This week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released their respective reports on potential areas of regulatory reform. The reports were spurred by President Trump’s March 28...more
On Thursday, July 27, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3219, the Make America Secure Appropriations Act of 2018, by a vote of 235 -192. The package includes the individual appropriations bills for Military...more
On May 22, 2017, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt announced the formation of the Superfund Task Force. During his short time at EPA, Administrator Pruitt has emphasized the need to “streamline...more
The House Appropriations Committee marked up the FY18 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill this week, which provides annual funding for various programs under the Department of Energy (DOE), the Army Corps of Engineers,...more
It has been over thirty years since the last major overhaul of the U.S. tax code, President Reagan's Tax Reform Act of 1986. That process took over two years and required cooperation between the President and both parties in...more
On March 28, 2017, President Trump made good on his campaign promise to take action to repeal President Obama’s climate agenda, including the Clean Power Plan (CPP). In his “Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence...more
After nearly six weeks of nominations, committee hearings and confirmation votes, President Trump’s White House is beginning to take shape. The federal affairs leaders at Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting have created a...more
As Inauguration Day approaches, energy and environmental issues will take center stage with this week’s confirmation hearings for the heads of the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of the Interior and the...more
When President-elect Trump is sworn into office on January 20, 2017, he will bring a new administration and new priorities to the White House. This transition gives any company with business before the federal government an...more
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is one of many policies facing an uncertain future as power changes hands in the federal government. While it’s impossible to know exactly what to expect from President-Elect Trump and the...more
In the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which the Senate approved on December 9, Congress addressed major issues in the nation’s water infrastructure, including direct efforts aimed at problems related to...more
The 2016 election has been the focal point of the country for the past year. As Americans prepare to head to the polls on Tuesday, November 8, we wanted to provide a quick primer on how the election could impact the balance...more
On Wednesday, September 28, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5303, the Water Resources Development Act of 2016. House action comes on the heels of the Senate’s passage of its version (S. 2848) earlier this month....more
For a law originally passed in response to the energy crisis of the 1970s, The Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) has received a lot of recent attention from Congress and advocates for both investor-owned...more
On July 25, 2016, the United Stated Department of Agriculture (UDSA) published a Notice of Solicitation of Applications (NOSA) for the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program...more
After several years of work, Congress passed the bipartisan Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act – more commonly referred to as the TSCA Modernization Act of 2015 – and President Obama is expected to...more
The largest overhaul to the nation’s aging water infrastructure in decades is making progress in the Senate. On April 28, 2016, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved a $9 billion update to the Water...more
The President has unveiled his fiscal year 2017 budget request for the federal government. The figures are ambitious in the way that only a president in his last term would propose, and the budget includes numerous funding...more
In a 5-4 vote, the United States Supreme Court stayed the implementation of the Clean Power Plan (CPP) through the ultimate Supreme Court determination on the merits, assuming the inevitable writ of certiorari from the D.C....more
Earlier than expected, the Senate is considering a highly anticipated bipartisan energy bill this week. The first broad package of energy legislation in over a decade, the bill proposes many adjustments to current energy...more
Last month, the White House released its fall Unified Agenda, which provides a look at the various regulations being developed by each agency and where each is in the rulemaking process. In the energy and environment space,...more
1/7/2016
/ Barack Obama ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
MSHA ,
Oil & Gas ,
PHMSA ,
Pipelines
In December 2015, Congress passed the first major transportation infrastructure bill in over a decade, covering a large range of infrastructure projects and ensuring funding for the next five years. One section of the bill...more
On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed into law the “Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015” (PATH Act) and an omnibus funding bill for fiscal year 2016 known as the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016”...more
After several long weeks of negotiations on end-of-year obligations, congressional negotiators reached agreements on both a government funding bill that pays for the federal government through the remainder of FY16 as well as...more
The Clean Power Plan final rule, proposed Federal Plan and carbon pollution standards for new, modified and reconstructed (existing) power plants were published in the Federal Register on October 23, 2015 — weeks after its...more