On August 13, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) that is poised to dramatically reshape the regulatory landscape for the U.S. commercial space industry. Titled “Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space...more
There have been more changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) and its implementing regulations in the past nine months than perhaps at any point since NEPA was signed into law by President Nixon on January 1,...more
As part of our ongoing monitoring of international and domestic legal developments, this article provides an update on the International Seabed Authority’s (“ISA”) Council Part II of the 30th Session and the National Oceanic...more
Good Afternoon! It’s been a busy couple of weeks in the orbit of Washington. President Trump nominated a new NASA Administrator, and the “Big Beautiful Bill” gave Space Force a big budget bump. Meanwhile, scientists and the...more
As global demand for critical minerals intensifies — driven by the energy transition, technological innovation, and geopolitical competition — deep-sea mining has emerged as a potential frontier in resource development. At...more
President Donald Trump on April 24, 2025, issued an executive order, "Unleashing America's Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources" (the EO), that aims to promote the development of offshore critical minerals in the oceans...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
On April 17, 2025, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published a notice of proposed rulemaking to rescind the definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries jointly announced via conference call this morning the publication of proposed revisions to portions of their regulations that implement key sections of the Endangered...more