Date Filed: December 15, 2021
Original Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Appeals: First Circuit, U.S. Supreme Court
Case Status: Closed
In 2021, the Biden Administration approved a massive offshore wind project named “Vineyard Wind” off the Massachusetts coast. This approval was the first in a whole-of-government approach to approve 30 gigawatts of offshore wind generation by 2030. In its rush to approve the Vineyard Wind project, the federal government glossed over several legally required environmental reviews. This included a failure to analyze the full environmental effects and alternatives to the project, harms to endangered species like the North Atlantic right whale, and impacts to commercial fishing.
CAF represented several commercial fishermen in a suit challenging the Vineyard Wind project approval. These fishermen have harvested seafood from the offshore wind project area for decades. Installing wind turbines in this area makes fishing extremely difficult, and threatens their livelihoods. It also damages the environment, as evidenced by a massive blade failure in July 2024 that spread fiberglass debris across beaches in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Unfortunately, the district court and First Circuit deferred to the government’s reading of the law, giving it broad discretion on how to meet the legal requirements for approving an offshore wind project. The courts also held that the commercial fishermen did not have standing to challenge the Biden Administration’s incomplete environmental and endangered species reviews. CAF appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the Court declined to hear the case.
CAF is now petitioning the Department of the Interior to review the Biden Administration’s approval process. On his first day in office, President Trump signed a memorandum directing the Secretary of the Interior to review all prior offshore wind project approvals to ensure they followed the law. CAF is hopeful that this process will reveal the many legal deficiencies present in the Vineyard Wind project.
Case Documents:
Order Transferring Case to District of Massachusetts
Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment
Federal Defendants’ Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment
Intervenor Vineyard Wind’s Cross Motion for Summary Judgment
Plaintiffs’ Opposition to Vineyard Wind’s MSJ and Reply in Support of its MSJ
Opinion and Order Denying Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment
Federal Defendants’ Answering Brief