A federal court has thrown out key Endangered Species Act (ESA) analyses of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico, which will be vacated as of Dec. 20, 2024. The United States District Court for the District of...more
8/30/2024
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Administrative Procedure ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
BOEM ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Fully Protected Species ,
Gulf of Mexico ,
Gulf Oil Spill ,
Incidental Take Permits ,
Maritime Transport ,
National Marine Fisheries Service ,
Offshore Drilling ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Spills ,
Outer Continental Shelf ,
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ,
Pending Litigation ,
Wildlife Protection
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on May 1, 2024, published its Phase II regulations1 under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).2 As part of a multiphase effort to amend the NEPA regulations that straddled...more
For nearly 40 years and in more than 18,000 judicial opinions, federal courts have used the Chevron doctrine to defer to an agency's reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statute. Under the doctrine, named for the 1984...more
5/21/2024
/ Auer Deference ,
Chevron Deference ,
Chevron v NRDC ,
Data Collection ,
Kisor v Wilkie ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) ,
National Marine Fisheries Service ,
Oral Argument ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Relentless Inc v US Department of Commerce ,
SCOTUS ,
Stare Decisis ,
Statutory Interpretation
Chemical transport, tank cleaning and transportation depot operators breathed a sigh of relief in March 2024 when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) dropped provisions from a proposed rule when it issued its final...more
5/3/2024
/ Chemical Spills ,
Chemicals ,
Clean Air Act ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Manufacturers ,
Obama Administration ,
Refineries ,
Risk Management ,
Transportation Industry ,
Trump Administration
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in October delivered a clear message to companies involved in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and their advisers: Acquiring companies will not be penalized for timely voluntary disclosure...more
New York's groundbreaking Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (the Climate Act) is known for being the country's most aggressive climate and clean energy statewide agenda. It calls for a mandated goal of a...more
10/12/2023
/ Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Environmental Conservation ,
Energy Projects ,
Green Energy ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Hazardous Waste ,
Land-Use Permits ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Permits ,
Proposed Rules ,
Water Supplies
The U.S. Supreme Court on May 25, 2023, issued its opinion in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, 598 U.S. ____ (2023). The opinion addresses the definition of "Waters of the United States" (WOTUS) pursuant to the...more
6/1/2023
/ Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Inland Waterways ,
Navigable Waters ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Sackett ,
Sackett v EPA ,
SCOTUS ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rulemaking on Jan. 18, 2023, revising the definition of "Waters of the United States" (WOTUS) within the Corps1 and...more
1/20/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Final Rules ,
Navigable Waters ,
Rapanos v US ,
Regulatory History ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Sackett ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantial Nexus ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on June 29, 2020, issued a memorandum titled COVID-19 Implications for EPA's Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Program: Addendum on Termination (Termination Addendum), which...more
Jurisdictions across the United States are responding to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic at the federal, state and local levels by issuing emergency stay-at-home and shelter-in-place orders (Orders) that generally...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on March 26, 2020, issued a memo called the COVID-19 Implications for EPA's Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Program. EPA's temporary policy is that it will exercise...more