On-Demand Webinar | Recent Updates to Federal Environmental and Natural Resource Regulations
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On August 14, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of its Pesticide App for Label Mitigations (PALM), which is described as an “easy-to-use, mobile-friendly tool to serve as a...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 July 23, 2025, the White House issued an Executive Order titled “Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure.” Released alongside “America’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Plan,” the Order reflects a...more
On July 15, 2025, the Office of the Secretary of the Department of the Interior (the “Department”) issued a memorandum—“Departmental Review Procedures for Decisions, Actions, Consultations, and Other Undertakings Related to...more
A new executive order seeks to streamline funding for and construction of data center projects by reducing regulatory red tape. On July 23, 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order titled “Accelerating...more
The Committee on Natural Resources (Committee) in the U.S. House of Representatives is considering a number of bills regarding wildlife, including bills to reauthorize the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal...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
On June 12, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of updated refined interim core maps that identify areas that EPA states are important to 12 threatened or endangered (listed)...more
On Monday, June 9, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) opened a short, 30-day public comment period soliciting information and comments to, “improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness” of Section 10(a) take...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
On April 29, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of its final Insecticide Strategy (Strategy), available here. EPA states in the Strategy that it is “intended to create a consistent,...more
As we reflect on environmental stewardship this week, the accelerating loss of biodiversity remains one of the most critical challenges facing our planet. Healthy ecosystems provide essential services – clean air and water,...more
On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the Services) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to rescind their respective...more
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (collectively, Services) proposed last week to rescind the regulatory definition of “harm” under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA),...more
The Trump administration last Wednesday proposed to loosen federal protections for endangered species. A draft rule from the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would...more
On April 17, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (together Services) published a proposed rule to rescind the long-standing definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species...more
On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service proposed a rulemaking to rescind the definition of “harm” in the Endangered Species Act regulations. The change is being made to...more
The Trump administration is moving to effectively eliminate a crucial protection in the half-century-old federal Endangered Species Act by redefining a single word: harm. A proposed rule, issued this Wednesday from the U.S....more
Defenders of Wildlife (“Defenders”) announced on March 13th its release of a document titled: 2024 Conservation Report Card for the 118th Congress (“Report Card”). Defenders says the Report Card assesses the...more
The new Administration under President Trump is now over a month old, but there remains some uncertainty as to how the Administration will approach agricultural policy. The Administration’s first wave of environmental...more
President Trump concluded that the integrity and expansion of the energy infrastructure of the United States is an immediate priority for the nation's economic and national security....more
The first month of President Donald Trump’s second term has seen a flurry of Executive Orders (EOs) impacting a swath of agencies, departments, and legislation. The environmental sector has been a particular focus of these...more