Adler Pollock and Sheehan is pleased to congratulate SouthCoast Wind on securing unanimous approval from the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) for the project’s Assent and wetlands permit authorizing the installation and maintenance of transmission cables through Rhode Island waters.
The approval marks a major regulatory milestone for the offshore wind project and represents one of the first significant actions taken by the newly reconstituted CRMC Council. Following a comprehensive review process that included extensive technical analysis, stakeholder engagement, expert testimony, and public comment, the Council unanimously approved the permit with conditions addressing fisheries coordination, environmental monitoring, cable burial requirements, construction practices, and protection of coastal resources.
AP&S attorneys Christian Capizzo and Joshua Parks represented SouthCoast Wind throughout the CRMC permitting process, working closely with project developers, environmental consultants, agency staff, commercial fishing interests, municipalities, labor organizations, and environmental advocates to navigate the complex regulatory and stakeholder issues associated with the project.
The approval reflects years of planning, environmental review, and collaboration and advances a project designed to deliver more than 1,200 megawatts of renewable energy to the regional electric grid. It also underscores Rhode Island’s continued leadership in evaluating and permitting large-scale offshore wind infrastructure while balancing environmental protection and coastal resource management objectives.
This result highlights AP&S’s extensive experience representing developers, infrastructure companies, utilities, and property owners in coastal, environmental, energy, and land use matters before CRMC, RIDEM, the Rhode Island Energy Facility Siting Board, and other state and local regulatory bodies throughout New England.
Congratulations to SouthCoast Wind and all those involved in achieving this important regulatory milestone.