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 January 20, 2025, President Trump issued several Executive Orders and memoranda (the “EOs”) signaling a significant policy shift favoring robust and market-based energy production (mostly relying on fossil fuels), while...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
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 December 4, 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) issued a final rule updating its National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) implementing regulations regarding applications to import to, or export from, liquid...more
The US Department of Energy (DOE or Department) finalized a rulemaking proceeding last week that revises its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing procedures pertaining to certain authorizations under the...more
In response to its updated analyses of the impacts of natural gas exports on the US economy and the environment, and competitive forces in the global market for LNG, DOE takes steps to offer term extensions to existing and...more
Since our last article discussing the way in which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC" or "the Commission") considers greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate impacts in the pipeline certification process, the...more
On February 21, 2019, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “the Commission”) issued an order authorizing Venture Global Calcasieu Pass, LLC (“Calcasieu Pass”) to site, construct, and operate a new liquefied...more
The Department of Energy (“DOE”) has announced a final rule that will expedite the approval process for small-scale exports of natural gas. ...more
Following recent developments in liquefied natural gas (LNG) export policy in which we outlined in previous blog posts on June 12, 2018 and June 22, 2018, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy issued a Final...more
On August 22, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in a 2-1 decision, vacated and remanded orders of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorizing the construction and operation of three...more
On August 15, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) denied Sierra Club’s petition challenging the United States Department of Energy’s (“DOE”) decision to authorize the...more
On August 15, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decided the case of Sierra Club v. U.S. Department of Energy. The Sierra Club challenged the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) grant of a license to export...more
On Tuesday, August 15, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Sierra Club’s petition for review of a U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) order authorizing long-term exports of liquefied...more
Since 2012, the major opponent of new large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects has been the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club has adopted a two-pronged approach in its opposition to LNG exports projects, opposing...more
In companion cases, on June 28 the DC Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in its environmental impacts analysis of two Gulf Coast LNG terminals, need not assess the potential for...more
Two recently issued decisions are important because they clarify how the formidably complex legal structure affecting a growing American business—the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) –will be interpreted by the one...more
On June 28, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected two related challenges to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s environmental review of the Sabine Pass LNG and Freeport LNG...more
On June 28, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued two opinions that uphold the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“FERC”) approach to reviewing environmental impacts of liquefied...more
On April 20, the Senate passed a broad-based energy bill, the Energy Policy Modernization Act (S. 2012), and set the stage for a conference between House and Senate leaders to compromise on the policy differences between...more
On February 5, 2016, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy (“DOE/FE”) issued two orders to Bear Head LNG Corporation and Bear Head LNG (USA), LLC (together, “Bear Head LNG”), formally announcing DOE’s...more
During the last two years, we have seen the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) pick up the pace in granting conditional authorizations for companies to export liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) to countries that do not have a Free...more
On May 29, 2014, the Department of Energy proposed a new approach to conducting its reviews of proposed projects to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to non-FTA countries. The new approach could slow the approval process at...more
On Thursday, 29 May 2014, the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) announced a proposed change to the procedures it will use to process applications to export LNG to non-free trade agreement (“non-FTA”) countries. This is a...more