Offshore Wind Litigation: Court Denies Challenge to Major Offshore Wind Project

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The federal government has successfully defended its approvals of the Vineyard Wind project offshore Massachusetts (Project), setting the stage for further decisions as other challenges proceed. Vineyard Wind is the first modern utility-scale offshore wind project to reach the construction phase in the US market. On May 17, 2023, Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts denied claims seeking to invalidate two of the project’s key federal approvals on the grounds that they did not adequately consider impacts on the North Atlantic right whale in violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).[1] The court found that the federal government did not violate the ESA or NEPA when issuing the challenged approvals.