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Biden Administration Authorizes Trust Lands for Alaska Tribes, Proposes Changes To Streamline Trust Regulations

Alaskans should prepare for major changes to the unique legal framework governing tribal lands in Alaska. In mid-November, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced that it can acquire lands in trust for Alaska’s...more

FERC Approves License Surrender for the Lower Klamath Project

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an order on November 17, 2022, approving the surrender of the FERC license for the Lower Klamath Project. This order authorizes the decommissioning and removal of four...more

Draft North Atlantic Right Whale and Offshore Wind Strategy Announced

As the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has ramped up offshore wind development to meet the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of generating 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, the question of how the expansion of...more

Proposed Revisions to Indian Trust Land Regulations Limit Third-Party Interests

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has proposed revising the regulations governing the acquisition of land into trust for Indian tribes. The proposed revisions, if adopted, would streamline the fee-to-trust process and eliminate...more

From Policy to Power: Federal Actions to Deliver on America’s Offshore Wind Potential

Climate change poses the biggest threat to our ocean and to the future of the planet. Its harmful impacts can be mitigated by decarbonizing our energy grid. Achieving major carbon emissions reductions in the electricity...more

US Fish and Wildlife Service Reinstates MBTA Interpretation and Seeks Input on Take Permitting Scheme

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service revoked its January 7, 2021, rule defining the scope of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act as it applies to conduct that results in the injury or death of protected migratory birds. Revocation of...more

US Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes to Revoke Recent MBTA Final Rule

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a proposed rule to revoke the Service’s January 7, 2021, final rule defining the scope of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) as it applies to conduct resulting in the...more

Senate Adopts Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act

The U.S. Senate passed the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021 by a nearly unanimous vote in its first significant legislative step towards fulfilling the water infrastructure goals of the Biden...more

Expect Significant Investments in Water Infrastructure

Earlier this month, a report from the American Society of Civil Engineers gave America’s infrastructure an overall grade of C-. The nation’s water infrastructure fell below that average with a C- for drinking water...more

Closing the Clean Water Gap: Arizona DEQ Proposes State Protected Surface Waters Program

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, on November 6, 2020, introduced a proposed Protected Surface Water Program, which would regulate certain state surface waters that are newly excluded from the regulatory scope...more

White House Proposes Overhaul of NEPA Regulations

Taking the next step in its efforts to streamline the environmental review process for projects under federal jurisdiction, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published proposed regulations on January 10...more

Trump Administration Finalizes Major Changes to Endangered Species Act Regulations

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service issued a set of three new final rules on August 12, 2019, that substantially revise the regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act. The new...more

Agencies Release Proposed Rule to Limit Clean Water Act Jurisdiction

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers announced a proposed rule to redefine the term “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act on December 11, 2018. The proposed rule, which awaits...more

California Affirms State Law Prohibition of Incidental Take of Migratory Birds Despite Contrary Federal Stance

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the California attorney general have jointly issued an advisory regarding California’s state law protections for migratory birds. The three-page advisory affirms that...more

Supreme Court Limits Authority to Designate Critical Habitat Under Endangered Species Act

In a unanimous decision with immediate repercussions for the administration of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the U.S. Supreme Court held that an area is eligible for designation as critical habitat under the ESA only if...more

Trump Administration Withdraws Obama-Era Environmental Mitigation Policies

Late last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service withdrew two environmental policies adopted in late 2016 by the Obama administration that address mitigation for impacts to natural resources. These two policies established...more

Major Changes Proposed to Endangered Species Act Regulations

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the Services) published three proposed rules last week that would revise the regulations implementing portions of the...more

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Issues Guidance on Endangered Species Act Incidental Take Permits

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a guidance memorandum addressing when an incidental take permit may be needed under Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act for projects that modify habitat of federally...more

Department Of Interior Declares That Only Deliberate Acts Constitute Take Of Migratory Birds

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of the Solicitor issued Memorandum M-37050, on December 22, 2017, which adopts the position that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) prohibition on the “taking” or “killing” of...more

Department of Interior Reverses MBTA’s Take Definition in a New Solicitor’s Opinion

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of the Solicitor issued Memorandum M-37050, on December 22, 2017, which adopts the position that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) prohibition on the “taking” or “killing” of...more

Agencies Release Proposed Rule to Rescind Obama-Era Clean Water Rule

The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a proposed rule on June 27, 2017, that will rescind the Obama administration’s 2015 Clean Water Rule and recodify the pre-2015 regulations that...more

Fish and Wildlife Service Approves New 30-Year Eagle Act Rule

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has formally approved the long-awaited, 30-year eagle take rule, which will allow renewable energy companies and other developers of large projects to obtain a 30-year permit (as opposed to...more

Executive Order Signals Federal Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Will Be Narrowed

In the latest chapter of the seemingly never-ending controversy over the Clean Water Act’s reach, on February 28, 2017, President Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S....more

DOI Issues Solicitor’s Opinion That MBTA Prohibits Incidental Take

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of the Solicitor issued Memorandum M-37041 on January 10, 2017, arguing that incidental take is prohibited under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The solicitor’s opinion was...more

Second Circuit Upholds EPA’s Water Transfers Rule

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Transfers Rule last week. Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited, et al. v. EPA, et al. 14-1823, 14-1909,...more

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