On-Demand Webinar | Recent Updates to Federal Environmental and Natural Resource Regulations
On-Demand Webinar | Regulatory Uncertainty and Linear Infrastructure Projects: Where Are We and What’s Ahead?
On-Demand Webinar | Linear Infrastructure Redux: Adapting Your Projects to Meet the New Regulatory Climate
On-Demand Webinar | The New NEPA Regulations: A Practical Guide to What You Need to Know
How Trump's Infrastructure Plan Impacts the Energy Industry
The Biden Administration is amending the federal regulations for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to reverse certain changes made by the Trump Administration. The first set of amendments took effect...more
On Wednesday, 20 April, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) finalized its first of two phases of rulemaking updates to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations (the 2022 Rule). The 2022 Rule unwinds a...more
So CEQ has proposed to amend the NEPA regulations in order to eliminate some of the changes made by the Trump Administration in 2020. Important changes include: • explicit consideration of indirect impacts • renewed...more
On June 21, 2021, a federal district court in Virginia dismissed a lawsuit filed by environmental groups against the Trump-era overhaul of regulations under the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"). Our prior article...more
JANUARY 2020 - FEDERAL APPELLATE COURTS - U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit - El Paso County, Texas, et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al. On January 8, 2020, a divided panel of the court quickly granted a...more
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
Little used before the Trump administration and with limited time to act, what regulations will the Biden administration target with the CRA? Democrats can use the Congressional Review Act to overturn regulations passed in...more
Each new presidential administration brings with it its own set of policy goals and priorities. While the text of U.S. environmental law does not change without an act of Congress, agencies within the executive branch have a...more
News stories and campaign rhetoric frequently create expectations of immediate shifts following an administration change, but most changes in the federal government happen slowly, and the constraint on resources and time...more
President-elect Biden will assume office in January, 2021, with a divided nation, the global coronavirus pandemic, and a domestic energy market in a distressed state. The new administration will need to oversee the management...more
On September 14, 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued nonbinding guidance to agencies to help them comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) during emergencies. The guidance comes less than...more
Last week, Judge James Jones declined to issue a preliminary injunction that would have prevented implementation of the Trump Administration’s NEPA revisions. Judge Jones’s explanation was fairly sparse. He merely noted that...more
This is the final in our series of eAlerts on revisions to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations published in the Federal Register on July 16, 2020 by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) (“Final Rule”)....more
Contaminated groundwater plume in north Orange County placed on federal Superfund list - Orange County Register – September 1 - A five-square-mile plume of contaminated groundwater in north Orange County has been...more
Every election observer understands that if former Vice President Joe Biden wins the November Presidential election, big changes will soon follow. What many may not realize is that big changes will also happen if the current...more
On July 16, 2020, the White House Council on Environmental Quality ("CEQ") finalized the first major overhaul of its regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") in nearly 40 years. The final...more
The White House’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) recently published in the Federal Register a final rule, Update to the Regulations Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act. ...more
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), a division of the Executive Office of the President, yesterday promulgated by publication in the Federal Register significant changes to its regulations implementing the National...more
EPA limits states’ power to review projects that affect water quality - Bullet Courthouse News Service – July 13 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday issued a new 401 Certification Rule under the...more
On June 4, 2020, President Trump signed an executive order to provide federal agencies the foundation to speed up environmental permitting in the wake of COVID-19. ...more
On June 4, 2020, President Trump signed an executive order instructing his administration to use any applicable “emergency authorities” to waive requirements within certain environmental laws in order to facilitate permitting...more
Benjamin Franklin wrote that “an investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” Just over 200 years later, the United States passed a law that put that sentiment into practice in the context of federal government...more
Climate Change Regulatory Issues & Updates - Trump Administration Plans Overhaul of NEPA Review Process The proposed rule changes would considerably limit the scope of environmental reviews of planned energy and...more
For many mining and infrastructure projects in the United States, a primary cause of permitting uncertainty, expense, and delay is compliance with the environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act...more
It seems to be the season for 50th anniversaries. The National Environmental Policy Act, signed into law by President Nixon on January 1, 1970, is now a half-century old. The first day of a new decade was no doubt seen as a...more