By Bracewell.
The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of two additional legal challenges to the Vineyard Wind 1 Project (the Project). On December 5, 2024, a First Circuit panel issued a consolidated opinion in Seafreeze Shoreside v. DOI and RODA v. DOI[1] affirming the Massachusetts District Court’s decisions to grant summary judgment in favor of the federal government in two underlying cases challenging the Project’s federal permits. The court’s opinion marks the second time the federal government has successfully defended its approval of the Project in the First Circuit.[2] The Project is currently under construction offshore Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and is scheduled for completion in early 2025. Once complete, the Project will be capable of generating up to 800 megawatts of renewable energy.
Summary Judgment in District Court
Both cases were initially filed by commercial fishing and trade associations on the Atlantic coast seeking to challenge various federal agencies’ approvals of the Project. The plaintiffs asserted that the Project’s federal approvals violated several environmental statutes. The plaintiffs in Seafreeze v. DOI alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), while the plaintiffs in RODA v. DOI alleged violations of the ESA, NEPA, OCSLA, the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Rivers and Harbors Act (RHA).
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