As in prior years, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 contains a variety of provisions setting U.S. Department of Defense priorities for energy, environmental, and natural resource issues. These...more
11/30/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Conservation ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Natural Resources ,
NDAA ,
New Legislation ,
Public Policy ,
Sustainability ,
Wildlife Protection
In an extended Earth Day event, President Biden hosted the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate (“Summit”) on April 22 and 23, seeking to unite nations around the world in the goal of reducing global greenhouse gas (“GHG”)...more
4/28/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Brazil ,
Canada ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FSOC ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Japan ,
Proposed Legislation ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UK
On March 31, 2021, the Biden Administration released in broad brushstrokes its plan to address the country’s infrastructure. The “American Jobs Plan” calls for a grand total of more than $2 trillion in federal investment...more
As part of his comprehensive climate change agenda, President Biden convened a task force to assess the social cost of greenhouse gases. At the end of February, the task force published an interim report estimating the “cost”...more
3/24/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Carbon Taxes ,
Climate Change ,
Cost-Benefit Analysis ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Obama Administration ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration
Upon taking office, President Joe Biden convened a task force to assess the social cost of greenhouse gases, as part of his comprehensive climate change agenda. At the end of February, the task force published an interim...more
The Biden Administration is seeking to advance “environmental justice” (EJ) through its policy and regulatory priorities in a way that no administration has before. Environmental justice - which seeks to address...more
2/4/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Black Lives Matter ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Agency Taskforce ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Minorities ,
National Environmental Policies ,
Native American Issues ,
Popular ,
Public Health
Fulfilling one of his central campaign promises, President Biden signed a wide-ranging Executive Order last week addressing climate change through energy, infrastructure, national security, foreign affairs, and social justice...more
2/2/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Air Act ,
Climate Change ,
Domestic Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Agency Taskforce ,
Foreign Policy ,
Fossil Fuel ,
Infrastructure ,
Paris Agreement ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Renewable Energy
On his first day in office, President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order titled “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.” The Executive Order directs the Environment...more
1/22/2021
/ Administrative Review ,
Biden Administration ,
Bureau of Land Management ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Change ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Methane ,
National Environmental Policies ,
NEPA ,
Obama Administration ,
Oil & Gas ,
Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) Policy ,
Trump Administration ,
Waters of the United States
As in prior years, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 contains a variety of provisions setting U.S. Department of Defense priorities for energy, environmental, and natural resource issues. These...more
Now that the results of a tumultuous presidential election appear clear, attention shifts to what to expect during President-elect Joe Biden’s first term. It is fair to say that a Biden White House will sharply contrast with...more
11/10/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Clean Water Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
SAFE ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States
On October 13, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) entitled “Modernizing America’s Water Resource Management and Water Infrastructure.” The EO’s broad goal is to improve federal management of water resources and...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a number of rapid-fire legislative, executive, and regulatory responses in the U.S. States, counties, and cities have issued shelter-in-place and other emergency orders, causing certain...more
On January 23, 2020, the Trump Administration issued a final rule revising the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). The Navigable Waters Protection Rule narrows the...more
2/27/2020
/ Clean Water Act ,
Clean Water Rule ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Final Rules ,
Navigable Waters ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States
The Trump Administration recently proposed amendments to the regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) - the most significant of which are likely to face legal challenge. The proposed regulations...more
On January 17, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in Juliana v. United States that a coalition of young people lacked standing to require the federal government to develop a plan to “phase...more
1/23/2020
/ Article III ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Citizen Suits ,
Climate Change ,
Coal Industry ,
Due Process ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Equal Protection ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Oil & Gas ,
Petition For Rehearing ,
Standing ,
Subsidies
As in prior years, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 contains a variety of provision setting U.S. Department of Defense priorities for energy, environmental, and natural resource issues. These...more
3/13/2019
/ Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
National Security ,
Natural Disasters ,
Natural Resources ,
NDAA ,
Renewable Energy ,
Wildfires
In consideration of a request for a writ of certiorari in the cases County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, No. 18-260 and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners v. Upstate Forever, No. 18-268, the US Supreme Court invited the views...more
1/11/2019
/ Clean Water Act ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Groundwater ,
Kinder Morgan ,
Navigable Waters ,
NPDES ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
SCOTUS ,
Solicitor General
On November 29, WilmerHale held its second annual Women in Energy and Infrastructure - Powering the Future conference in Washington DC. The event and pre-conference dinner provided a forum for women thought leaders to discuss...more
The President is scheduled to sign the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (NDAA) on Monday, August 13 at a ceremony at Fort Drum, New York. Named for Senator John S. McCain (R-Ariz.), the bill authorizes...more
The National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) may be the most important piece of energy and environmental legislation most people have never heard of. It authorizes the appropriation of federal funds to support the U.S....more
7/27/2018
/ Appeals ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Claims ,
Environmental Policies ,
FERC ,
Fracking ,
Market Manipulation ,
Natural Gas ,
Natural Resources ,
NDAA ,
Oil & Gas
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (together, the “Services”) this week published proposed revisions to key portions of the Endangered Species Act’s (the “Act”)...more
On May 24, 2018, the House passed — and now the Senate is considering — the most important piece of energy and environmental legislation it will consider all year. It isn’t a revision to the Endangered Species Act or the...more