New Upstream Pit Permitting Rules — Energy Law Insights
PFAS in Focus: Forever-Engineering With Trent Stober, HDR - Reflections on Water Podcast
On-Demand Webinar | Flood or Drought? A Discussion of the Election’s Potential Legislative Impacts on the Water Sector
[WEBINAR] Fairly (or Unfairly?) Traceable: Are Discharges Through Groundwater Subject to the Clean Water Act?
Water Rights with Eric Garner: Prescriptive Rights
Context is Crucial in Examining BLM’s Proposed Rule for Fracking On Federal Land
Baker Botts' 39th Annual Environmental Seminar featured two breakout sessions covering the latest environmental, safety and incident response developments and trends....more
Exxon Mobil last Friday filed suit in federal court challenging two California laws that would require the oil company to report greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the use of its products globally. The 30-page complaint,...more
California law requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to create, promulgate, and update every five years the California Water Plan (Plan). The Plan is intended to provide a comprehensive strategy for the sustainable...more
The California Court of Appeal has ruled that preliminary work can begin on the Delta Conveyance Project, a controversial proposal to build a 14-mile underground tunnel to transport water from Northern California southward....more
The 2025 Oregon Legislative Session ran from January 21 to June 27 and was marked by fiscal uncertainty and systematic challenges as the Capitol community grappled with how to process a record 3,466 bills introduced. Within...more
Texas produces more than just oil and gas. Every day, millions of gallons of produced water are generated as a byproduct of oil and gas production. Once viewed strictly as a waste product, produced water is now at the center...more
The budget reconciliation bill signed into law on July 4 (also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill”) adds a new provision to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that allows project sponsors/applicants to pay for...more
Aquifer protection, Chicago pension boost among more than 100 new laws- “Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday signed into law 124 of the 436 bills sent to him by lawmakers in the spring legislative session. The measures signed last...more
A wave of water-related legislation swept through the Oregon Legislature during the 2025 session. The most controversial water-related bills did not end up passing. In particular, there were three bills that would have...more
Arizona Senate Bill 1611 (SB1611), signed into law during the 2025 legislative session, introduces sweeping changes to Arizona’s groundwater and land use framework that could significantly benefit real estate developers...more
The 2024 legislative session ended on August 31, meaning the legislature passed all bills for this year. All of the bills are currently with Governor Newsom. He has until September 30 to sign or veto any bills. Any bills not...more
The California 2023 Legislative Session ended on September 14, 2023, and presented the Governor with several important changes to California’s water-related statutes. The Governor had until October 14, 2023, to sign all...more
New California Law to Help Achieve SGMA Requirements - Assembly Bill 658, signed into law last week, creates new temporary diversion permits allowing for excess surface water capture during high-flow events. Permits...more
The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) will have new, expansive authority to order public water systems to monitor for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under a new law, commonly referred to as...more
Pierce Atwood LLP offers this summary of Maine Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) standards as a convenience in evaluating PFAS and tracking Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulatory and Maine...more
Property owners in California may have access to state funds for environmental cleanup of smaller brownfields projects. The money comes from two pieces of environmental legislation passed in 2014....more
Bills Addresses Traditional Costs and Delays in Adjudications - On October 9, 2015, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a pair of bills designed to streamline groundwater basin adjudications and align them with requirements under...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - Governor Brown authorizes streamlined groundwater: Allen Matkins - Oct 13: On Friday, October 9, 2015, Governor Brown signed a suite of bills that has the potential to significantly...more
October 11, 2015, marked the deadline by which Governor Brown had to act on legislation submitted to him by the legislature in September. In addition to those bills the Governor signed, we note below legislation that has been...more
On Friday, October 9, 2015, Governor Brown signed a suite of bills that has the potential to significantly increase litigation over groundwater rights. Together, Assembly Bill 1390 and Senate Bill 226 authorize streamlined...more
California enacts basin adjudication statutes with the goal of reducing uncertainty, costs and time of water rights litigation. On October 9, 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 1390 (Alejo) and SB 226...more
Your Texas legislators have done their work and the citizens are safe for the next two years. The other good news is that industry supporters generally believe the 2015 Legislature was their friend. House Bill 2: Set...more
In 2014, for the first time in its 164-year history, California enacted a law that comprehensively regulates the extraction and use of the state’s groundwater. This legislative action came against the dramatic backdrop of...more
In an effort to balance depleted groundwater supplies amid record drought conditions, Governor Jerry Brown signed three bills on September 17, 2014 designed to regulate groundwater aquifers throughout California. The landmark...more
The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which takes effect Jan. 1, requires that the Department of Water Resources categorize each of California’s 515 alluvial groundwater basins and subbasins as high, medium, low, or...more