On-Demand Webinar | Recent Updates to Federal Environmental and Natural Resource Regulations
On-Demand Webinar | Linear Infrastructure Redux: Adapting Your Projects to Meet the New Regulatory Climate
The Center for Biological Diversity (“CBD”) sent a July 30th document to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) styled: Notice of Intent to Sue for Violations of the Endangered Species Act with Respect...more
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams on Aug. 7 issued a temporary restraining order to pause construction on the controversial detention center known as “Alligator Alcatraz” for two weeks pending argument on the underlying...more
The Center for Biological Diversity (“CBD”) filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (“Complaint”) against the United States Fish and Wildlife...more
In a significant victory for the hydropower industry, last week the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon issued an order in Cascadia Wildlands v. EWEB (Case No. 6:25-00446), reaffirming that the U.S. courts of...more
On August 5, the United States District Court for the District of Montana issued an order overturning a determination made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) during the Biden Administration that listing the gray...more
The Ninth Circuit held that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) acted arbitrarily and capriciously by failing to explain in its Record of Decision why it selected a project alternative that did not meet the development...more
On May 12, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to reevaluate its decision not to list two species of Joshua tree—Yucca brevifolia (western...more
Environmental criminal law in France has developed steadily over the past several years. Recently, however, there has been a shift of the political narrative — both in Europe and domestically — toward simplification rather...more
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
On June 9, 2025, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published a request for information (RFI) seeking to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of key permitting programs under Section 10(a) of the Endangered Species...more
On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (together, the “Services”) proposed to rescind their longstanding regulatory definition of “harm”, which has for decades served...more
The environmental organization Earthjustice submitted May 19th comments to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fishery Service (collectively, “Services”) addressing their proposed rescission of the...more
On May 9, 2025, fifteen democratic states (“Plaintiff States”) sued the Trump Administration in Washington District Court, claiming that President Trump’s executive order “Declaring a National Energy Emergency” (“Executive...more
The Defenders of Wildlife’s Center for Conservation Innovation announced the publication of a paper titled: Habitat conservation plans under the endangered species act: A comprehensive three-decade analysis (“Paper”)....more
The United States Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit (“9th Circuit”) addressed in a February 11th Memorandum a challenge to a United States Forest Service (“Service”) action pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act...more
President Donald Trump’s second term has already proven to be an extension of his first-term deregulatory agenda at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Given historical trends, such deregulation will likely prompt...more
On March 18, three advocacy organizations and their members filed a lawsuit challenging an offshore wind project against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The...more
“We’re gonna win so much, you may even get tired of winning. And you’ll say, ‘Please, please. It’s too much winning. We can’t take it anymore.’” That was what then-candidate Trump promised life would be like in America...more
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (“Court”) in an August 11th Memorandum Opinion (“Opinion”) addressed an issue arising under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”). See Natural Resources Defense...more
Recently, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a concerned citizen against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and National Marine Fisheries...more
As 2022 draws to a close, here is a brief description of recent environmental and regulatory law rulings, as well as new federal rulemaking proceedings....more
This week, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a rule rescinding the rule issued in 2020 defining “habitat” for the purposes of determining what constitutes “critical...more
New York Bight Lease Sale Under Attack - A New Jersey-based nonprofit organization, Save Long Beach Island, and its president sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in January 2022. They are asserting...more
Linear infrastructure projects, including oil and gas pipelines, electric transmission lines and transportation, have faced a number of regulatory challenges over the last year. Some of these challenges stem from changes in...more