From Executive Orders to court decisions, the environmental regulatory landscape seems to be changing from day to day. Many of the changes will increasingly have impacts on the timing, placement and cost of construction and...more
9/14/2022
/ Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act ,
Biden Administration ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Conservation ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Infrastructure ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
NEPA ,
Permits ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
US Army Corps of Engineers
From Executive Orders to court decisions, the environmental regulatory landscape seems to be changing from day to day. Many of the changes will increasingly have impacts on the timing, placement and cost of construction and...more
8/12/2022
/ Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act ,
Biden Administration ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Conservation ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Infrastructure ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
NEPA ,
Permits ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Webinars
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 The Service has repealed a Trump-era rule that excluded incidental take...more
10/8/2021
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act ,
Biden Administration ,
Comment Period ,
Endangered Species ,
Environmental Policies ,
Incidental Take Permits ,
Infrastructure ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service
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
6/15/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Construction Industry ,
Criminal Liability ,
Delays ,
Electricity ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Guidance Documents ,
Infrastructure ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
Nationwide Permits (NWPs) ,
NEPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rescission ,
Revocation ,
Risk Management ,
Transmission Lines ,
Transportation Industry ,
Waters of the United States ,
Zoning Laws
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
5/26/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Construction Industry ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Criminal Liability ,
Delays ,
Electricity ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Guidance Documents ,
Infrastructure ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
Nationwide Permits (NWPs) ,
NEPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rescission ,
Revocation ,
Risk Management ,
Transmission Lines ,
Transportation Industry ,
Waters of the United States ,
Webinars ,
Zoning Laws
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
On January 20, 2021, President Biden announced his administration will review regulatory actions taken between January 17, 2020 and January 20, 2021 in accordance with an Executive Order titled “Protecting Public Health and...more
1/22/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Critical Habitat ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
Navigable Waters ,
NEPA ,
Regulatory Reform ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service
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
On August 11, 2020, a federal district court in New York ruled that the unintentional or incidental “take” of migratory birds is a crime under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (“MBTA”), vacating a Department of the Interior...more
8/12/2020
/ Department of the Interior ,
Deregulation ,
Endangered Species ,
Environmental Policies ,
Incidental Take Permits ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Strict Liability ,
Trump Administration ,
Vacated
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
7/14/2020
/ Construction Industry ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Infrastructure ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
National Historic Preservation Act ,
NEPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Waters of the United States ,
Webinars
Yesterday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) released a pre-publication version of its long-awaited update to regulations governing Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) implementation (Proposed Regulations)....more
1/31/2020
/ Comment Period ,
Department of the Interior ,
Deregulation ,
Endangered Species ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Policies ,
Incidental Take Permits ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
NEPA ,
Notice of Intent ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Strict Liability ,
Trump Administration ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
Wind Farm ,
Wind Power
On December 27, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit partially reversed and remanded a decision by the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, delaying if not derailing an expansion in...more
1/3/2018
/ Appeals ,
Critical Habitat ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Claims ,
Environmental Policies ,
Fishing Industry ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
National Marine Fisheries Service ,
NEPA ,
Policy Violations ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service
On March 29, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California granted summary judgment in favor of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (“BIA”) in a lawsuit involving the grant of a lease to Tule Wind, LLC for...more
4/19/2016
/ Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act ,
Bureau of Indian Affairs ,
Critical Habitat ,
Endangered Species ,
Energy Sector ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
Native American Issues ,
NEPA ,
Right of Way ,
Tribal Lands ,
Wind Power
This week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a notice in the Federal Register identifying its intent to prepare an environmental impact statement analyzing various approaches for regulating incidental...more