Climate-Proofing Our Infrastructure: Building Climate Resilience with the Army Corps of Engineers
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On President Trump’s first and second days in office, the new administration released a flurry of executive actions, in the form of both memorandums and executive orders, focused on the energy industry:...more
Judge Indira Talwani of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts has rejected another challenge to federal permits and approvals for the Vineyard Wind Project (Vineyard Wind or the Project). Vineyard Wind is...more
In Sackett v. EPA, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a massive blow to EPA's ability to regulate wetlands under the Clean Water Act ("CWA"). Addressing the "nagging question" about the reaches of the CWA, Justice Alito, joined...more
A group of Mississippi municipalities and associations filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court (S.D. Miss.) against the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) for allegedly violating the National...more
If “Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” It’s been a quiet term thus far for the Supreme Court, due in part to the hearing of oral arguments in many contentious cases. Below is a brief summary of some of the recent...more
On September 30, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued an opinion in Save the Colorado, et al. v. Spellmon. The case arose from various conservation group challenges to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...more
From Executive Orders to court decisions, the environmental regulatory landscape seems to be changing from day to day. Many of the changes will increasingly have impacts on the timing, placement and cost of construction and...more
The South Carolina Conservation League and three other environmental organizations filed an August 17th Complaint in the United States District Court (District of South Carolina) challenging the United States Army Corps of...more
We interrupt our usual scrutiny of the courts to focus (mostly) on the important developments in notices and rulemaking issued by and concerning federal regulatory agencies and departments in the past several weeks....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 February 11, 2021, the Ninth Circuit upheld the district court’s decision vacating Nationwide Permit (NWP) 48, Commercial Shellfish Mariculture Activities, in Washington State. As previously discussed, industry appealed...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
The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington recently entered an order vacating U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits issued pursuant to the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Rivers and Harbors Act (RHA)....more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Dec. 17, 2020, signed an agreement to delegate to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) the authority to issue permits in the state under Section 404 of...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
Update June 17, 2020: On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers filed an application to the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay of the April 15, 2020, order (amended May 11, 2020) issued by the U.S. District Court of...more
The EO directs federal agencies to invoke available emergency powers to expedite environmental review and permitting of infrastructure projects. A recent Executive Order by President Trump directs agencies to expedite...more
A United States District Court (Montana) (“Court”) addressed in an April 15th decision a challenge to the United States Corps of Engineers’ (“Corps”) issuance of Clean Water Act Nationwide Permit (“NWP”) 12 (Utility Line...more
Did the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by not engaging with U.S. Fish and Wildlife in an Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultation prior to reauthorizing Nationwide Permit...more
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Enjoined from Using NWP 12 to Authorize “Utility Line Activities” in Jurisdictional Waters - On April 15, 2020, a federal district court in Montana invalidated the United States Army Corps of...more
In a case brought by a coalition of environmental groups opposed to the Keystone XL Pipeline project, Judge Brian Morris of the U.S. District Court for Montana issued a ruling on April 15 nullifying Nationwide Permit (NWP)...more
Infrastructure projects may require expansive individual permit reviews for de minimis construction activity - On April 15, 2020, the Federal District Court for Montana granted a request by several environmental activist...more
In late December, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the “Fall 2019 Unified Agenda of Regulatory Actions” just a few days before the Calendar turned to the year 2020....more
The Sierra Club and several other organizations (collectively “Sierra Club”) filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (“Complaint”) in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington...more