Mills administration taking next steps to advance Sears Island offshore wind project [Video]

The Mills administration is taking the next step to advance its selection of Sears Island as a hub for Maine’s floating offshore wind industry by proposing legislation to allow construction in a coastal sand dune system.

A conservation group that opposes the Sears Island decision says the legislation could circumvent a potentially lengthy permitting process.

Gov. Janet Mills is asking the Legislature to authorize the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to grant a permit under the Natural Resources Protection Act for an offshore wind terminal “notwithstanding any provision of law regarding activities in coastal sand dune systems to the contrary” if other permitting and licensing criteria are met.

The 100-acre site Mills selected in Searsport was one of several considered in a more than two-year review. A portion of the site is on land that the state Department of Transportation has reserved for development.

Paul Merrill, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said …