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
The U.S. offshore wind market has surged in growth over the last few years, bolstered by the U.S government’s commitment in 2021 to increase offshore wind lease capacity as well as the Biden Administration’s declaration that...more
4/26/2022
/ Asset Management ,
Biden Administration ,
BOEM ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
FERC ,
Offshore Wind ,
Project Finance ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Renewable Energy ,
Wind Farm ,
Wind Power
On 23 March 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service) issued a proposed rule (Proposed Rule) to reclassify the northern long-eared bat from a threatened species to an endangered species under the Endangered...more
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will hold its next offshore wind lease auction on 11 May 2022, for two lease areas in the Carolina Long Bay. The lease areas comprise 110,091 acres off the coast of North and South...more
Offshore wind is in high demand, as evidenced by the US$4.37 billion in winning bids generated in the recent federal government auction of lease blocks in the New York Bight. On a per-acre basis, the provisional winners were...more
The regulations that implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) are crucially important for the development of major energy and infrastructure projects in the United States. For example, the NEPA regulations will...more
The flurry of offshore wind activity off the U.S. Eastern Seaboard continues, as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has announced recently it will hold an auction on 23 February 2022, to lease six new areas for...more
The Biden administration has prioritized regulating Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), which are a class of fluorinated chemicals used in products as varied as food packaging and fire-fighting foams because they are...more
Carbon Quarterly is a newsletter covering developments in carbon policy, law, and innovation. No matter your views on climate change policy, there is no avoiding an increasing focus on carbon regulation, resiliency planning,...more
On 18 November 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the "Corps") (together, the Agencies) released the pre-publication version of the proposed rule redefining the scope of...more
On 29 September 2021, the U.S. Department of Interior (Interior) announced a series of actions to unwind a Trump-era rule in an effort to “to ensure that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) conserves birds today and into the...more
On 30 August 2021, Judge Rosemary Márquez, a federal district judge in the District of Arizona, ordered the remand and vacatur of the Trump administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) defining “waters of the...more
Carbon Quarterly is a newsletter covering developments in carbon policy, law, and innovation. No matter your views on climate change policy, there is no avoiding an increasing focus on carbon regulation, resiliency planning,...more
In honor of World Oceans Day, House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) reintroduced legislation aimed at addressing the ocean impacts of climate change and reforming federal ocean management to better...more
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) does not need to conduct full environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when granting an offshore wind farm lease, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals...more
Carbon Quarterly is a newsletter covering developments in carbon policy, law, and innovation. No matter your views on climate change policy, there is no avoiding an increasing focus on carbon regulation, resiliency planning,...more
Hydrogen—the smallest molecule, but one that holds the potential to be an energy superhero and play a significant role in reducing carbon emissions and slowing climate change.
The H2 Handbook provides a comprehensive...more
This April, the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) is expected to release a draft of its new rule titled Greenhouse Gas Assessment for Projects (GAP Rule). The GAP Rule could have major impacts on local...more
The Carbon Quarterly is a newsletter covering developments in carbon policy, law, and innovation. No matter your views on climate change policy, there is no avoiding an increasing focus on carbon regulation, resiliency...more
2/5/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Methane ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paris Agreement ,
Power Plants
State Senator Scott Weiner recently introduced the Climate Corporation Accountability Act (SB 260 or the Bill) on the California Senate floor. If enacted, SB 260 would create mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG)...more
On 14 January 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a guidance memorandum on the application of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 23 April 2020 decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund (Maui)....more
2/2/2021
/ Clean Water Act ,
Direct Discharge ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Functional Equivalent ,
Groundwater ,
Hawaii Wildlife Fund v County of Maui ,
Navigable Waters ,
Permits ,
Point Sources ,
SCOTUS ,
Waters of the United States
The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) is hosting an informal meeting on January 28, 2021 to discuss implementing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new total maximum daily load (TMDL) for...more
On 7 January 2021, the Trump administration finalized a new rule that limits the scope of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA or the Act). Under the new rule (which President Biden has already directed the Department of the...more
Late Sunday, President Trump signed into law H.R. 133, the legislative package containing Coronavirus relief, the Fiscal Year 2021 Omnibus bill, and the Energy Act of 2020—the largest energy package to be enacted into law in...more
In November, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS or the Service) issued a final jeopardy opinion for 39 nearshore development projects in the Puget Sound region that had been under consultation with the U.S. Army...more