On December 22, 2025, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued short and nearly identical lease suspension orders that halted construction on five utility-scale offshore wind projects off Virginia, New York, Rhode...more
2/18/2026
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Arbitrary and Capricious ,
BOEM ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of the Interior ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Judicial Review ,
National Security ,
Offshore Wind ,
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Renewable Energy ,
Wind Power
On January 15, 2026, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the long-awaited proposed rule Updating the Water Quality Certification Regulations (Proposed Rule), which, if adopted, would largely reinstate the...more
1/21/2026
/ Clean Water Act ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Infrastructure ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Permits ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Section 401 ,
State and Local Government ,
Water Quality ,
Waters of the United States
On Monday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts struck down the freeze on federal permits for wind energy projects — a central component of the Wind Presidential Memorandum (the Wind Order) issued on the...more
12/11/2025
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Biden Administration ,
Clean Energy ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Executive Orders ,
Permits ,
Regulatory Freeze ,
Renewable Energy ,
Standing ,
Vacatur ,
Wind Power
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the Services) proposed revisions to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) regulations that, if finalized, will generally...more
11/24/2025
/ Critical Habitat ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Government Agencies ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
National Marine Fisheries Service ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
NPRM ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Reform ,
SCOTUS ,
Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v Eagle County Colorado ,
Trump Administration ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service
The frenetic pace of anti-renewable actions from the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has continued into this week with the issuance of a new memorandum from Greg Wischer, deputy chief of staff for policy, directing the...more
8/7/2025
/ Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act ,
Department of the Interior ,
Endangered Species ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Government Agencies ,
Infrastructure ,
Permits ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Renewable Energy ,
Trump Administration ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
Wind Power
During the week of July 28, the Trump administration unleashed a new burst of actions aimed squarely at blocking wind and solar energy with the announcement of two new secretarial orders (SO) and three new policies by the...more
8/5/2025
/ Department of the Interior ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Projects ,
Executive Orders ,
Infrastructure ,
NEPA ,
Permits ,
Renewable Energy ,
Solar Energy ,
Wind Power
In the past two weeks, six federal permitting agencies — the U.S. Departments of Interior (USDOI), Agriculture (USDA), Energy (DOE), Commerce (DoC), Defense (DoD), and Transportation (USDOT) — withdrew most of their National...more
7/10/2025
/ Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of the Interior ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Deregulation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Final Rules ,
Government Agencies ,
NEPA ,
New Guidance ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration ,
USDA
On May 29, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado that dramatically changes the way courts scrutinize federal agencies’ environmental reviews under the...more
6/2/2025
/ Chevron Deference ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Infrastructure ,
Judicial Authority ,
NEPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Railways ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SCOTUS ,
Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v Eagle County Colorado ,
Statutory Interpretation
Join Josh Kaplowitz and Morgan Gerard as they delve into key takeaways from the ACP Siting and Permitting Conference in Seattle. Discover emerging trends in renewable energy, including biodiversity goals, battery storage...more
On Wednesday, April 16, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to order Equinor to “stop work” on its 812 megawatt Empire Wind 1 project just outside of New York Harbor....more
4/21/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
BOEM ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Construction Project ,
Department of the Interior ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Projects ,
Executive Orders ,
Government Agencies ,
Net Zero ,
New York ,
Offshore Wind ,
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ,
Permits ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Renewable Energy ,
Secretary of the Interior ,
Stop Work Orders ,
Trump Administration
On the evening of April 9, 2025, the Trump administration released a pair of deregulatory executive actions that could have major implications for any industry subject to federal rules — and are also likely to be a magnet for...more
4/11/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chevron Deference ,
Climate Change ,
Deregulation ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
On February 19, the White House unveiled an interim final rule (IFR) to rescind all National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing regulations that the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has promulgated since 1977....more
2/21/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Audubon Society ,
CEQ ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Review ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Final Rules ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
NEPA ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
This past Monday, the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota issued its ruling in the closely watched case of Iowa v. Council on Envtl. Quality, 1:24-cv-089 (D.N.D. Feb. 3, 2025), vacating the Biden...more
Newly confirmed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wasted little time implementing many of President Trump’s initial energy executive orders (EOs), unleashing a round of Secretary’s Orders (SOs) this past Monday that push fossil...more
2/6/2025
/ Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Infrastructure ,
Mining ,
Offshore Drilling ,
Oil & Gas ,
Outer Continental Shelf ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Renewable Energy ,
Secretary of the Interior ,
Trump Administration
Among President Donald Trump’s directives issued on his first day in office was a Presidential Memorandum targeting wind energy, which has been a significant source of new electricity generation in the United States over the...more
1/23/2025
/ Clean Water Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of the Interior ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Reform ,
Executive Orders ,
NEPA ,
Offshore Wind ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Renewable Energy ,
Trump Administration ,
Wind Power
On December 5, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit handed the U.S. offshore wind industry a decisive win in its eagerly awaited ruling on the remaining challenges to the Vineyard Wind 1 project’s federal...more
Going into 2024, the Biden Administration was primed to hold four offshore wind lease sales during the one-year window established by the Inflation Reduction Act. But the recent announcement by the Bureau of Ocean Energy...more
Fast on the heels of a small but successful sale of two leases off Delaware and Virginia, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has issued a Call for Information (“Call”) to kick off another round of leasing in the...more
On August 14, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held its long-awaited Central Atlantic lease sale, auctioning leases off Delaware and Virginia to Norwegian energy giant Equinor and utility Dominion Energy...more
Executive Summary -
The new Renewable Energy Modernization Rule (or “Mod Rule”) is the first major change to US offshore wind regulations since they were first promulgated in April 2009. There was essentially no US offshore...more
The one-two punch of the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (“Loper Bright”) and Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Corner Post”) this past week spun...more
On May 13, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) by a 2-1 vote took decisive action to implement new transmission planning and cost allocation regimes through the adoption of FERC Order No. 1920 (the...more
Introduction On May 1, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) published its Final Rule implementing revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”)—better known as Phase 2 (the “Final Rule”)....more
If the offshore wind industry is going to come close to meeting the Biden Administration’s goal of deploying 15 GW for floating wind by 2035, it’s going to require a lot of turbines spinning in the Gulf of Maine and off a...more
Last week, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) jointly finalized a long-awaited overhaul of their offshore wind leasing and permitting regulations, which...more