New NEPA Limits on the Horizon -
It has been a year of major change for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), marked by various court decisions, executive orders, and the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ)...more
President Trump has issued a flurry of new Executive Orders and Presidential Memoranda aimed at advancing the Administration’s deregulatory agenda, particularly in the energy and environmental sectors. This advisory provides...more
On March 22, 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an order setting forth new standards it will use to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with natural gas pipeline projects. The order,...more
It’s no secret that President Biden plans to prioritize action on climate change. During his presidential campaign, Biden identified climate change as one of his top four priorities, and announced he would seek to put the...more
On June 9, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued new rules designed to address concerns expressed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (DC Circuit) about abuse of landowner...more
On March 20, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (DC Circuit), sitting en banc, will hear arguments challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) use of “tolling orders.”...more
On April 10, 2019, President Trump signed two executive orders intended to address a range of legal and procedural hurdles commonly facing infrastructure projects, particularly in the energy sector. Most notably, the...more
In a 2-1 decision, the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) did not satisfy the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) when it...more
On April 28, 2017, the Trump administration issued an Executive Order entitled “Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy.” This EO calls for expanded oil and gas leasing in areas of the U.S. Outer Continental...more
The Department of the Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue (“ONRR”) accounts for and collects royalties owed on production from federal and Indian mineral leases onshore and on the Outer Continental Shelf (“OCS”). ...more
On May 12, 2016, EPA issued three final rules to reduce methane emissions from new, reconstructed, and modified sources in the oil and gas sector by 2025. These rules create significant new obligations to reduce emissions of...more
After five years in the making, the federal Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) has proposed a rule to reduce the waste of natural gas from operations on federal and Indian oil and gas leases and to clarify when royalties apply...more
The National Park Service (“NPS”) today proposed a major overhaul of its regulations for non-federal oil and gas operations in National Park units. See 80 Fed. Reg. 65,572 (Oct. 26, 2015). Although the NPS press statement...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has released the text of a draft proposed rule that seeks to amend the new source performance standards (“NSPS”) addressing methane and volatile organic compounds (“VOC”) from...more
Sometimes new regulations come out of nowhere. And sometimes it is just a matter of time. Last week’s unveiling of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s (“BSEE”) offshore blowout preventer and well control...more
The Department of the Interior today announced that it will publish for public comment a draft proposed Five-Year Program (“DPP”) governing the leasing of offshore oil and gas for 2017 through 2022. Interior’s DPP will...more
On January 6, 2015, the Department of the Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue (“ONRR”) issued a proposed regulation that would substantially modify existing regulations in 30 C.F.R. Part 1206 for the valuation for...more