assessment without being set aside.
Interior contends that its decision documents do not sufficiently explain how the project meets the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). The department points to potential effects on coastal scenery and commercial fishing, as well as scientific research and protected species such as the endangered North Atlantic right whale.
The government is also defending other agency decisions in the same case. It asks the court to rule for the federal defendants on separate challenges to the National Marine Fisheries Service under the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Ocean City’s mayor and city council, joined by other plaintiffs, initiated the litigation in 2024 in the US District Court for the District of Maryland. In September 2025, the federal government had already sought to have the COP approval reconsidered and/or set aside.
State support for the development follows a separate approval process. In January 2025, the Maryland Public Service Commission accepted US Wind’s application covering 1,710 MW across four phases. Submitted in July 2024 under legislation introduced that May, the application proposed annual electricity sales to Maryland of 6,966,836 MWh.
Earlier OREC awards—offshore renewable energy credits—were made in 2017 and 2021. Those awards supported two US Wind projects whose combined capacity exceeded 1,056 MW.
Similar federal requests have targeted other offshore wind approvals. An October 2026 request concerning Revolution Wind’s COP approval relates to a 704 MW development that began electricity deliveries to New England in March and was targeting full commercial operation during 2026.
A December 2025 DOJ request concerned Avangrid’s New England Wind development, planned to exceed 2 GW. The government also sought to have SouthCoast Wind’s approval returned for review and set aside; the court authorised that reassessment.
