The intricacies of the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) definition continue to evolve, especially with recent changes initiated under the Trump administration and landmark clarifications from the Supreme Court's Sackett v. EPA...more
On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, Services) published a notice in the Federal Register proposing to rescind the Services’ respective...more
Just two months into President Trump’s second term, project applicants are navigating a series of changes to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 permitting. Upon his inauguration, President...more
Ever since the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit declared in Marin Audubon that the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) had no authority to issue binding National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations,...more
2/24/2025
/ CEQ ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
En Banc Review ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
National Park Service ,
National Parks ,
NEPA ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process
On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14154, “Unleashing American Energy,” which requires all agencies to identify actions that potentially burden deployment of domestic energy resources and develop...more
In the two weeks following his second-term inauguration, President Donald Trump issued dozens of executive orders, many of which focus on energy independence and streamlining governmental approvals. The long-term...more
2/4/2025
/ Clean Water Act ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
NEPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Renewable Energy
This is the fifth in a series of six eAlerts on the Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule published in the Federal Register on May 1, 2024 (Final Rule) by the Council for Environmental Quality (CEQ). The Final Rule...more
6/5/2024
/ CEQ ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Environmental Assessments ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Final Rules ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
NEPA ,
Real Estate Development ,
Regulatory Reform
On May 1, 2024, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published its final Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule (Final Rule), that revises regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),...more
On December 6, the Biden Administration released the Fall 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda), which lists the regulatory and deregulatory actions the various federal administrative...more
12/12/2023
/ Conservation ,
Critical Habitat ,
Delisting ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
ESA Listings ,
Final Rules ,
Habitat Conservation Plan ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Texas ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service
On August 29, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) (collectively, the Agencies) released their amendment to January 2023 rule (January 2023 Rule) defining what...more
8/31/2023
/ Amended Rules ,
Biden Administration ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Inland Waterways ,
Navigable Waters ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Sackett v EPA ,
Significant Nexus Test ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
JULY WOTUS UPDATES: On July 12, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sent a letter to top Republican lawmakers, confirming that the Corps...more
7/21/2023
/ Clean Water Act ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Inland Waterways ,
Navigable Waters ,
Regulatory Reform ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
On June 26, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced their intent to amend the Biden administration’s January 2023 waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule and...more
6/29/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Inland Waterways ,
Navigable Waters ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Sackett ,
Sackett v EPA ,
SCOTUS ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
In a 5-4 decision issued on May 25, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the applicability of federal Clean Water Act regulatory authority over wetlands that have a relatively permanent connection to other federal waters....more
6/15/2023
/ Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Inland Waterways ,
Navigable Waters ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Sackett ,
Sackett v EPA ,
SCOTUS ,
Significant Nexus Test ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
On February 9, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published proposed revisions to its regulations governing incidental take and enhancement of survival permitting under Endangered Species Act (ESA) section 10....more
2/16/2023
/ Comment Period ,
Conservation ,
Critical Habitat ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Habitat Conservation Plan ,
Incidental Take Permits ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service
On November 16, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (District Court) remanded three sets of Endangered Species Act (ESA) regulations promulgated in 2019 under the Trump Administration back to...more
11/18/2022
/ Conservation ,
Critical Habitat ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
ESA Listings ,
Habitat Conservation Plan ,
National Marine Fisheries Service ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Remand ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has finalized revisions to portions of the agency’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing regulations (Phase I Regulations), which had been revised in 2020 under the...more
On December 22, 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) proposed to list the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl (Glaucidium brasilianum cactorum) (Owl) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) primarily due...more
12/29/2021
/ Climate Change ,
Comment Period ,
Conservation ,
Critical Habitat ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
ESA Listings ,
Habitat Conservation Plan ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service
On December 10, 2021, the Biden Administration released the Fall 2021 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda), which is a semi-annual compilation of information concerning regulations and policy...more
12/21/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Conservation ,
Critical Habitat ,
Department of the Interior ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Habitat Conservation Plan ,
National Marine Fisheries Service ,
Nationwide Permits (NWPs) ,
NEPA ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service
On November 18, 2021, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced the availability of a pre-publication version of a proposed rule (Proposed Rule) to amend the definition of Waters...more
12/2/2021
/ Clean Water Act ,
Comment Period ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Inland Waterways ,
Navigable Waters ,
Navigable Waters Protection Rule ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
On October 7, 2021, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) will publish the first of two proposed rulemakings to revise National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations that had previously been updated in 2020 under...more
On September 3, 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced the agencies’ will abandon the definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS) set forth in the April 21,...more
9/7/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Navigable Waters ,
Navigable Waters Protection Rule ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States
On June 29, 2021, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) will publish an interim final rule (IFR) extending the deadline by which federal agencies are required to adopt updated National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)...more
On June 4, 2021, the Biden Administration announced its intent to rescind or revise several implementing regulations for the Endangered Species Act (ESA) finalized under the prior administration. ...more
6/8/2021
/ Conservation ,
Critical Habitat ,
Delisting ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
ESA Listings ,
Habitat Conservation Plan ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
Weyerhaeuser Company v United States Fish and Wildlife Service
On January 20, 2021, President Biden announced his administration will review regulatory actions taken between January 17, 2020 and January 20, 2021 in accordance with an Executive Order titled “Protecting Public Health and...more
1/22/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Critical Habitat ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
Navigable Waters ,
NEPA ,
Regulatory Reform ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service
On December 3, 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and other agencies (collectively, “Agencies”) announced an update to the standard Bank...more
12/28/2020
/ Clean Water Act ,
Comment Period ,
Construction Project ,
Environmental Policies ,
Mitigation ,
Real Estate Development ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Section 404 ,
State Department of Fish and Wildlife ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service