Navigating Environmental Restrictions on Alternative Project Delivery for Complex Infrastructure Projects
On-Demand Webinar | Recent Updates to Federal Environmental and Natural Resource Regulations
On-Demand Webinar | Regulatory Uncertainty and Linear Infrastructure Projects: Where Are We and What’s Ahead?
On-Demand Webinar | Linear Infrastructure Redux: Adapting Your Projects to Meet the New Regulatory Climate
On-Demand Webinar | The New NEPA Regulations: A Practical Guide to What You Need to Know
How Trump's Infrastructure Plan Impacts the Energy Industry
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
The United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (“Fifth Circuit”) addressed in a December 24th, 2024 Opinion a challenge to a United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) project alleging violations of the...more
A "Course Correction" of NEPA Review - In an 8-0 judgment, the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that had vacated the U.S. Surface Transportation Board’s (the “Board”)...more
On March 28, 2025, the D.C. Circuit denied a joint petition for review brought by Healthy Gulf and Sierra Club (together, “Petitioners”) challenging FERC’s grant of a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) to...more
On January 7, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a decision—Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, Inc. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 125 F.4th 229 (2025) ("Citizens Action")—affirming...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
The National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, is in the midst of a major judicial and regulatory shakeup. In the past three months, four major events have thrown the validity of NEPA regulations into doubt ...more
On January 14, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) held that FERC complied with the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) in approving the surrender of a hydroelectric project license....more
On January 7, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana v. FERC, rejected a National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and Natural Gas Act (NGA) challenge to FERC’s...more
The United States Court of Appeals (“9th Circuit”) addressed in a December 18th memorandum issues arising out of challenges to the Natural Resource Conservation Services (“NRCS”) funding of an irrigation district. See Matthew...more
2024 was a year defined by change in the world of administrative law. With the U.S. Supreme Court’s review of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, the nation’s...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
Good morning! This is Akin’s newsletter on climate change policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major climate policy headlines from the past week and forthcoming climate-related events and hearings...more
The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of two additional legal challenges to the Vineyard Wind 1 Project (the Project). On December 5, 2024, a First Circuit panel issued a consolidated...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
On November 12, 2024, a split panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to address whether the FAA complied with the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA regulations because those regulations are...more
The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) lacks statutory authority to issue binding regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). While the decision does not invalidate any actions...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“Court”) issued a November 12th Opinion addressing an issue arising out of the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”). See Marin Audubon Society, et...more
A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Earthworks v. U.S. Department of the Interior has important implications for mining companies operating on public lands. This ruling upholds the Bureau of...more
The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of two legal challenges to the Vineyard Wind 1 project (the Project). On April 24 and April 25, 2024, the same panel of First Circuit judges issued...more
Over two years ago I wrote about a lawsuit filed by a Connecticut-based solar farm developer with a summer home in Martha's Vineyard seeking to enjoin the Vineyard Wind project off the Massachusetts coast. This particular...more
A group of Mississippi municipalities and associations filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court (S.D. Miss.) against the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) for allegedly violating the National...more
2022 saw highly impactful whistleblower and retaliation events primarily resulting from an active U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, an aggressive approach taken by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Ninth Circuit”) addressed in a November 25th Memorandum a judicial challenge to the United States Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) North Landscape Project (“North...more
Last week, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals again rejected a FERC NEPA review for failure to assess the climate impacts resulting from the downstream use of natural gas supplied by a gas pipeline upgrade project...more