After receiving final approval in October 2024, Atlantic Shores, New Jersey’s sole remaining offshore wind project, has suffered a new setback and is on hold pending an EPA review and reevaluation of federal offshore wind leasing and permitting practices.
On March 14, EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board granted the agency’s motion for a “voluntary remand” on the air quality permit for the project, essentially returning it to EPA for re-evaluation in light of President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order on offshore wind.
The order withdrew all areas in the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf from offshore wind leasing and ordered a “temporary cessation and review of federal leasing and permitting practices.” However, the order states that “nothing in this withdrawal affects rights under existing leases in the withdrawn areas. With respect to such existing leases, the secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the attorney general as needed, shall conduct a comprehensive review of the ecological, economic and environmental necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases.”
EPA’s motion for remand claims Atlantic Shores had not received a final permit and therefore was subject to review and re-evaluation.
In its rebuttal to EPA’s motion, Atlantic Shores argued the voluntary remand should not be granted solely on the basis of Trump’s broadly worded executive order. The project had, in fact, received a final permit, and the agency “has not provided good cause for its motion, failing to identify any permit condition it seeks to substantively change or any element of the permit decision it wishes to reconsider,” the rebuttal said.
EPA also has not identified any provisions of the Clean Air Act or OCS air permitting regulations “that would justify a remand,” Atlantic Shores said.
However, the board’s panel of three judges rejected Atlantic Shores’ argument, saying EPA need not cite specific provisions in a permit it wants to review.
“The board treats requests for voluntary remand liberally and is not limited to circumstances where [EPA] provides specific substantive changes to the final permit or specific elements of the permit decision it seeks to reconsider. …
“The board has generally exercised its broad discretion to grant a permit issuer’s voluntary remand request where the permitting authority is reevaluating its permit decision, because in this situation ‘it would be highly inefficient for the board to issue a final ruling on a permit.’”
The ruling also stated that the board would not accept any appeals of the final permit decision resulting from the remand.
EDF Renewables North America, the developer behind Atlantic Shores, has said it remains committed to the project.
“In a time where the demand for electricity is surging, it is imperative that all forms of power production contribute to deliver all-of-the-above solutions,” said Ryan Pfaff, executive vice president for grid-scale power at EDF. “The Atlantic Shores offshore wind project stands as a frontrunner in advanced energy initiatives, poised to supply substantial megawatt-hours to the grid and bolster American energy dominance,”
“Unfortunately, the recent EPA decision has resulted in a significant setback, erasing years of progress and investment in a complex permitting process,” Pfaff said in an email to NetZero Insider.
EPA has yet to provide details on its process for reviewing and reevaluating the Atlantic Shores permit, whether the process will include opportunities for public and stakeholder input and how long the review might take.
State Support Lags
Atlantic Shores has faced multiple challenges over the past decade. The original federal auction for the Atlantic Shores lease sites was held Nov. 9, 2015, and the sale agreement was finalized in March 2016, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s web pages on the project.
The project actually includes two lease sites, Atlantic Shores 1 and 2, to include 197 locations where turbines, undersea substations and a meteorological tower would be built. At its closest point, the project would be 8.7 miles from the New Jersey coastline.
Atlantic Shores 1 was approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities for 1,510 WM. The capacity for the second project still is being determined, but BOEM said the two projects together could provide 2,800 MW.
Transmission lines for the project would come ashore in Atlantic City and Sea Girt, N.J. Local opposition to Atlantic Shores has been ongoing since it was announced, with concerns raised by the fishing and tourism industries and shoreline communities concerned about the project’s impact on “viewsheds” and local economies.
BOEM issued its notice of intent to conduct an environmental review of the project in September 2021. The draft environmental impact statement was issued in May 2023, followed by a series of in-person and virtual public hearings. The final EIS was issued in May 2024, and the permit for construction and operation in October. (See BOEM Approves NJ’s Atlantic Shores OSW Project.)
The 560-page FEIS found that the project would impact the commercial and recreational fishing sector through a range of activities, including anchoring, cable emplacement, noise, port use and structure presence. Beyond its closest point, the project would be about 10 miles offshore.
But the FEIS also concludes the area would suffer major environmental impacts even if the project were not built. Those impacts would stem from factors including fishery management measures taken to ensure the volume of fish caught is sustainable; the impact of climate change from ocean warming, sea level rise and ocean acidification; and non-OSW construction on land.
Likewise, the study found that though the project would have a major scenic impact on the area — on the open ocean, seascape, and landscape character and views — the coast would suffer strong scenic impacts regardless due to onshore development and construction activities, offshore vessel traffic and the effects of other OSW projects.
However, market conditions and uncertainty have presented steeper challenges. In January, Atlantic Shores lost a key partner when Shell New Energies U.S. withdrew from the project. (See Shell Quits Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project in NJ.)
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities withdrew its fourth offshore wind solicitation in February, citing the Shell withdrawal and general uncertainty triggered by Trump’s executive order reflecting his well-known antipathy to offshore wind.
While Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said he supported the BPU’s decision, he still called offshore wind a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to build a new industry and create jobs. “The offshore wind industry is currently facing significant challenges, and now is the time for patience and prudence,” he said.