On January 27, 2021, President Biden issued an executive order — effective immediately — directing the Secretary of the Interior to pause new oil and natural gas leases on federal public lands or offshore waters to the extent...more
1/28/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
BOEM ,
Bureau of Land Management ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Leasing Regulations ,
Mineral Leases ,
Oil & Gas ,
Outer Continental Shelf ,
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ,
Secretary of the Interior ,
Tribal Lands
Each new presidential administration brings with it its own set of policy goals and priorities. While the text of the environmental laws does not change without an act of Congress, agencies within the executive branch have a...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
News stories and campaign rhetoric frequently create expectations of immediate shifts following an administration change, but most changes in the federal government happen slowly, and the constraint on resources and time...more
1/20/2021
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Biden Administration ,
Clean Water Act ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
FERC ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Methane ,
Nationwide Permits (NWPs) ,
Natural Gas Act ,
NEPA ,
Pipelines ,
Trump Administration ,
Waters of the United States
The Biden administration identified environmental justice (“EJ”) as a campaign priority1 and the Biden-Harris team has continually emphasized its commitment to environmental justice, stating that the administration would...more
PFAS regulation is one of the hot environmental topics and a key issue to watch during this next year. In this series of posts, V&E will address the increasing regulatory attention concerning a group of chemicals known as...more
On December 14, 2020, the EPA Office of the Inspector General sent a Memorandum to EPA’s head of enforcement, Susan Bodine, informing her that it would undertake an assessment of how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted...more
On December 1, 2020, Singaporean shipping company Pacific Carriers Limited (“PCL”) entered a $12 million plea agreement to resolve criminal charges that it knowingly failed to record illegal discharges of oil waste and...more
On September 15, 2020, the Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) released a notice of proposed rulemaking to modify and reissue its existing Nationwide Permits (“NWPs”) and is accepting public comments through November 16, 2020....more
Join Vinson & Elkins for our tenth annual seminar discussing timely topics surrounding unconventional oil and gas development.
Our shale and hydraulic fracturing legal team will provide a comprehensive analysis of the...more
10/2/2020
/ Continuing Legal Education ,
Energy Market ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Fracking ,
Oil & Gas ,
Shale Gas ,
Webinars ,
Workplace Safety
As discussed in these two previous posts, EPA recently released two rules changing the volatile organic compound (“VOC”) and methane emissions requirements for new sources in the oil and gas sector, which alter or roll back...more
As discussed in this previous post, EPA recently released two rules changing the volatile organic compound (“VOC”) and methane emissions requirements for new sources in the oil and gas sector, which alter or roll back some of...more
On August 13, 2020, EPA released two rules changing the volatile organic compound (“VOC”) and methane emissions requirements for new sources in the oil and gas sector, which alter or roll back some of the requirements put in...more
9/2/2020
/ Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Department of the Interior ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Methane ,
New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
As discussed in this previous post, the federal government’s regulation of methane for the oil and gas industry — both from the Department of Interior on public land, and from EPA — continues to swing back and forth due to...more
The U.S. energy industry faces uncertain times. The triple hit of depressed oil and natural gas prices, reduced demand resulting from a global pandemic, and an economic recession have battered producers. Against the backdrop...more
Methane gas has been the subject of yo-yoing regulation—and regulatory roll-backs—over the past few years. Presidential candidate Joe Biden has already vowed to take immediate action on climate change, including “requiring...more
7/31/2020
/ Bureau of Land Management ,
Climate Change ,
Department of the Interior ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Land ,
Landfills ,
Methane ,
New Regulations ,
Obama Administration ,
Oil & Gas ,
Waste Management
As companies navigate the unprecedented effects on business operations and supply chains caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, complying with local, state, and federal environmental laws and regulations has presented new...more
6/5/2020
/ Business Operations ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
Environmental Liability ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
NGOs ,
Risk Mitigation ,
State Agencies ,
Webinars
On March 27, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted the Bureau of Land Management’s (“BLM”) motion for summary judgment, upholding the agency’s decision to rescind, or roll back,...more
On March 12, 2020, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Environment and Natural Resources Division (“ENRD”) issued a memorandum announcing a new policy precluding the use of a vast majority of Supplemental Environmental Projects...more
A number of environmental, health, and safety regulatory agencies are beginning to recognize that companies are challenged in their ability to meet deadlines, and no doubt more will follow. This is especially but not...more