Renewable Northwest v. Hegseth

Case Overview

Renewable Northwest v. Hegseth is a challenge by Renewable Northwest and roughly nineteen wind-energy trade associations and project developers to the Department of Defense's freeze on its reviews of proposed wind-energy projects. Federal law routes wind projects that might affect military radar or operations through the DoD's Military Aviation and Installation Assurance Siting Clearinghouse, which is bound by statutory and regulatory deadlines. The plaintiffs allege that DoD simply stopped moving projects through that review, stranding roughly 125 projects across 25 states and, they say, billions of dollars in investment. They bring two claims under the Administrative Procedure Act: that the freeze is unlawful final agency action, and that DoD has unreasonably delayed or unlawfully withheld action it is required to take.

Judge Karin Immergut denied DoD's motion to dismiss and granted a preliminary injunction. The court found the plaintiffs likely to succeed on both APA claims, holding that the review freeze violates the statutory and regulatory deadlines that govern the Clearinghouse. It ordered DoD to resume reviews of wind-energy projects at every stage of the process and to file status reports every 30 days documenting that the reviews have restarted.