Soon after taking office, President Biden issued Executive Order 14008, entitled, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.” This is an unusually long and complex executive order and includes many provisions relating...more
3/28/2024
/ Air Pollution ,
Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Orders ,
Government Agencies ,
OMB ,
Pollution Control ,
Water Pollution
It is clear that these have been busy months for federal environmental regulators, especially those working at EPA, the federal departments and the Council on Environmental Quality. Even the Department of Agriculture has...more
11/16/2023
/ Bureau of Land Management ,
CEQ ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Agriculture ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Government Agencies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Popular ,
Public Policy ,
RCRA ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was signed into law on January 1, 1970, and it has rarely been amended or revised since then. NEPA is basically a procedural statute which requires Federal permitting authorities,...more
This is a brief survey of many of the environmental and regulatory laws passed by the Texas Legislature and signed by the Governor in the 88th Regular Session of the Legislature, which ended in May 2023, although a special...more
Recently, two Federal policies have been released that could have a significant effect upon environmental remediation and the emergency response procedures and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The recent...more
If “Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” It’s been a quiet term thus far for the Supreme Court, due in part to the hearing of oral arguments in many contentious cases. Below is a brief summary of some of the recent...more
As 2022 draws to a close, here is a brief description of recent environmental and regulatory law rulings, as well as new federal rulemaking proceedings....more
12/21/2022
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FERC ,
Flint Water Crisis ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Pipelines ,
Popular ,
Texas ,
Water
This is a review of initial Supreme Court and Federal Appeals Courts oral arguments and other matters in October 2022. Oral Arguments at the Supreme Court - Michael Sackett, et ux., v. Environmental Protection Agency The...more
On December 7, 2021, the most recent proposed revision to the Clean Water Act’s term, “Waters of the United States” was published in the Federal Register. (See 86 FR 69372.) Comments on this proposal must be submitted by...more
2/2/2022
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Navigable Waters ,
NPDES ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rapanos v US ,
Significant Nexus Test ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has proposed changes to compliance history rules that would authorize the Executive Director to unilaterally “reclassify” a facility’s compliance history in the wake of an...more
With the enactment of this important legislation, its impact on environmental regulation and policy will be carefully analyzed by the regulated community. Such a review may be hampered by the fact that the law is not only...more
Environmental Justice, as an urgent policy priority of the Federal Government, dates back to 1994, and President Clinton’s issuance of Executive Order 12898. This order directed federal agencies to identify and address, as...more
Selected federal regulatory actions taken or proposed by several federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency: EPA Actions. On September 15, 2021, EPA’s Water Office issued a memo rescinding a January...more
Presidential Executive Order 14008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis,” a long and unusually detailed Executive Order published in the Federal Register on February 1, 2021 (see 86 FR 7619), has generated considerable discussion...more
Environmental Justice, as an urgent priority of the Federal Government, dates back to 1994, and President Clinton’s issuance of Executive Order 12898. This order directed federal agencies to identify and address, as...more
JANUARY 2020 -
FEDERAL APPELLATE COURTS -
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit -
El Paso County, Texas, et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al.
On January 8, 2020, a divided panel of the court quickly granted a...more
1/27/2021
/ Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Coal ,
Damages ,
Deepwater Horizon ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Groundwater ,
Hazardous Substances ,
NEPA ,
Oil Spills ,
Rivers ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
US-Mexico Border Wall ,
Water ,
Wildlife Protection
Several interesting decisions were released by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on June 16, 2020. Solenex LLC v. Bernhardt, Secretary of the Interior - This is an oil lease case involving land located in a region...more
This is a brief survey of many of the environmental and regulatory laws passed by the Texas Legislature and signed by the Governor in the 86th Regular Session of the Legislature, which ended in May 2019....more
On July 2, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decided the case of California Communities Against Toxics, et al. v. EPA. In this decision, the court rejected the latest petition to strike or...more
Prior to deciding whether to review an important February 1, 2018, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decision involving the jurisdictional reach of the Clean Water Act (CWA), Hawai’i Wildlife Fund, et al., v. County...more
On February 14, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the complaint of the National American Butterfly Association (NABA) alleging that the U.S. Government’s border wall preparation and law...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) have announced a new Nov. 14, 2014, deadline to submit comments to its much-debated redefinition of the term, “Waters of the United...more
The recent term of the United States Supreme Court featured several rulings on environmental and other regulatory issues. This update highlights the major environmental decisions this term, as well as some of the issues the...more