Stipulated Protective Order — Mayor and City Council of Ocean City, Maryland, et al., Case 1:24-cv-03111-SAG (Dkt. 132, D. Md.)

Summary

Document 132, filed February 10, 2026 in Mayor and City Council of Ocean City, Maryland, et al. v. United States Department of Interior, et al., Case No. 1:24-cv-03111 SAG, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, is a stipulated protective order signed by Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher. It governs production of Confidential Records by the Federal Defendants and their review by counsel for Plaintiffs and Defendant-Intervenor US Wind, Inc. It defines Confidential Records to include US Wind's Confidential Business Information and information protected by laws such as the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1905. The order requires secure storage, limits use to this litigation, requires signed acknowledgment forms, and bars public filing absent a motion to seal under Local Rule 105.11. Recipients must return or destroy the records within sixty days of final resolution.

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       Case 1:24-cv-03111-SAG          Document 132       Filed 02/10/26      Page 1 of 5



                        IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
                           FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND
                                   (Baltimore Division)

MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF OCEAN                     )
CITY, MARYLAND, et al.,                             )
                                                    )
Plaintiffs,                                         )
 v.                                                 )      Case No.: 1:24-cv-03111 SAG
                                                    )
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF                         )
INTERIOR, et al.,                                   )
                                                    )
Federal Defendants,                                 )
                                                    )
and                                                 )
                                                    )
US WIND, INC.                                       )
                                                    )
Defendant-Intervenor.                               )
                                                    )

                           STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

        1.        This Protective Order will govern (i) the production of Confidential Records,

as defined in this Order, by the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy

Management, and the National Marine Fisheries Service (“Federal Defendants”) and (ii) the

review of such Confidential Records by counsel for Plaintiffs and Defendant Intervenor US

Wind, Inc. (“US Wind”). The purpose of this Protective Order is to: 1) protect US Wind’s

Confidential Business Information from disclosure; and 2) allow Plaintiffs’ and Defendant-

Intervenor’s counsel access to Confidential Records with appropriate protection of such Records

so that Plaintiffs’ and Defendant-Intervenor’s counsel may determine whether they wish to file

any Confidential Records in support of their merits briefing. This Protective Order expressly

does not allow any party to file Confidential Records publicly or otherwise disclose Confidential

Records, except as provided in paragraph 8 below.




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       Case 1:24-cv-03111-SAG            Document 132         Filed 02/10/26      Page 2 of 5



       2.          For the purposes of this Protective Order, the term “Confidential Record”

means any record containing (i) Confidential Business Information, the release of which would

cause competitive harm to US Wind, or (ii) information that is protected from disclosure by

applicable law, including but not limited to the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1905, the

Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, 42 U.S.C. § 13201

et seq., the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. § 1331 et seq., BOEM regulations, 30

C.F.R. § 585.114, and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, 16

U.S.C. § 1801 et seq.

       3.          Federal Defendants plan to make the administrative records in this case

available via secure website and will electronically stamp “CONFIDENTIAL RECORD” on

each page of each Confidential Record. Any materials not so marked or identified shall not be

treated as Confidential Records, notwithstanding any other provision of this Protective Order,

provided, however, that if Federal Defendants or US Wind identify materials that should have

been designated Confidential Records, consistent with the definition in paragraph 2, and notify

the other parties of same, the other parties shall treat such materials as Confidential Records on

the basis of such notification, pending further Order of the Court or stipulation of the parties.

Federal Defendants may update the materials with the Confidential Record designation and

inform the Parties. Federal Defendants will indicate in the administrative record index each

document that is a Confidential Record. Federal Defendants will produce the portions of each

administrative record that are designated as Confidential Records to Plaintiffs and US Wind in a

separate folder or subfolder that is identified in the folder or subfolder title as containing

“CONFIDENTIAL RECORDS.”




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       Case 1:24-cv-03111-SAG           Document 132         Filed 02/10/26       Page 3 of 5



       4.          Plaintiffs and US Wind agree to store the Confidential Records securely and

to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to protect against the unauthorized or unintended

access, use, or disclosure of the Confidential Records. The Parties agree that Confidential

Records will not be used for any purpose other than conducting this litigation.

       5.          Except as set forth herein and subject to applicable law and for purposes of

this litigation only, counsel for Plaintiffs and US Wind shall review the Confidential Records to

determine and identify which such records either party intends to cite in their briefs or at oral

argument in this action.

       6.          If Plaintiffs identify any such records that they intend to cite, Plaintiffs will

confer with Federal Defendants and US Wind. Depending on the nature of the Confidential

Records, Federal Defendants or US Wind may provide a version of any such Confidential

Record with confidential information redacted.

       7.          If US Wind identifies any such records that it intends to cite, US Wind shall

confer with Federal Defendants, who may provide a version of any such Confidential Record

with any confidential information redacted.

       8.          Documents designated as Confidential Records, or the information contained

or reflected therein, shall not be disclosed without the express consent of U.S. Wind and the

producing party or by specific order of the United States District Court for the District of

Maryland, to any person other than the Court or parties to this action who are subject to and

abide by this Protective Order. Except for the Court and its employees, all individuals to whom

counsel for Plaintiffs disclose Confidential Records must sign a copy of the form attached hereto

as Exhibit A indicating that they have read and agree to abide by the terms of this Protective

Order. Signed acknowledgement forms must be retained by counsel for Plaintiffs and must be




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       Case 1:24-cv-03111-SAG           Document 132         Filed 02/10/26      Page 4 of 5



available upon request to attorneys of record and the Court. Counsel for Plaintiffs shall provide

to Defendants and US Wind a list of parties, or other non-counsel individuals, to whom counsel

for Plaintiffs disclose Confidential Records.

       9.          The parties have agreed to this process in an effort to narrow the scope of any

motions that may be filed regarding the submission of Confidential Records to the Court. This

Protective Order only governs the parties’ review of Confidential Records and does not permit

Plaintiffs or US Wind to rely on and/or file Confidential Records publicly with the Court in the

context of merits briefing or otherwise use Confidential Records during the litigation. Use of

such records, if necessary, will be governed by a separately filed motion to file Confidential

Records under seal in accordance with Local Rule 105.11.

       10.         Within sixty days of final resolution of this litigation, any party that has

received a Confidential Record pursuant to this Order shall either return (to counsel for Federal

Defendants) or destroy (with notice of such destruction given to counsel for Federal Defendants)

any Confidential Records in their possession. Counsel of record may elect to retain pleadings or

work product that contain information from Confidential Records, in which case the terms of this

Order will continue to apply to that information.

       11.         At the end of the litigation, including any appeals, the Clerk of the District

Court for the District of Maryland is permitted to return to counsel for Federal Defendants or

destroy any sealed material.

       12.         The inadvertent or unintended disclosure of Confidential Records will not be

deemed a waiver in whole or in part of the claim of confidentiality for the Confidential Records.

       13.         This Protective Order in no way relieves any party of its responsibility to

comply with any federal, state, or local law or regulation. Nothing in this Protective Order alters




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       Case 1:24-cv-03111-SAG            Document 132         Filed 02/10/26      Page 5 of 5



the rights and/or liabilities of the parties with respect to the litigation. Nothing contained herein

restricts the government’s use of its records for official business or for other purposes consistent

with other applicable laws and regulations, including removing the Confidential Records

designation of all or part of the records subject to this order.

        14.        Nothing in this Protective Order prohibits the parties from seeking from the

Court modification of this Protective Order after proper notice and opportunity to be heard on

such proposed modification. Nothing in this Protective Order deprives the Court of its

jurisdiction or right to alter, amend, add to, or revoke this Protective Order at any time.

        15.        By making information and documents designated as Confidential Records

available for use in this action, the producing party has not waived or compromised the

confidentiality of the Confidential Records.

        16.         The provisions of this Protective Order shall survive the termination of this

action, except to the extent that Confidential Records or information contained or reflected

therein become part of the public record in this case.



                                      ORDER

SO ORDERED

Date: February 10, 2026                                                    /s/
                                                               The Honorable Stephanie A. Gallagher
                                                               United States District Judge




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