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
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
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
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
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
Several high-profile species — including the burrowing owl, Crotch’s bumble bee, western Joshua tree, western spadefoot toad, and the monarch butterfly — have recently been elevated to candidate status under either the...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
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
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 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
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 23, 2025, the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) announced newly adopted emergency permitting procedures it is implementing to accelerate the review and approval of projects in relation “to the identification,...more
The Trump administration changes course on regulatory interpretations relating to the scope of protections for endangered and threatened species and migratory birds. ...more
On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (Services) proposed a rule to rescind the regulatory definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The proposed rule...more
On April 17, 2025, the Departments of Interior and Commerce issued a proposed rule to rescind the regulatory definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) which, if finalized, would fundamentally alter a...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 notice in the Federal Register of a proposed rulemaking that would...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
Earlier this week, my colleagues Adam Kahn and Kevin Chen posted about the proposed rule issued by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service that would rescind the definition of “harm” under the...more
On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a proposed rule to rescind the regulatory definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) propose rescinding the regulatory definition of "harm" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that currently includes habitat modification,...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
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (collectively, “Service”) is proposing to rescind the regulatory definition of “harm” in the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) regulations...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
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