Recent Updates to Federal Environmental and Natural Resource Regulations
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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) released on July 25th a document titled: Draft Insecticide Strategy to Reduce Exposure of Federally Listed Endangered and Threatened Species and Designated...more
when it assesses the potential for exposure to pesticide drift when it reviews new active ingredient pesticide registrations or makes decisions on new use directions for existing pesticide registrations. EPA states it will...more
On March 5, 2024, six conservation groups filed a petition with the California Fish and Game Commission (the Commission) to request the implementation of legal protections for five populations of the western burrowing owl...more
On May 8, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will hold a virtual public meeting of the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee (PPDC) on June 5 and June 6, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m....more
On February 7, 2024, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Assistant Administrator Michal Freedhoff announced the steps EPA is taking to incorporate stakeholder feedback and collaborate with other federal agencies on its...more
On February 1, 2024, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed an amended complaint (Complaint) in the U.S. District Court of Arizona, alleging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) failed to timely analyze the...more
On September 14, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of final guidance to improve the efficiency of EPA’s Endangered Species Act (ESA) analyses for new pesticide active ingredient...more
Bats in the Belfry and Water under the Bridge...New Federal Regulations Developers Need to Know - In recent months, the federal government has issued various regulations that developers need to consider before they...more
On May 17, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it released, and is seeking public comment on, draft guidance that claims to improve the efficiency of EPA’s Endangered Species Act (ESA) analyses for...more
On November 29, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced proposed new mitigation measures for 11 rodenticides, including measures to reduce potential exposures to three federally listed endangered and...more
On November 16, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it released an Endangered Species Act (ESA) Workplan Update (Workplan Update) that outlines major steps to increase protections for wildlife and...more
Key Takeaways - • What Happened: EPA published an update on its work and plans as the October 1 registration review deadline approaches for many pesticides. Consistent with the governing statute, EPA confirmed that...more
On November 3, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department...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
Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s inauguration on January 20, 2021 as the forty-sixth President of the United States could usher in a sweeping period of environmental regulatory changes vastly eclipsing those of his immediate predecessor...more
The Ninth Circuit held that the EPA violated the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIRFA) by failing to assess adverse effects of a pesticide — Enlist Duo —on monarch butterfly habitat. National Family Farm...more
The Waterkeeper Alliance and a number of other environmental organizations (collectively “Waterkeeper”) sent a February 13th Notice of Intent to Sue (“NOI”) to the United States Environmental Protection Agency and United...more
Last week, Federal District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill granted a preliminary injunction to various NGOs, barring the Bureau of Land Management from implementing amendments BLM had made in 2019 to protection plans for the...more
On December 12, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed joint stipulation and proposed stipulated notice of dismissal for Ellis v. Keigwin, No. 3:13-CV-1266 (N.D. Cal). 83 Fed. Reg. 63865. ...more
On May 8, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted, in part, a motion for summary judgment brought by plaintiffs in a suit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”)...more
Earlier this year, Freedom Partners, a conservative advocacy group, released A Roadmap to Repeal containing a list of former President Barack Obama's regulations that the group argued should be repealed quickly after the...more
President Trump has wasted no time in acting on his environmental agenda. On January 24, his second working day in office, the President signed two Executive Orders giving the green light to construction of the Keystone and...more
A new Endangered Species Act rule protecting the northern long-eared bat will likely have only limited impact on development and land use activities in Massachusetts due to fairly specific restrictions imposed by the final...more
This past week, the 10th Circuit held that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had no obligation to engage in consultation pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) where the potential effects on...more
On July 23, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was not required to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding potential...more