A chain of events that started on Inauguration Day culminated with the June 30, 2025, withdrawal of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations that have, since the 1970s, structured decision-making processes at the...more
Key Takeaways -
-The Department of the Interior approved the reactivation of the Velvet-Wood uranium and vanadium mine using new emergency procedures issued pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order 14156, which declared...more
The Supreme Court of the United States’ opinion, issued May 29, 2025, in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, reaffirms the Court’s earlier, seminal decisions expounding judicial review under the...more
6/4/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Chevron Deference ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Judicial Review ,
NEPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Authority ,
SCOTUS ,
Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v Eagle County Colorado ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Surface Transportation Board ,
Transportation Industry
On February 19, 2025, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) submitted to the Federal Register an interim final rule rescinding its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, which have been the foundation for...more
2/21/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
CEQ ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Final Rules ,
NEPA ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process
By directing the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to propose rescinding CEQ’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, President Donald Trump’s executive order on “Unleashing American Energy” affects not...more
1/23/2025
/ CEQ ,
Clean Energy ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Infrastructure ,
NEPA ,
Permits ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements
A split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit landed an unexpected blow on the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on November 12, ruling that CEQ lacked authority to promulgate its umbrella...more
The Supreme Court of the United States announced on June 24, 2024, that it will review a case that could have major ramifications for the development of U.S. infrastructure projects. In Seven County Infrastructure Coalition...more
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) finalized its Phase Two revisions to its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing regulations on April 30, 2024, following an effort initiated in 2021 to “revise,...more
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposed to amend its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures on November 16, 2023, to include a new categorical exclusion for certain energy storage systems and to expand its...more
11/28/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Energy ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Energy Storage ,
Infrastructure ,
NEPA ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Solar Energy
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has proposed further amendments to its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing regulations as part of its phased rulemaking initiated in 2021. The proposed Bipartisan...more
President Joe Biden signed into law the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA), colloquially referred to as the Debt Ceiling Bill, on June 3, 2023.[1] The legislation completes a bipartisan agreement to suspend the public...more
The Biden administration (the Administration) has set ambitious goals to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to at least 50% below 2005 levels by 2030 and to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. To achieve these ends, the...more
5/15/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Electricity ,
Energy Reform ,
Energy Sector ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
NEPA ,
Net Zero ,
Transmission Lines
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published guidance on January 9, 2023, regarding how to evaluate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires...more
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published its notice of intent (NOI) on Friday, July 15, 2022, to prepare a programmatic environmental review to analyze the potential impacts of wind energy development activities...more
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which President Biden is expected to sign into law, contains some important changes to the federal environmental review process for surface transportation projects. Most...more
The Council on Environmental Quality has proposed amendments to its 2020 NEPA implementing regulations, adopted during the waning days of the Trump administration. The Proposed Rule, published in the October 7, 2021 Federal...more
Title VIII of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684), the infrastructure bill recently passed by the U.S. Senate, includes several important amendments to Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface...more
The secretary of the interior issued two Secretarial Orders on April 16, 2021, that provide early indications of the Biden administration’s approach to the environmental review process for infrastructure projects under the...more
4/22/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
CEQ ,
Department of the Interior ,
Environmental Assessments ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Executive Orders ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
NEPA ,
New Guidance ,
New Regulations
The U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed comprehensive changes to update its procedures under the National Environmental Policy Act in response to the Council on Environmental Quality’s July 16, 2020, overhaul of...more
The U.S. Forest Service has released narrowly tailored changes to update its procedures under the National Environmental Policy Act, in the wake of the Council on Environmental Quality’s recent overhaul of the NEPA...more