Recent Updates to Federal Environmental and Natural Resource Regulations
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In an order filed Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle denied a private property owner’s effort to enjoin the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers from enforcing their September 2023...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
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Feb. 15, 2024, issued an order vacating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) approval of the state of Florida's application to assume permitting authority...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized a rule that will provide the agency, its partners, and the public with a dataset of certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) manufactured and used in the...more
The Biden administration is restoring significant state and tribal authority over water resources and expanding their leverage on infrastructure permitting decisions, including for pipelines. With a final rule announced this...more
On July 10, Governor Newsom signed five California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reform bills (SB 145, 146, 147, 149 & 150) as part of an infrastructure streamlining plan that the Governor’s office has called the “the...more
In the nation’s first appellate case on the issue, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday ruled that the City and County of San Francisco (City) must meet limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for...more
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association said on Thursday that they had reached an agreement, referred to as the "Clean Truck Partnership," that gives new flexibility for...more
Contractors and owners with projects that may affect forested areas after December of 2022 may face more restrictive prohibitions against tree removal under a proposed rule that would list the northern long-eared bat as an...more
New York Bight Lease Sale Under Attack - A New Jersey-based nonprofit organization, Save Long Beach Island, and its president sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in January 2022. They are asserting...more
As drought conditions intensify throughout the western United States, water allocation and procurement continue to be contentious issues. While the problem is easily identified—demand keeps increasing, but supply is...more
Based on research from law professors at Harvard and Columbia, the New York Times reported this month that the Trump administration has reversed, or is in the process of reversing, almost 100 federal environmental...more
Washington state’s Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB) ruled on February 26 that the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) exceeded its Clean Water Act (CWA) authority by inserting a permit condition in the Aquatic...more
The State of California recently sent a 60-day notice of intent to sue to the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior and concurrently filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California...more
The Center for Biological Diversity and Mountain Lion Foundation submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission (the “Commission”) to list mountain lions (Puma concolor) in southern and central California as...more
On June 12, 2019, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) voted 3-1 that listing four subspecies of bumble bee may be warranted under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).? ...more
On October 16, 2018, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Center for Food Safety submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) to list the Crotch...more
On August 23, 2018, the California Fish and Game Commission (“Commission”) listed the Humboldt marten (Marten caurina humboldtensis) as an endangered species under the California Endangered Species Act (“CESA”). The...more
On April 19, 2018, the California Fish and Game Commission voted 4-0 to list the tricolored blackbird (Agelaius tricolor) as a threatened species. A statewide survey conducted in 2017 estimated the California population of...more
On April 11, 2018, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed into law H.B. 2238, which amended the state’s administrative procedure laws to provide that courts are not required to defer to an agency’s legal interpretation in...more
When it comes to how our communities address flood risk and protect populations and economies from flooding, no one government agency is in charge. Instead, there are multiple agencies at the federal, state, and local levels,...more
On October 17, 2017, the California Fish and Game Commission (“Commission”) published notice of its preliminary positive finding on a petition to list the Cascades frog (Rana cascadae) as threatened or endangered under the...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit (“Court”) addressed a challenge to a permit issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) related to the proposed construction of an...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - California becomes first state to ban plastic bags: SFGate.com - Sep 30: Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill Tuesday that makes California the first state in the nation to ban single-use...more
On October 10, 2013, the Endangered Species Act Congressional Working Group (Working Group) held a forum entitled “Reviewing 40 Years of the Endangered Species Act and Seeking Improvement for People and Species.” The forum...more