The secretary of the interior issued two Secretarial Orders on April 16, 2021, that provide early indications of the Biden administration’s approach to the environmental review process for infrastructure projects under the...more
4/22/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
CEQ ,
Department of the Interior ,
Environmental Assessments ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Executive Orders ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
NEPA ,
New Guidance ,
New Regulations
Pressing ahead on his efforts to reduce delays in federal approvals necessary for major infrastructure projects, President Donald Trump on June 4 called for more streamlining in another executive order, Accelerating the...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has upheld the approval of a utility-scale wind facility in California, rejecting claims that the Bureau of Indian Affairs violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the...more
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers announced a proposed rule to redefine the term “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act on December 11, 2018. The proposed rule, which awaits...more
12/18/2018
/ Bright-Line Rule ,
Certiorari ,
Clean Water Act ,
Clean Water Rule ,
Comment Period ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Jurisdiction ,
NEPA ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Water ,
Waters of the United States
Late last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service withdrew two environmental policies adopted in late 2016 by the Obama administration that address mitigation for impacts to natural resources. These two policies established...more
8/2/2018
/ Bureau of Land Management ,
Conservation ,
Critical Habitat ,
Deregulation ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
FLPMA ,
Mitigation ,
NEPA ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit last week rejected a claim under the National Environmental Policy Act that the Navy did not adequately consider the environmental consequences of a potential terrorist threat...more
On August 11, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California struck down the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s so-called “30-Year Rule,” which had extended from 5 years to 30 years the duration of...more
8/18/2015
/ Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act ,
Conservation ,
Department of the Interior ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Assessments ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
NEPA ,
Renewable Energy ,
State Department of Fish and Wildlife ,
Wind Power
On March 31, 2014, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a memorandum opinion upholding the approval, by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, of the first oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico...more