The US Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday lifted its pause on permitting renewable energy projects, a spokesman said.
“USACE has just received direction that the temporary pause on actions associated with Presidential Executive Order (EO) 14154 ‘Unleashing American Energy’ has been lifted,” Army Corps spokesman Doug Garman said in an email Thursday morning.
Garman said he does not know why the pause was lifted, and did not immediately respond to a request for further comment about where the direction came from.
The Army Corps this week temporarily paused permitting on 168 renewable energy projects across the US to comply with President Donald Trump’s fossil fuels mandate. The pause was expected to extend until Friday.
The Army Corps issues federal jurisdictional determinations and dredge-and-fill permits for projects on private land that affect waters of the US, or WOTUS, under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
A continued pause on Clean Water Act permitting for solar and wind projects on private land would have slowed renewable energy development and represent an escalation of Trump’s effforts to prioritize fossil fuels over renewable energy.
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