A judge has rebuffed arguments by Rhode Island historic preservation groups that federal regulators didn’t do enough to protect “iconic” ocean views from being tarnished by an East Coast wind project.
In a ruling issued Friday, Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia upheld the Interior Department’s reviews of the South Fork wind farm’s impact on the environment and historic properties.
He cited in his decision a 2025 Supreme Court ruling on the National Environmental Policy Act that said judges “should afford substantial deference and should not micromanage … agency choices so long as they fall within a broad zone of reasonableness.”
Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management met that standard, wrote Mehta, an Obama appointee. He cited the agency’s 1,000-page NEPA analysis, which assessed the project’s effect on air and water, as well as its impact on socioeconomic and cultural resources like fishing and tourism.
