Rhode Island Offshore Wind Project Legal Claims Mostly Dismissed

The Interior Department successfully defended most of its authorizations of a Rhode Island offshore wind project after a federal court rejected challenges from residents and historic property owners.

Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management “adequately reviewed the proposed project” under the National Historic Preservation Act and National Environmental Policy Act, said Judge Amit P. Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia on March 20.

The Preservation Society of Newport County in 2023 challenged BOEM’s approval of South Fork Wind LLC’s offshore wind farm in Rhode Island, ...