On August 16, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina issued a nationwide injunction on a Trump administration rule that has been preventing the 2015 rule that revised the definition of “waters of the...more
Earlier this year, the Fourth and Ninth Circuits decided a pair of cases that have the potential to greatly expand the scope of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program under the Clean Water...more
On February 1, 2018, the Ninth Circuit issued a decision in Hawai’i Wildlife Fund, 886 F.3d 737 (9th Circ. 2018), that has the potential to greatly expand the scope of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System...more
On July 25, 2018, the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) and the Department of Commerce’s National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) (collectively “the Services”) issued three proposed rules that...more
National environmental groups recently filed a pair of new lawsuits in New York federal district court seeking to expand the scope of liability for “incidental take” under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (“MBTA”). The...more
In a unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court today held that lawsuits challenging the 2015 rule amending the definition of waters of the United States (WOTUS Rule) under the Clean Water Act (CWA) must be brought in federal...more
Infrastructure has been a headline topic since before the 2016 election, and perhaps never more so than during the unprecedented storm season. The current Administration, like its predecessors, has pursued means to expedite...more
In a 2-1 decision, the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) did not satisfy the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) when it...more
The Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers announced yesterday that the implementation of President Trump’s executive order directing EPA and the Corps to replace the Clean Water Rule will be a two-step...more
On March 19, 2017, the latest iterations of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ nationwide permits (NWPs) will take effect. As set forth in the Corps’ final rule announcing these NWPs, the 2017 package contains 52 permits,...more
The U.S. Court of the Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently ruled that the criminal prohibition on killing or injuring birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (“MBTA”) “only prohibits intentional acts (not omissions) that...more
Perhaps it is poetic justice. The litigation over the final Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule is as disjointed and confusing as the rule itself. Following a key court ruling yesterday, the WOTUS rule is now...more
In 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) issued a rule increasing the maximum duration from five to 30 years of programmatic permits under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act to “take” bald or golden eagles...more
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers (“the agencies”) have issued the long-awaited final rule to define the scope of waters and wetlands subject to federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (“the Services”), the two agencies that administer the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), recently published a proposed rule designed to improve the...more
A proposed Ohio wind farm cleared another legal hurdle last week when Judge Leon of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia upheld the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (“FWS”) issuance of an incidental...more
It was inevitable I suppose. In a town where every policy discussion reaffirms the lampooning it receives in HBO’s “Veep,” it was only a matter of time until the EPA/Army Corps’ proposed rule on the scope of jurisdiction...more
In a win for property owners and project proponents, a Utah federal district court has ruled that the United States Constitution does not authorize the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) to regulate impacts to the Utah...more