On-Demand Webinar | Regulatory Uncertainty and Linear Infrastructure Projects: Where Are We and What’s Ahead?
On-Demand Webinar | Linear Infrastructure Redux: Adapting Your Projects to Meet the New Regulatory Climate
In the last few weeks, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has published several major regulatory actions affecting federal avian protections. The Service has repealed a Trump-era rule that excluded incidental take...more
U.S. to resume enforcement of unlawful bird deaths by industry - Associated Press – September 29 - The Biden administration said Wednesday that it will draft rules under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act over the next...more
Linear infrastructure projects, including oil and gas pipelines, electric transmission lines and transportation, have faced a number of regulatory challenges over the last year. Some of these challenges stem from changes in...more
On May 7, 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), as many anticipated, published a proposed rule to revoke a Trump Administration rule impacting the scope of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The Trump...more
Environmental groups sue Army Corps of Engineers over pipeline permitting - The Hill – May 3 - A coalition of five environmental groups on Monday sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) in federal court in...more
The Biden administration has signaled its intention to recriminalize non-purposeful, or incidental, “takes” of birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (“MBTA”). The longstanding debate over the scope of criminal liability...more
Recent news that the Democrats flipped both U.S. Senate seats in Georgia’s run-off election means that the Democrats have enough votes to add the Congressional Review Act (CRA)[1] to the tools that could be used to advance...more
On January 7, 2021, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) published a final rule limiting the scope of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA)’s prohibition on the take of migratory birds....more
One thing is certain about 2021 – environmental and natural resources-related litigation against the federal government will continue apace and it will impact a range of private projects that require federal authorization of...more
The last few weeks have yielded a number of interesting developments in the Federal courts. FEDERAL COURTS OF APPEAL - In re Flint Water Cases - Several local and State of Michigan officials, including the former governor,...more
In her opening statement to an August 11 opinion, United States District Court Judge Valerie Caproni writes: “It is not only a sin to kill a mockingbird, it is also a crime.” Judge Caproni’s literary reference is the...more
Federal court blocks Interior Department’s relaxation of migratory bird safeguards - U.S. News & World Report – August 12 - The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York this Tuesday struck down a U.S....more
Linear infrastructure projects, including oil and gas pipelines, electric transmission lines and transportation, have faced a number of regulatory challenges in recent months. Some of these challenges stem from changes in...more
The Commonwealth of Virginia is pursuing migratory bird protection in response to the Trump administration’s proposed relaxation of Migratory Bird Treaty Act (“MBTA”) enforcement....more
On February 3rd, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would completely eliminate criminal penalties for “incidental” migratory bird deaths under the Migratory Bird Treaty...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a proposed rule on January 30, 2020, that narrowly interprets the protections afforded by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The new rule would provide that the MBTA prohibits only the...more
Focus - Vinod Khosla sues San Mateo County sheriff in latest fight over Martins Beach access - The Mercury News – January 25 - Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla has launched another offensive in his...more
Lessons for Sellers in Contracting with Emerging Market Buyers: The “Three R’s” to Structuring Payment Security Provisions - The recent rebound in the international energy industry is being driven, at least in part, by a...more
On April 11, 2018, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued a Memorandum titled “Guidance on the recent M-Opinion affecting the Migratory Bird Treaty Act” (the “Memorandum”), giving field advice to its enforcement...more
Let’s take a look at what President Trump has done for the oil industry in his first year (This is not about decorum, dossiers, tweets, or Oprah’s inauguration.) As in the past I refer to sources whose opinions and insights...more
Focus - U.S. EPA officials are leaving in droves - The New York Times - Dec 22 More than 700 employees have left the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since President Trump took office, a wave of departures...more
The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of the Solicitor issued Memorandum M-37050, on December 22, 2017, which adopts the position that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) prohibition on the “taking” or “killing” of...more
On November 8, 2017, the House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources approved an amendment to oil and gas-related legislation, the SECURE Act (H.R. 4239), that is intended to obviate liability for the incidental...more
Report on the agencies’ review of programs provides a roadmap to understanding which energy policies the Trump administration will revise. Several federal agencies have now issued reports responding to Executive Order (EO)...more