Federal regulators have filed a motion asking a court to remand the approval of the New England Wind construction plan back to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for reconsideration. Submitted on 2 December 2025 by the U.S. Department of Justice on BOEM’s behalf, the filing signals a potential review of the offshore wind project’s prior authorisation.
The request reflects a shift in the Department of the Interior’s interpretation of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), with greater emphasis on avoiding interference with other ocean uses, such as commercial fishing. Two major developments underpin this decision:
- Presidential directive: In January 2025, a memorandum called for a review of the ecological, economic, and environmental necessity of existing offshore wind leases.
- Solicitor opinion reversal: In May 2025, the Department withdrew the 2021 “Anderson Opinion” used to approve the project, reinstating the stricter Trump-era “Jorjani Opinion,” which requires more detailed assessment of impacts on other sea users.
The Anderson Opinion, used for the original approval, interpreted the law as granting the Secretary "wide discretion" to balance conflicting goals, allowing the government to approve projects even if they created tension with other users. In contrast, the reinstated Jorjani Opinion imposes a stricter duty to "prevent interference" with reasonable uses of the sea, requiring a more rigorous protection of activities like commercial fishing and navigation. This shift in legal standard forces BOEM to re-evaluate the project because the original approval may have "improperly weighed" the project's benefits against its impacts on these established uses. BOEM acknowledged in its filing that the initial approval “may have failed to account for all the impacts” and that the record may have “understated impacts” under the previous standard.
The New England Wind project includes two phases off the Massachusetts coast:
- Phase 1 – Park City Wind: 804 MW, southwest of Vineyard Wind 1.
- Phase 2 – Commonwealth Wind: 1,232 MW, covering the remainder of the lease area.
Federal defendants have requested a stay of the case to conserve judicial resources while BOEM conducts its review. Construction is not due to start until Q2 2026, so the reconsideration would not immediately halt development. Once complete, BOEM may re-approve the plan with new conditions or disapprove it entirely.
