June 3 (Reuters) - Fishing companies and offshore wind

opponents filed a lawsuit on Tuesday challenging the Trump

administration's decision to reverse course and allow

construction to resume on Empire Wind, a $5 billion wind farm

project off New York's coast.

Protect Our Coast New Jersey, Clean Ocean Action, ACK for

Whales and 12 fishing industry participants in a lawsuit filed

in federal court in Trenton, New Jersey, sought to reinstate a

stop work order Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued in April

halting construction of Equinor's ( EQNR ) wind project.

Burgum issued that order after Republican President Donald

Trump on his first day back in office on January 20 directed his

administration to halt offshore wind lease sales and stop the

issuance of permits, leases and loans for both onshore and

offshore wind projects.

He did so while also moving to ramp up the federal

government's support for the fossil fuel industry and maximize

output in the United States. Trump as a candidate last year

promised to end the offshore wind industry.

But weeks after Burgum signed the stop-work order, the

administration in a turnabout on May 19 allowed work to resume

on Empire Wind, which is being developed by Norway's Equinor ( EQNR ) and

is expected to provide power for half a million homes from 2027

onward.

The administration did so in a compromise with New York that

could also see canceled plans for a gas pipeline revived. Burgum

said he was encouraged that New York Governor Kathy Hochul will

now allow new gas pipeline capacity to move forward.

Tuesday's lawsuit argued that the U.S. Bureau of Ocean

Energy Management did not adhere to the requirements of the

Administrative Procedure Act by failing to provide a basis for

restoring the work permits.

Bruce Afran, the plaintiffs' lawyer, said the administration

had properly recognized the lack of investigation about serious

environmental harm from Equinor's ( EQNR ) project.

"The administration correctly pulled the Empire Wind work

permit because of these concerns and had no basis to reinstate

the work orders a month later," he said in a statement. "This

lawsuit seeks to restore the stop work order."

Equinor ( EQNR ) declined to comment on the lawsuit itself but in a

statement said the project "has undergone years of rigorous

permitting and studies, and secured all necessary federal, state

and local approvals to begin construction in 2024."

The agency did not respond to a request for comment.