Carozza-Hartman Letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Supports Ocean City-Worcester Offshore Wind Energy Lawsuit

Full Letter:

May 15, 2025

The Honorable Doug Burgum
Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20240

Dear Secretary Burgum,

As the State Senator and the State Delegate representing Maryland’s Coast, we respectfully
request you to file motions pertaining to the Mayor and City Council of Ocean City, Maryland’s lawsuit against the “Maryland Offshore Wind” (Marwin) project sending it back to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) within the Department of the Interior for a rigorous re-review of the hastily conducted approval process executed by the Biden Administration.

The Mayor and City Council of Ocean City, Maryland, along with other community members
and businesses listed as parties of interest, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court of
Maryland in Baltimore, Maryland on October 25, 2024. This lawsuit is regarding the “Maryland Offshore Wind” project, which was pushed through in the final months of the Biden Administration – and which approved the construction of a massive offshore wind development approximately 10.7 miles off the coast of the Town of Ocean City.

As you know, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order “withdrawing from
disposition for wind energy leasing” in federal waters and preventing “consideration of any area in the OCS for any new or renewed wind energy leasing for the purposes of generation of
electricity”. It included a “temporary cessation and immediate review of federal wind leasing and permitting practices,” bringing offshore wind energy approvals and permitting to a halt effective January 21, 2025.

Our constituents in Ocean City and other coastal communities along the Atlantic were grateful
for this order; however, it did not change the status of Maryland’s Marwin project, which was
hurriedly approved in the final months of 2024. Until the very end of his administration,
President Biden did everything he could to accelerate the approval of offshore wind
development. Ocean City’s lawsuit was filed on October 25, 2024, and on January 17, 2025 –
just three days before the end of his term – the Biden Interior Department filed a motion for
partial dismissal of the lawsuit. US Wind, the Italian-owned developer of the Maryland Offshore Wind project and other similar projects, filed a similar motion for dismissal on January 29, 2025.

We firmly believe that you have the ability via this Ocean City-Worcester County, MD lawsuit
to send this project back to BOEM to bring the project into compliance with the President’s
executive order. By filing motions and proposal orders to the court that agree with the allegations and deficiencies presented in this lawsuit and requesting the court to refer the permit issuance back to BOEM, it would trigger required compliance with the President’s executive order and effectively halt the project.

We have advocated continuously alongside Congressman Andy Harris and stakeholders from the Town of Ocean City, the Worcester County Commission, the Sussex County Council in
Delaware, the local commercial fishing and tourism industries, and countless other business
operators and constituents, who are united in their rigorous opposition to the proposed offshore wind project off Maryland’s Coast. The wide range of unintended consequences from this project include the devastating economic impact to the Town of Ocean City, marine life, risks to safe maritime navigation and boating, threats to defense and civilian RADAR systems, and the negative impact on both commercial and recreational fishing, and the true and full costs to ratepayers and taxpayers.

Above all the various violations committed by the previous administration, the most egregious to us is the blatant and careless violation of the principle of local consent – one of the key principles of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Our constituents clearly believe – and indeed were – slighted by the previous administration throughout the Maryland Offshore Wind approval process. It is clear that a local stakeholder engagement process was fast-tracked, and that ignored the many legitimate issues brought forward by the opposition. President Trump ran on putting an end to costly offshore wind energy schemes, and he has made it clear that his administration would fight to protect coastal communities and the American taxpayer from the unreasonable burden these industrial wind developments inflict. We respectfully request your prompt consideration of our request to file these motions pertaining to the Mayor and City Council of Ocean City, Maryland’s lawsuit to ensure this permit is re-examined and ultimately subjected to the President’s executive order.

Thank you for your kind attention and consideration to this priority request. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

____________________________________________________ ______________________________________________
MARY BETH CAROZZA WAYNE HARTMAN
State Senator – District 38 State Delegate – District 38C