Recent Updates to Federal Environmental and Natural Resource Regulations
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
On-Demand Webinar | The New NEPA Regulations: A Practical Guide to What You Need to Know
How Trump's Infrastructure Plan Impacts the Energy Industry
After two years of continuous behind-the-scenes work, Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va), who chairs the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, joined by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), released S. 4753, the Energy...more
This article is part of Womble Bond Dickinson’s Energy & Natural Resources thought leadership series titled Striking the Balance: Permitting Reforms for Mining and the Energy Transition. In this series, we’ll explore the...more
In the Fall of 2023, the Interagency Working Group on Mining Laws, Regulations, and Permitting (“IWG”) released its final report containing recommendations to reform how mining is conducted on public lands (the “Final...more
Climate Change Regulatory Issues & Updates - European Climate Law Sets a Binding Objective of Climate Neutrality by 2050 - The recently adopted European Climate Law calls for the necessity to address "the growing...more
President Biden's Executive Orders Mobilize the Administrative State to Address Climate Change - On January 27th, the White House held a “Climate Day” press briefing where President Biden, Special Presidential Envoy for...more
The Ninth Circuit held that a 2012 Environmental Impact Statement that provided a programmatic-level analysis for management of lands in the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve could also be used as the site-specific analysis...more
On October 4, 2019, the Supreme Court granted review of a Fourth Circuit decision that rejected U.S. Forest Service authorization of a $7 billion natural gas pipeline. See Cowpasture River Pres. Assn v. Forest Service, 911...more
Judge Delivers Major Setback to Trump Policy to Increase Coal Mining on Federal Land - "But the court ruling does say that the 2017 Trump administration policy, enacted by former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, to overturn...more
In 2016, DOI Secretarial Order 3338 imposed a moratorium on new coal leases on federal land until BLM prepared a programmatic environmental impact statement intended to address, among other issues, the impact of coal leasing...more
The US District Court for the District of Columbia has blocked the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from issuing new oil and gas drilling permits on approximately 300,000 acres of federal land in Wyoming until it adequately...more
On October 1st, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in a case that could have reopened an area of Arizona located north of the Grand Canyon and south of Utah, known as the...more
The Utah coal industry has benefited from recent reforms in federal coal leasing, permitting and streamlining of environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”). During the previous administration,...more
On June 19, 2018, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected a challenge by environmental groups and held that the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has no legal obligation to update its...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Ninth Circuit”) in a February 27th opinion addressed a challenge by the Northern Plaints Resource Council, Inc. (“NPRCI”) to an Environmental Assessment (“EA”)...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
On January 15, 2016, Interior Secretary Jewell halted federal coal leasing on public lands. Western coal companies are attempting to sort out the implications of the moratorium and exemptions set out in Secretarial Order...more
On January 15, Secretary Sally Jewell announced that the Department of the Interior will launch a comprehensive review to identify and evaluate potential reforms to the federal coal program. During the review, which is...more
Legal challenges to moratorium likely as US Department of Interior considers reforms. On Friday, January 15, 2016, US Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced that the US will “pause” federal coal...more
The Department of the Interior today announced that it will publish for public comment a draft proposed Five-Year Program (“DPP”) governing the leasing of offshore oil and gas for 2017 through 2022. Interior’s DPP will...more