California Independent System Operator (CAISO) released its draft 2023-2024 Transmission Plan (the 2023-2024 Plan) on April 1, 2024. As expected, the 2023-2024 Plan incorporates projections for significant new generation of...more
4/9/2024
/ CAISO ,
California ,
California Energy Commission ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Offshore Wind ,
Renewable Energy ,
Transmission Grid
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced on January 17, 2024, the publication of its draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to help streamline and accelerate utility-scale solar energy development...more
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published on December 20, 2023, its notice of intent (NOI) to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) of reasonably foreseeable impacts of floating offshore...more
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued its Final Sale Notice (FSN) on October 18, 2022, for the first offshore wind energy leases on the west coast of the United States. With the lease sale scheduled for December...more
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published its Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) on May 31, 2022, for what would be the first ever offshore wind energy leases on the west coast of the United States. The sale would span...more
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
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
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
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
California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law last week two controversial anti-climate change bills that will tighten greenhouse gas (GHG) limits by 40% and increase legislative supervision of the California Air Resources...more
9/16/2016
/ Air Pollution ,
CARB ,
Carbon Emissions ,
CEQA ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Energy Sector ,
Global Warming ,
Global Warming Solutions Act ,
Governor Brown ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
National Emissions Standards ,
New Legislation ,
Renewable Energy ,
Renewable Portfolio Standards ,
Transportation Industry ,
Utilities Sector ,
Zero-Emission Vehicles
The U.S. Court of Appeals for District of Columbia Circuit recently held that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act by approving an Ohio wind energy project without looking at all...more
8/31/2016
/ Appeals ,
Clean Energy ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Sector ,
Incidental Take Permits ,
NEPA ,
Popular ,
Renewable Energy ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
Wind Power
On May 6, 2016, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS or Service) published a proposed rule (Proposed Rule) that would substantially change how the Service administers its conservation and management program under the Bald and...more
On Tuesday, February 9, 2016, only a few weeks after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied a multistate plea to stop the U.S. EPA’s Clean Power Plan, the United States Supreme Court issued a...more
California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill 350, the “Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015” on October 7, 2015. SB 350 reflects some of Governor Brown’s bold commitments from his inaugural speech...more
On September 4, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held in United States v. CITGO Petroleum Co. that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act’s take prohibition does not include the unintentional take of migratory...more
On August 11, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California struck down the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s so-called “30-Year Rule,” which had extended from 5 years to 30 years the duration of...more
8/18/2015
/ Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act ,
Conservation ,
Department of the Interior ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Assessments ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
NEPA ,
Renewable Energy ,
State Department of Fish and Wildlife ,
Wind Power
On August 3, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final Clean Power Plan, the Obama Administration’s landmark effort to limit carbon dioxide emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired power plants...more
8/11/2015
/ Air Pollution ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Energy ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Compliance ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Obama Administration ,
Pollution Control ,
Power Plants
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a right-of-way for an access road over Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land to connect a wind project to a state highway did not trigger formal consultation under the...more