In the latest chapter of the seemingly never-ending controversy over the Clean Water Act’s reach, on February 28, 2017, President Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S....more
3/3/2017
/ Clean Water Act ,
Clean Water Rule ,
Deregulation ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Navigable Waters ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Water Pollution ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of the Solicitor issued Memorandum M-37041 on January 10, 2017, arguing that incidental take is prohibited under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The solicitor’s opinion was...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Transfers Rule last week. Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited, et al. v. EPA, et al. 14-1823, 14-1909,...more
In NRDC v. Pritzker, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit confirmed that the Marine Mammal Protection Act’s (MMPA) incidental take authorizations will be construed narrowly and conservatively, giving the benefit of...more
A majority panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently dismissed the State of Alaska’s challenge to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s authority to acquire land in trust for Alaska...more
7/8/2016
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Alaska ,
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Department of the Interior ,
Due Process ,
Environmental Policies ,
Equal Protection ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Native American Issues ,
Tribal Lands
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on May 31, 2016 that an approved jurisdictional determination issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water Act is a final agency action subject to judicial review. Hawkes Co.,...more
6/2/2016
/ Administrative Appeals ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hawkes Co v United States Army Corps of Engineers ,
Judicial Review ,
Jurisdictional Determination (JD) ,
Land Developers ,
Permits ,
Property Owners ,
SCOTUS ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
On May 6, 2016, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS or Service) published a proposed rule (Proposed Rule) that would substantially change how the Service administers its conservation and management program under the Bald and...more
Congress enacted the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015, also known as the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (the FAST Act) on December 4, 2015. A part of the FAST Act, Title XLI—Federal...more
The U.S. Supreme Court decided last week to review a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit that jurisdictional determinations under the Clean Water Act are final agency actions subject to judicial...more
In an attempt to “temporarily silence[] the whirlwind of confusion that springs from uncertainty,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has blocked the new rule defining “waters of the United States” under the...more
On August 21, 2015, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed an Oregon district court’s ruling that a Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit is not required for the discharge of water from...more
New regulations setting standards for hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, in oil and gas wells drilled on federal lands were issued recently by the Obama administration through the U.S. Department of the...more
The Office of Natural Resources Revenue of the Department of the Interior recently issued a proposed rule to change the valuation process for the payment of royalties for oil and gas produced from Federal onshore and offshore...more
2/13/2015
On September 30, 2014, the Bureau of Land Management issued a proposed rule that would establish competitive processes, terms, and conditions, including rental and bonding requirements, for solar and wind energy development...more
On July 1, 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service jointly published a final policy providing their interpretation of the phrase ‘‘significant portion of its range,’’ which is part...more
On May 12, 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service jointly published two proposed regulations and a draft policy concerning critical habitat designations under the Endangered Species...more
On April 21, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers jointly published a proposed rule to define those waters that fall under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act as “waters of the United...more
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
On March 25, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers jointly released a proposed rule to define those waters that fall under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act as “waters of the United...more
The prolonged controversy over the Clean Water Act’s reach may be coming to a dramatic head. On September 17, 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency announced the release of a draft scientific report finding that all of...more
In an effort to reduce the occurrence of accidents, injuries and spills during oil and gas activities on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) of the U.S. Department of...more
On December 19, 2012, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) issued a draft Policy Statement that is intended to ensure a positive safety culture in those entities, including previously unregulated service...more