Trump Halts Permitting for Renewables Projects on Private Land

The US Army Corps of Engineers has temporarily paused permitting on 168 renewable energy projects across the US to comply with President Donald Trump’s fossil fuels mandate.

“Of the approximately 11,000 pending permit actions by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the agency has temporarily paused evaluation on 168 (those focused on regulated activities associated with renewable energy projects), pending feedback from the Administration,” Army Corps spokesman Doug Garman said Wednesday.

The pause, issued to comply with Trump’s Jan. 20 “Unleashing American Energy” executive order, will continue at least through Friday when the “feedback” is expected, Garman said.

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 slow renewable energy development and represent an escalation of Trump’s pledge to block renewable energy in favor of fossil fuels.

“My understanding is that at least some Corps districts are suspending processing of wind energy permits and even being cautious regarding projects/staff that have IRA funding in anticipation of further guidance,” Brooke Marcus, partner at Nossaman LLP in Austin, Texas, who represents renewable energy companies, said in an email. IRA refers to the Inflation Reduction Act.

Mark Sudol, a former Army Corps official who’s now an adviser to environmental permitting firm Dawson & Associates, said Army Corps permitting staff have told him that the pause includes all new Clean Water Act jurisdictional determinations, environmental assessments, public notices, and other renewable energy permitting activities.

If the pause continues after Friday, “then you have an issue,” he said. “If a company came in for a new solar plant, wind energy, that would be on hold for any new permits.”