On July 15, 2020, President Trump announced a "top to bottom overhaul" of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, deriding what he characterized as the "mountains and mountains of bureaucratic red tape in...more
On August 12, 2019, the Trump Administration adopted three new rules in an attempt to rein in the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The rules would eliminate regulations in place since 1978 affording protections for "threatened"...more
What is the jurisdictional reach of the Clean Water Act? The Act applies to “navigable waters”, which are defined as the “waters of the United States, including the territorial seas.”...more
As part of the Administration’s policy in favor of domestic oil and gas development, on April 10 President Trump issued an Executive Order “Promoting Energy Infrastructure and Economic Growth.” ...more
On October 19, President Trump issued a “Memorandum Promoting the Reliable Supply and Delivery of Water in the West.” The memorandum calls for streamlining federal water infrastructure development and operations, apparently...more
On August 16, a federal judge in South Carolina invalidated the Trump Administration’s suspension of the rule defining “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), under the Clean Water Act....more
In a tweet released August 6, President Trump offered his analysis of how to combat the ongoing human and ecological tragedy of one worst fire seasons of record.
The president then directed Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross...more
In a rare moment of clarity in the benighted history of the Waters of the United States or WOTUS rule, a unanimous Supreme Court declared that jurisdiction to review the WOTUS rule lies in the District Courts and not the...more
Last Thursday, I posted about EPA apparently looking at resetting the approach to the Portland Harbor Superfund site. I believe that the cost associated with the cleanup plan contained in Region 10’s Record of Decision (ROD)...more
Although no official pronouncement has been issued, it appears that EPA Headquarters is looking at resetting the scoreboard for the Portland Harbor Superfund site. EPA had already signaled that it would be reviewing...more
The Trump Administration has begun rulemaking to undo the controversial rule defining “waters of the United States” or WOTUS. In the July 27 Federal Register, EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers jointly announced that it is...more
While the Trump Administration has struggled overall to develop and implement coherent policies, the Administration has had some success in the environmental sphere. Through a series of presidential memoranda, executive...more
With a flourish of his pen, on February 28 President Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at dismantling the ill-fated Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. The rule was the latest attempt by EPA and the Army Corps of...more
As reported here, Oregon is among a group of states in which groups of school age plaintiffs are suing to force the government to do more about climate change. On November 10, U. S. District Judge Ann Aiken adopted the...more