Recent Updates to Federal Environmental and Natural Resource Regulations
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A federal court has thrown out key Endangered Species Act (ESA) analyses of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico, which will be vacated as of Dec. 20, 2024. The United States District Court for the District of...more
On May 20, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a final rule listing the dunes sagebrush lizard as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The listing does not include a designation of critical habitat....more
On May 20, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued a final rule listing the dunes sagebrush lizard (“DSL”) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”).1 The change in the DSL listing status, which...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Nov. 14, 2023, dismissed claims brought by environmental groups challenging offshore oil and gas Lease Sale 261. The court ordered that the sale take place within 37 days of...more
The Biden administration is restoring significant state and tribal authority over water resources and expanding their leverage on infrastructure permitting decisions, including for pipelines. With a final rule announced this...more
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association said on Thursday that they had reached an agreement, referred to as the "Clean Truck Partnership," that gives new flexibility for...more
City of San Diego sues 20-plus companies to force cleanup of PFAS contamination Bullet Times of San Diego - May 11 The San Diego City Attorney’s Office filed suit last Wednesday against more than 20 chemical companies for...more
On February 9, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado found that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) when it failed to reinitiate consultation with the U.S. Fish...more
On August 11, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted partial vacatur of an appeal brought by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) challenging a district court decision to vacate and enjoin use of...more
Linear infrastructure projects, including oil and gas pipelines, electric transmission lines and transportation, have faced a number of regulatory challenges over the last year. Some of these challenges stem from changes in...more
On June 1, 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to list the lesser prairie-chicken under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The proposal distinguishes between...more
The Sierra Club and other environmental organizations filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (“Complaint”) in the United States District Court for the District of Montana against the United States Army Corps...more
On March 10, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a biological opinion (BiOp) and incidental take statement (ITS) issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) in connection with a...more
Officials call for protection of Redwood City’s salt ponds - The San Mateo Daily Journal – February 19 - Nearly 60 Bay Area political leaders and organizations last Tuesday asked the Biden administration to protect...more
State senators introduce bill to ban hydraulic fracturing in California by 2027 - San Francisco Chronicle – February 17 - State Senators Scott Wiener and Monique Limon have introduced a bill that would halt the...more
The Center for Biological Diversity (“CBD”), other organizations, and an individual submitted a February 3rd Petition for Review (“Petition”) before the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Environmental...more
Recent news that the Democrats flipped both U.S. Senate seats in Georgia’s run-off election means that the Democrats have enough votes to add the Congressional Review Act (CRA)[1] to the tools that could be used to advance...more
On January 5, 2021, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Army Corps”) released a pre-publication version of its final rule reissuing and modifying a subset of its suite of nationwide permits (“NWPs”), including those used for...more
Biden picks North Carolina environmental chief to lead EPA - Associated Press – December 17 - President-elect Joe Biden this Thursday selected Michael S. Regan to serve as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental...more
Overview of the current energy mix, and the place in the market of different energy sources - Due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. total energy consumption in 2020 is on pace to decline for a second straight...more
White House directs agencies to relax enforcement - Los Angeles Times – September 9 - A memorandum produced by the White House Office of Management and Budget and sent to federal agency heads last week instructs them to...more
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) issued a September 3rd final rule reclassifying (i.e., downlisting) the American burying beetle (“ABB”) from endangered to threatened on the Endangered Species Act...more
The last few weeks have yielded a number of interesting developments in the Federal courts. FEDERAL COURTS OF APPEAL - In re Flint Water Cases - Several local and State of Michigan officials, including the former governor,...more
The Army Corps of Engineers issued a prepublication version of its Proposal to Reissue and Modify Nationwide Permits (NWPs) on August 3, 2020. The proposal would reissue all 52 existing nationwide permits, some with...more