On-Demand Webinar | The New NEPA Regulations: A Practical Guide to What You Need to Know
The National Environmental Protection Act ("NEPA") requires that federal agencies assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making final decisions, including decisions on issuing federal permits,...more
In welcome news for developers and stakeholders in new carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) and fossil-fueled energy transition projects, on 22 May 2025, England’s Court of Appeal dismissed an application for...more
On Friday, January 3, 2025, the Montana Supreme Court issued a decision in MEIC v. DEQ (Laurel Generating Station), its second major decision on the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) in the last few weeks that affects...more
Earlier this week, the Montana Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling in favor of plaintiffs in a climate case based on certain provisions of the Montana constitution. Specifically, the court ruled that: - The...more
In a 6-1 ruling yesterday, Montana’s Supreme Court upheld a landmark decision finding that a 2011 state law making it illegal to consider environmental impacts (including greenhouse gas emissions) when issuing permits for...more
The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to address a circuit split over whether an agency doing an environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) must consider effects beyond its regulatory jurisdiction,...more
On November 27, 2024, in Venture Global, CP2 LNG, LLC,1 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC or Commission) explicitly overruled precedent set in Northern Natural Gas Co., a 2021 decision in which FERC made an...more
The U.S. Supreme Court last week scheduled oral arguments for December 10 in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, a highly anticipated case that focuses on whether a federal agency should be required to...more
On June 14, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) denied Food & Water Watch’s environmental challenges to the FERC’s order granting a certificate of public convenience...more
Finch v. Surrey calls for assessment of all likely direct and indirect environmental effects in EIAs, including certain Scope 3 emissions if a reasonable estimate is feasible. On 20 June 2024, the UK Supreme Court (the...more
In a decision with far-reaching implications, the UK Supreme Court has determined that a grant of planning permission for oil production was unlawful for failing to take into account downstream greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions...more
Recently, the New York Attorney General filed a lawsuit against the American subsidiaries of JBS Group, the Brazilian-based beef producer, asserting that JBS had “violat[ed] New York's consumer protection statutes” through...more
On January 26, 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that it would place a temporary “pause” on pending decisions to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries with which the United States has not entered into...more
On September 21, 2023, the Biden administration outlined plans to expand federal agencies’ consideration of the social cost of carbon—a metric for the economic cost of each additional ton of carbon dioxide emitted to the...more
On August 14, 2023, a Montana state court found that a Montana environmental review statute (the Montana Environmental Policy Act or MEPA) that limited (and as amended in May 2023, precluded) consideration of greenhouse gas...more
Background - On July 31, 2024, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published their proposed Phase 2 of their National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations known as the Bipartisan Permitting Reform...more
On July 16, 2023, Climatewire (subscription required) released a peer review letter on EPA’s Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases (SC-GHG), which got a fair bit of press last year, because EPA’s metric was $190/ton, even though...more
On May 16, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) issued an opinion in Center for Biological Diversity v. Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, affirming FERC’s...more
On remand from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”), FERC reaffirmed that Rio Grande LNG, LLC’s proposed liquified natural gas (“LNG”) terminal project (“Rio Grande LNG...more
On January 9, 2023, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published new interim guidance intended to assist federal agencies in analyzing greenhouse gas (GHG) and climate change effects of project proposals...more
On January 9, 2023, the Council for Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) published interim National Environmental Policy Act Guidance on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change (hereafter, “guidance” or “GHG...more
On April 19, 2022, the Biden administration finalized a new rule (“Final Rule”) rolling back the Trump administration’s 2020 changes limiting the scope of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Final Rule...more
On February 18, 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) issued two interconnected policy statements (the “Policy Statements”) regarding its review and certification of interstate natural...more
On February 17th, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) issued updates to its policies by which it determines whether to approve or deny an application to construct interstate natural gas...more
A United States District Court (“E.D. California”) (“Court”) addressed in a September 14th Order a National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) challenge to a groundwater extraction project in the Sacramento River Valley. See...more