The Biden Administration’s Executive Order 14096, “Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All,” launched significant new policies to further integrate environmental justice throughout the federal...more
A group of 17 Democratic AGs submitted a comment letter to the Director for the National Environmental Policy (NEPA) at the Council on Environmental Quality. The letter provided suggestions concerning the Council’s interim...more
A coalition of sixteen state AGs and the DC AG, along with the City of New York and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District), sued the United States Postal Service and United States Postmaster General Louis DeJoy...more
California AG Rob Bonta filed a petition for a rehearing en banc before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Center for Community Action & Environmental Justice et al. v. Federal Aviation Administration et al.,...more
The day after the inauguration, the Acting Secretary of Interior issued Order No. 3395, Temporary Suspension of Delegated Authority, suspending the delegation of authority to all Department of Interior Bureaus and Offices,...more
On his first day in office, President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order titled “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.” The Executive Order directs the Environment...more
Each new presidential administration brings with it its own set of policy goals and priorities. While the text of U.S. environmental law does not change without an act of Congress, agencies within the executive branch have a...more
U.S. Forest Service finalizes rule weakening environmental review of its projects - Bullet The Hill – November 18 - The U.S. Forest Service this Wednesday finalized its decision to weaken environmental analysis of...more
On September 21, 2020, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced that it has approved the development of a generic environmental impact statement (GEIS) for the construction and operation of advanced nuclear reactors...more
On July 15, 2020, the White House Council on Environmental Quality implemented sweeping amendments to modernize and streamline NEPA environmental reviews. These amendments stand to have a trickle-down effect on the nuclear...more
On July 15, 2020, the White House released the long-anticipated Final Rule entitled, “Update to the Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).” According to the White...more
The Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) on July 15th promulgated for the first time in 40 years revisions to the regulations that implement the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”). CEQ was established in 1970...more
The United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit (“Court”), in a June 5th opinion addressed a challenge to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s approval of an oil pipeline response plan. See National...more
The Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) on January 10th published a Federal Register Notice promulgating for the first time in 40 years revisions to the regulations that implement the National Environmental Policy Act...more
Will this Quell Public Concerns About the Safety of 5G Deployments? As wireless carriers increasingly seek to install wireless networks on utility poles and street lights within communities across the country, they often...more
The United States Forest Service (“Service”) published a proposal in the June 13th Federal Register that contains a package of revisions to its National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) regulations. See 84 Fed. Reg. 27544. ...more
On December 16, 2016 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a final rule (Final Rule) revising its 2009 regulations establishing requirements for issuance of permits for “non-purposeful take” of bald and...more
On August 11, 2015, a district court in Silicon Valley remanded a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) rule issued in 2013 that had extended the potential term of incidental take permits under the Bald and Golden Eagle...more
On July 6, 2015, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service) published a Draft Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Conservation Management Plan (Polar Bear Plan). The Polar Bear Plan identifies the continuing loss of sea-ice habitat...more
The President’s re-election once again focused attention on the question of whether the Administration will grant the Presidential permit necessary for the U.S.-Canada border crossing of the Keystone XL pipeline. While...more