The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) on June 15, 2023, finalized a rule requiring interstate electric transmission providers to file one-time informational reports assessing the susceptibility of...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a brief order on March 24, 2022, backtracking on the historic – and divisive – changes it had announced several weeks ago to its natural gas pipeline certification...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has made historic changes to its policies for approving the construction of natural gas pipeline facilities. These changes, which came in the form of two policy statements...more
In a recently published letter, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Richard Glick indicated that the commission would strengthen its scrutiny of greenhouse gas emissions when evaluating certificate...more
The Biden Administration on May 20, 2021, issued its latest and long-awaited Executive Order (EO) on climate-related financial risk. This EO reflects how the administration is continuing to take a "whole of government"...more
6/1/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
CEQ ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Financial Regulatory Agencies ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insurance Industry ,
Net Zero ,
OMB ,
Risk Assessment ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
On March 26, 2021, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed Chapter 8 of the Acts of 2021, An Act Creating a Next-Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy (the Act), into law, cementing the Commonwealth's status as...more
The City of Boston has taken the next step in its ongoing efforts to amend and strengthen its Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance, or BERDO, by releasing a draft Summary of policy elements on Jan. 27, 2021, for...more
2/12/2021
/ Administrative Review Board ,
Audits ,
Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Local Ordinance ,
Municipalities ,
Performance Standards ,
Power Purchase Agreements ,
Property Owners ,
Renewable Energy ,
State and Local Government ,
Utilities Sector
On Oct. 19, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) filed a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register to start the 30-day comment period on its draft rule, which was published on the FERC website on...more
10/20/2020
/ Certification Requirements ,
Clean Water Act ,
Comment Period ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FERC ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Natural Gas ,
Natural Gas Act ,
NPRM ,
Pipelines ,
Water Quality
Holland & Knight invites you to read the Fall 2020 issue of our Energy and Natural Resources Quarterly newsletter, in which our authors discuss important hot topics and developments in energy, natural resources and...more
10/7/2020
/ Alternative Fuels ,
Brazil ,
Clean Tech ,
Colombia ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Liability ,
Environmental Policies ,
Hydrocarbons ,
Latin America ,
Renewable Energy ,
Renewable Energy Investments
On May 6, 2020, in the case of In re Peabody Energy Corporation, 958 F.3d 717 (8th Cir.), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held, in an apparent case of first impression, that state statutory and common-law...more
The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued on June 19, 2020, its Final Rule for publication in the Federal Register. Once the Final Rule takes effect 30...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced the rollout of its new Clean Water Act Section 401 Guidance for Federal Agencies, States and Authorized Tribes which replaces an April 2010 Interim Guidance...more
6/19/2019
/ Certification Requirements ,
Clean Water Act ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FERC ,
Natural Gas ,
Navigable Waters ,
New Guidance ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Section 401 ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Water Quality
On April 11, 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order on Promoting Energy Infrastructure on Economic Growth which included provisions related to updating regulations linked to facilities which handle liquefied natural...more
4/12/2019
/ Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Executive Orders ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Infrastructure ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
PHMSA ,
Railroads ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Safety Standards ,
Transportation Industry ,
Trump Administration
On Dec. 28, 2018, the Office of Fossil Energy of the Department of Energy (DOE) filed a notice in the Federal Register indicating its response to the 19 public comments received on its study entitled Macroeconomic Outcomes of...more
As described in previous blog posts on May 7, 2018 and March 13, 2018, regulatory changes are needed before liquefied natural gas (LNG) can be transported by rail tanker cars under applicable Hazardous Materials and Carriage...more
10/30/2018
/ Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Energy Sector ,
Federal Railroad Administration ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Permits ,
Petition for Rulemaking ,
PHMSA ,
Railroads ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Safety Precautions ,
Transportation Industry
On Sept. 13, 2018, the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing on the subject of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Europe. The hearing was opened by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)....more
As previously reported, on Aug. 31, 2018, Kevin J. McIntyre, Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and Howard "Skip" Elliott, Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration...more
9/6/2018
/ Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
FERC ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
Natural Gas Act ,
Oil & Gas ,
PHMSA ,
Pipelines ,
Transportation Industry
Following recent developments in liquefied natural gas (LNG) export policy in which we outlined in previous blog posts on June 12, 2018 and June 22, 2018, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy issued a Final...more
7/31/2018
/ Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Assessments ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Final Rules ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Natural Gas ,
NEPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Shipping ,
Supply Chain
I wrote recently about the Department of Energy’s (DOE) liquefied natural gas (LNG) Export Study which was good news for LNG exporters. The study found that across the entire range of scenarios, U.S. economic output is higher...more
On May 7, 2018, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) finally responded to the Petition for Rulemaking filed by the Association of American Railroads (AAR). As...more
5/15/2018
/ Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Energy Sector ,
Federal Railroad Administration ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Permits ,
Petition for Rulemaking ,
PHMSA ,
Railroads ,
Transportation Industry
Prompted by regulatory changes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding emission standards for locomotives, several railroads and locomotive manufacturers have been working for several years to develop...more
4/5/2018
/ Energy Sector ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Railroad Administration ,
Infrastructure ,
Manufacturers ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Natural Gas ,
New Regulations ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Railroads ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Train Accidents
A recent Boston Globe editorial entitled “Gas-by-train? Beacon Hill Opens The Door” suggests that liquefied natural gas (LNG) may be arriving by train to New England from the shale gas region in Pennsylvania in the future....more
3/14/2018
/ Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Energy Sector ,
Federal Railroad Administration ,
FERC ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Petition for Rulemaking ,
PHMSA ,
Railroads ,
Shale Gas ,
Shipping ,
Trains