On July 3, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Army Corps”), and the Departments of Energy (“DOE”), Interior (“DOI”), Transportation (“DOT”),...more
7/14/2025
/ Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
CEQ ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of the Interior ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Energy Regulatory Commission ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Review ,
FERC ,
Government Agencies ,
Guidance Documents ,
Judicial Review ,
NEPA ,
Permits ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
USDA
The federal government is continuing to implement President Donald Trump’s Unleashing American Energy mandate to promote domestic energy and infrastructure projects. On June 18, 2025, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...more
6/24/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Water Act ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Assessments ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Government Agencies ,
Oil & Gas ,
Permits ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers
A series of recent actions undertaken by President Biden, near the end of his term, and President Trump, in the early days of his presidency, have called into question a key issue under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act...more
3/27/2025
/ Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of the Interior ,
Energy Policy ,
Executive Orders ,
Offshore Drilling ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
In 2020, President-elect Donald Trump promised to ensure that “America’s most critical infrastructure projects” would not be “tied up and bogged down by an outrageously slow and burdensome federal approval process.” Much of...more
12/19/2024
/ Audubon Society ,
Biden Administration ,
CEQ ,
Department of Environmental Quality ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Government Agencies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
National Environmental Policies ,
NEPA ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rescission ,
Trump Administration
In a concerted effort to meet the Biden administration’s aggressive carbon-reduction goals, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) unveiled a pre-publication copy of a forthcoming proposed rule on August 10, 2023, aimed at...more
8/17/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
CEQ ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Federal Power Act ,
FERC ,
NEPA ,
Renewable Energy
On February 15, 2022, the Biden administration announced a slew of low carbon emissions initiatives for the industrial sector in support of the administration’s goal to achieve a net-zero economy. ...more
Ambitions to decarbonize the power sector by 2035 face a number of significant hurdles — the most intractable of which may be the extent of corresponding highvoltage transmission infrastructure necessary to accommodate the...more
10/25/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Eminent Domain ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Policy Act ,
Energy Reform ,
FERC ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pending Legislation ,
Power Grid ,
Power Infrastructure ,
Public Land ,
Renewable Energy ,
Transmission Grid
The Biden administration has signaled its intention to recriminalize non-purposeful, or incidental, “takes” of birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (“MBTA”). The longstanding debate over the scope of criminal liability...more
3/18/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Criminal Liability ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Incidental Take Permits ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Renewable Energy ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump Administration ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
Wind Power
While the texts of environmental laws do not change without an act of Congress, executive branch agencies that enforce those laws have a great deal of discretion in what kinds of violations to prioritize for investigation and...more
1/28/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Air Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Natural Resources ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Justice ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Methane ,
OECA ,
OIRA ,
Performance Standards ,
Renewable Energy ,
Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) Policy
Each new presidential administration brings with it its own set of policy goals and priorities. While the text of the environmental laws does not change without an act of Congress, agencies within the executive branch have a...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
1/20/2021
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Biden Administration ,
Clean Water Act ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
FERC ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Methane ,
Nationwide Permits (NWPs) ,
Natural Gas Act ,
NEPA ,
Pipelines ,
Trump Administration ,
Waters of the United States