The 1.5-GW Atlantic Shores 1 wind energy project in progress offshore New Jersey had its Clean Air Act permit from the Environmental Protection Agency remanded by the agency’s Environmental Appeals Board in a Friday filing.
The board said EPA’s Region 2 office, which covers New Jersey, requested the voluntary remand “so that the Region has the opportunity to reevaluate the Project and its environmental impacts” in light of President Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order, which mandated a pause on offshore wind leasing and a review of existing leases.
The group Save Long Beach Island originally requested an appeal and review of the project’s Clean Air Act permit last October. The group’s website states its goal is to ensure that Atlantic Shores’ proposed wind turbines “are moved further offshore and out of sight to the Hudson South Call Area which is approximately 30 to 57 miles from our coastline.”
The Friday filing said that Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind filed a March 7 response objecting to the remand and arguing that Region 2 didn’t provide “good cause” for it, but the board said it “has broad discretion to grant a voluntary remand.”
“The circumstances here support a voluntary remand. In this case, the Region has clearly stated its intent to reconsider the Project and permit decision in light of the Presidential Memorandum,” the board said.
Region 2’s review of the permit will involve “[conferring] with other executive branch agencies regarding further evaluation of various impacts that may result from the Project, including impacts on birds, wildlife, fishing, and other relevant environmental concerns described in the Presidential Memorandum,” along with other steps left unspecified, according to the board.
In a Monday statement, Atlantic Shores said it is “disappointed by the EPA’s decision to pull back its fully executed permit as regulatory certainty is critical to deploying major energy projects.”
“Atlantic Shores stands ready to deliver on the promise of American energy dominance and has devoted extensive time and resources to follow a complex, multi-year permitting process, resulting in final project approvals that conform with the law,” the release said.
The permit remand comes a month after EDF Renewables, one of Atlantic Shores’ developers, booked a $980 million impairment associated with the project. Shell, EDF’s partner in the joint venture, booked a $1 billion impairment associated with the project in January, which EDF referred to as a “withdrawal” in its annual financial report.
