The Biden administration has signaled its intention to recriminalize non-purposeful, or incidental, “takes” of birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (“MBTA”). The longstanding debate over the scope of criminal liability...more
3/18/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Criminal Liability ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Incidental Take Permits ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Renewable Energy ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump Administration ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
Wind Power
Ordinarily, the law governing how agencies create regulations — the Administrative Procedure Act — requires a thirty-day window between when a rule is published in the Federal Register and becomes “final” and when the rule is...more
On February 5, 2021, the acting head of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) division that brings environmental enforcement cases issued a memo revoking nine policy directives from the prior administration, including...more
President-Elect Joe Biden has promised to change course, including on a number of the Trump Administration’s signature (de)regulatory and executive actions — from energy and the environment to public health, immigration, and...more
On May 19, 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) released a proposed rulemaking that would codify the EPA’s practice under the Trump administration’s Executive Order 13891 “Promoting the Rule of Law Through...more
Guidance documents have always been important and useful tools for the regulated community to: glimpse how an agency might use its discretion, determine how an agency might apply a regulation, and simply understand complex...more