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Government Agencies Regulatory Reform Environmental Policies

ArentFox Schiff

Bipartisan SPEED Act Aims to Streamline NEPA Environmental Reviews for Federal Grant and Loan Recipients

ArentFox Schiff on

Recently introduced bipartisan legislation aims to significantly streamline the environmental review process for recipients of federal assistance....more

Beveridge & Diamond PC

Federal Agencies Overhaul Longstanding NEPA Regulations

Beveridge & Diamond PC on

Key Takeaways - What happened: Over the last few weeks, individual federal agencies have issued interim final rules (IFRs) to largely rescind their existing NEPA regulations. Agencies have replaced those regulations with a...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economy Development Act: Congressman Westerman (Arkansas) Introduces National...

United States Congressman Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas) has introduced legislation into the United States House of Representatives titled: Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act (“SPEED Act”)....more

Morgan Lewis - Tech & Sourcing

‘America’s AI Action Plan’: Implications for Data Center Expansion

Our Morgan Lewis colleagues recently wrote on the US administration’s new artificial intelligence action plan, specifically as the plan seeks to foster innovation and expedite the development of AI data centers and the...more

Baker Donelson

Seven County Infrastructure Coal. v. Eagle Cnty., Colo. – Supreme Court's "Course Correction" on NEPA Already Steering Decisions...

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The United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, on May 19, 2025, clarifying that the scope of judicial review of federal agency environmental...more

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.

EPA’s Office of Research and Development — Villain or Victim?

On July 18, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rolled out the “reorganization plan” for its Office of Research and Development (ORD). The stated goal of the plan is to reduce budget expenditures, improve...more

Morgan Lewis

New Executive Order Aims to Accelerate Development of Data Centers

Morgan Lewis on

The White House has issued an executive order dated July 23, 2025, aimed at accelerating the federal permitting process for data center infrastructure. This latest directive from the US administration is intended to...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure (Trump EO Tracker)

Accelerates the buildout of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and supporting infrastructure by easing federal permitting, streamlining environmental reviews, and expanding access to federally owned land for...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

Another Step Change for USDA’s GE Regs: APHIS Ceases NEPA Review of Petitions for Nonregulated Status

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced on July 9, 2025, that it will no longer conduct environmental analyses under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when...more

Goldberg Segalla

EPA Announces Plan to Eliminate its Office of Research and Development

Goldberg Segalla on

The Environmental Protection Agency announced July 18 it would continue workforce reductions through the elimination of its Office of Research and Development, which provides the independent scientific research that underpins...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

What MSHA’s 18 Proposed Rules Signal About the Future of Mine Safety

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

On July 1, 2025, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) published 18 Notices of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register, marking a sweeping regulatory initiative by the current administration. The proposals...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

NEPA Reimagined: The Ongoing Overhaul of Federal Environmental Review

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

Allen Matkins

Project Applicants Can Now Pay for Expedited Federal Environmental Review Under NEPA

Allen Matkins on

The budget reconciliation bill signed into law on July 4 (also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill”) adds a new provision to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that allows project sponsors/applicants to pay for...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

The New NEPA: Federal Agencies Overhaul Procedures for Environmental Reviews

Vinson & Elkins LLP on

On July 3, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Army Corps”), and the Departments of Energy (“DOE”), Interior (“DOI”), Transportation (“DOT”),...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Extreme Makeover – NEPA Edition: Permitting Agencies Strip Their Environmental Review Regulations Down To The Studs

Troutman Pepper Locke on

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

DLA Piper

EU Space Act: First Glance at the 2025 Draft

DLA Piper on

On 25 June 2025, the European Commission has proposed the draft of the EU Space Act. This proposed new law is intended to provide a harmonised regulatory framework at European level from 2030 to ensure safety, resilience, and...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Clean Water Act/U.S. House of Representatives: Association of Clean Water Administrators Identifies 14 Pending Bills

The Association of Clean Water Administrators (“ACWA”) has identified 14 bills proposing to amend the Clean Water Act pending in the United States House of Representatives. The bills are described in the ACWA publication...more

Jones Day

Evolving NEPA Regulations May Facilitate Energy Projects

Jones Day on

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

Nossaman LLP

Diverting Flood Flows – Details on the Opportunity to Utilize Wasted Water

Nossaman LLP on

Earlier this year, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order (EO) N-16-25. That order is designed to facilitate the diversion and storage of flood flows and aligns with the Governor’s broader water supply strategy, which is...more

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.

Clearing Regulatory Roadblocks: How Smarter Implementation Can Help Supply Chain Modernization

On June 5, 2025, the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) of the U.S. Congress convened a hearing titled “Barriers to Supply Chain Modernization and Factor Productivity Enhancements.” Throughout the hearing, members and witnesses...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update 6.13.25

Allen Matkins on

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moved this Wednesday to erase limits on greenhouse gases from power plants and to weaken restrictions on other hazardous power plant emissions, including mercury, arsenic, and...more

Mayer Brown

MMA Opens Public Consultation on Regulation of the National Policy on Payment for Environmental Services

Mayer Brown on

Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA) has launched a public consultation on the draft decree intended to regulate Law No. 14,119/2021, which established the National Policy on Payment for Environmental...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Generate Power for the Columbia River Basin (Trump EO Tracker)

Revokes the September 27, 2023 Presidential Memorandum on restoring fish populations in the Columbia River Basin and directs relevant agencies to withdraw from the associated litigation MOU, halt the current SEIS process, and...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Empowering Commonsense Wildlife Prevention and Response (Trump EO Tracker)

Directs DOI and USDA to consolidate wildland fire programs, expand local partnerships, develop a technology roadmap, and revise rules to enable more effective wildfire prevention and response. It also instructs multiple...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Déjà vu? FWS Solicits Feedback to Update Section 10(a) of the ESA

Troutman Pepper Locke on

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

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