Proof in Trial: Appellate Edition: Stand Up for California et al. v. U.S. Department of the Interior et al.
Under Secretary Doug Burgum, the Department of the Interior (DOI) has quickly moved to implement Sections 4 and 5 of President Trump’s 7 July Executive Order 14315 titled “Ending Market Distorting Subsidies for Unreliable,...more
The Trump administration came into office in 2025 promising to speed federal environmental permitting by, among other things, streamlining compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In the whirlwind of the...more
The past month brought a flurry of updates from federal agencies publishing new procedures to implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), following President Trump’s Executive Order 14154 (EO 14154) in January...more
On July 23, 2025, just hours after releasing the AI Action Plan, President Donald Trump signed three executive orders aimed at accelerating data center construction, expanding the global reach of U.S. AI technology and...more
There have been more changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) and its implementing regulations in the past nine months than perhaps at any point since NEPA was signed into law by President Nixon on January 1,...more
During the week of July 28, the Trump administration unleashed a new burst of actions aimed squarely at blocking wind and solar energy with the announcement of two new secretarial orders (SO) and three new policies by the...more
On July 15, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) issued a memorandum establishing significantly heightened review procedures for federal decisions, actions, consultations, and other undertakings related to wind and...more
On July 15, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) circulated an internal memorandum, requiring 68 different DOI actions related to wind and solar project development to be submitted to the DOI Office of the...more
Over the past eight months, the legal framework governing environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) has undergone significant upheaval—with additional changes still on the way. Here’s what’s...more
In the past two weeks, six federal permitting agencies — the U.S. Departments of Interior (USDOI), Agriculture (USDA), Energy (DOE), Commerce (DoC), Defense (DoD), and Transportation (USDOT) — withdrew most of their National...more
The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced on May 30 that it will invoke emergency permitting procedures to accelerate environmental review of select geothermal energy projects, with three proposed geothermal...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
In a significant move to accelerate domestic energy development, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has announced emergency permitting procedures that will dramatically compress environmental review timelines. Under...more
On April 9, 2025, President Trump announced a slew of executive actions seeking to bolster the coal industry. One of the three executive orders is directly targeted at procedures to increase coal mining and production, which...more
Date Issued: Jan. 20, 2025 This executive order temporarily halts all offshore wind energy leasing within the Offshore Continental Shelf (OCS). It aims to address concerns related to marine life, ocean currents, wind...more
After little more than a week in office, there is still plenty of speculation, but priorities of the Trump 2.0 Administration are becoming more concrete. Issuance of three energy-focused Executive Orders (Unleashing American...more
On President Trump’s first and second days in office, the new administration released a flurry of executive actions, in the form of both memorandums and executive orders, focused on the energy industry:...more
Among President Donald Trump’s directives issued on his first day in office was a Presidential Memorandum targeting wind energy, which has been a significant source of new electricity generation in the United States over the...more
The United States Forest Service (“Forest Service”) recently announced plans to amend all its land management plans for National Forest System units, affecting 128 plans in total. The Forest Service did so in a scoping notice...more
Late last week, newly confirmed Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Deb Haaland took two major steps to advance the Biden-Harris administration’s climate priorities and accelerate the shift to a clean energy future....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
The Biden administration's Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad ("Executive Order") expands upon the Department of the Interior's Secretarial Order No. 3395 and indefinitely suspends the federal...more
Key Points - President Biden’s Day One Executive Order on climate action reconvenes an interagency working group to establish interim and final social costs of three GHGs: carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. -...more
The EO directs federal agencies to invoke available emergency powers to expedite environmental review and permitting of infrastructure projects. A recent Executive Order by President Trump directs agencies to expedite...more
This is the inaugural issue of WilmerHale’s 10-in-10 Hot Topics in Energy Series. Over the next 10 weeks, our attorneys will share insights on current and emerging issues affecting the US energy sector....more