Friends of Maine's Mountains v. Board of Environmental Protection

Maine's highest court vacated a state permit authorizing the construction of a wind turbine project on Saddleback Mountain. Twenty-one days before the state environmental agency approved the permit, the state's environmental board adopted an amendment that, among other changes, lowered the nighttime sound limit for wind energy projects from 45 dBA to 42 dBA. Five months later, the board affirmed the agency's issuance of the permit. But the project provides for 45 dBA nighttime sound level limits as opposed to the revised, lower limits. As such, the board applied the incorrect nighttime sound level limit to the permit applications.