DE Senate Republicans Support Trump Administration Intent to Withdraw Federal Approval for US Wind Project off Ocean City & Delaware
The Trump Administration’s intent to withdraw federal approval for US Wind’s proposed offshore wind farm off the coast of Ocean City is supported by the Delaware Senate Republican Caucus. Senator Gerald Hocker says the decision reflects concerns that have been voiced by the coastal communities – about both the economy and the environment. Hocker is grateful that their concerns are finally being heard. The Trump Administration last week in a filing in the US District Court in Delaware asked the court to stay a lawsuit challenging the Interior Department’s approval of the Maryland Offshore Wind Project. Attorneys from the Department of Justice say they would move to vacate approval of the construction and operations plan by September 12th. On Friday over $47-million in funding for the Sparrows Point Steel, where turbines were scheduled to be built, was withdrawn by the US Department of Transportation.
Additional information:
Sparrows Point Steel – US Wind website
From the Caesar Rodney Institute – News release: August 26, 2025
In major news, the Federal Government stated in an August 22, 2025, Delaware Federal District Court filing that it intends to file a federal court motion in a related litigation not later than September 12, 2025, requesting that its approval of US Wind’s Construction and Operations Plan (COP) be vacated. As part of its request, the matter would be returned to the Department of the Interior for reconsideration. The government stated that the upcoming motion would be filed in Ocean City’s pending lawsuit in Maryland Federal District Court challenging the government’s approval of the US Wind’s COP. Caesar Rodney Institute (CRI) is a co-plaintiff in Ocean City’s lawsuit.
The Federal Government’s statement regarding its intent to request that its COP approval be voluntarily vacated by Interior comes in a motion filed on August 22 in a separate Delaware Federal District Court lawsuit challenging the government’s approval of the US Wind Project (Bintz v. United States Department of the Interior, et al., CA No. 1:25-cv-00152-GBW). In the Delaware Court motion, the government requests that the Bintz lawsuit be stayed. In support of this, it states:
“[T]he Court should stay this case [Bintz v. United States Department of Interior, et al.] pending, at a minimum, the District of Maryland’s decision on Interior’s forthcoming motion [in the Ocean City lawsuit] to permit it to voluntarily vacate and remand its approval of the COP. Should the Maryland court grant the motion, Interior’s COP approval will be vacated, and Plaintiff’s claims in this case will be moot. . .. Accordingly, this case should be stayed until the District of Maryland rules on the forthcoming motion to remand and vacate Interior’s approval of the COP.”
Further to this and establishing the September 12, 2025 deadline, the motion states:
“Interior now intends to reevaluate under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (“OCSLA”) its decision to approve the COP and, as a result, will be moving no later than September 12 in the Maryland Action [the Ocean City lawsuit] for remand of that prior COP approval. If Interior’s motion is granted, the agency action that Plaintiff [Bintz] challenges will be vacated…”
In a prior July 26, 2025 filing in the Bintz lawsuit, the Federal Government stated that it intended to request in Maryland Federal Court that the matter be returned to the Department of Interior for reconsideration. But the August 22 filing goes further by saying that the government will also be requesting that its prior COP approval be vacated and by setting September 12 as the deadline for its filing of the motion.
Jane Brady, who represents CRI in several Delaware state level proceedings challenging DNREC approvals of the Project, commented as follows:
“It is good news that the federal government is looking at this project, which has not yet received final permits or started construction. We will continue to lawfully challenge the illegal actions of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and defend Delaware’s unique environmental and recreational resources vigorously until we are sure this project will not go forward.”
Stephani Ballard, who also represents CRI, said:
“[t]he re-examination of the COP by the Department of the Interior is a welcome development. We have long maintained that the prior administration’s approval of the COP was rushed through, improperly applying or ignoring key provisions of OSCLA and other critical federal laws.”
David Steveson, who has spearheaded CRI’s environmental analysis of the US Wind Project and its efforts to halt the project, commented that:
“CRI has maintained in public comments over several years the permit to build this project should never have been issued. The federal agency admitted major negative impacts including abandoned commercial fishing in the lease area, more vessel collisions with possible human deaths, a viewshed change from pristine to dominated by industrial-looking turbines, and harassment of endangered species. All of this was in violation of federal law, but the project was approved anyway. This action is extremely welcome.”
NOTE: At the time of this release, the government just filed a motion in the Ocean City lawsuit to enter a briefing schedule for its proposed motion to remand described in the Delaware court motion. CRI will be sharing further public updates as warranted.
==============================================================
US Department of Transportation release on Friday, August 29, 2025
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy withdrew or terminated a total of $679 million in funding for 12 doomed offshore wind projects across America. This action will ensure federal dollars are prioritized towards restoring America’s maritime dominance and preventing waste.
“Wasteful, wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg bent over backwards to use transportation dollars for their Green New Scam agenda while ignoring the dire needs of our shipbuilding industry. Thanks to President Trump, we are prioritizing real infrastructure improvements over fantasy wind projects that cost much and offer little.”
The Trump Administration has refocused the Department of Transportation (USDOT) and its Maritime Administration (MARAD) on rebuilding America’s shipbuilding capacity, unleashing more reliable, traditional forms of energy, and utilizing the nation’s bountiful natural resources to unleash American energy.
Where possible, funding from these projects will be recompeted to address critical port upgrades and other core infrastructure needs of the United States.
Additional Information:
As part of the Department of Transportation’s review of all discretionary grant programs with obligated and unobligated projects, USDOT identified 12 offshore wind grants and project selections that were not aligned with the goals and priorities of the administration.
USDOT has withdrawn one project in the Nationally Significant Freight and Highway Projects (INFRA) program, resulting in a total retraction of roughly $427 million.
MARAD has withdrawn six projects and terminated five within its Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP), resulting in a total retraction of $177 million and roughly $75 million, respectively.
Withdrawn
- Sparrows Point Steel Marshalling Port Project (PIDP; $47,392,500)
- Bridgeport Port Authority Operations and Maintenance Wind Port Project (PIDP;$10,530,000)
- Wind Port at Paulsboro (PIDP; $20,494,025)
- Arthur Kill Terminal (PIDP; $48,008,231)
- Gateway Upgrades for Access, Resiliency & Development at the Port of Davisville Project (PIDP; $11,250,000)
- Norfolk Offshore Wind Logistics Port (PIDP; $39,265,000)
- Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind (INFRA; $426,719,810)
Terminated
- Redwood Marine Terminal Project Planning (PIDP; $8,672,986)
- Salem Wind Port Project (PIDP; $33,835,953)
- Lake Erie Renewable Energy Resilience Project (PIDP; $11,051,586)
- Radio Island Rail Improvements in Support of Offshore Wind (PIDP; $1,679,604)
- PMT Offshore Wind Development (PIDP; $20,000,000)
======================================================