The landscape of renewable energy development on federal lands is undergoing significant changes with the passage of the One Big Beautiful Act (“OBBA”). This legislation marks a notable departure from the prior discretionary...more
After 150 days in office, President Trump has signed executive orders on a pace of more than one per day. An emerging priority of the administration is increasing the use of federal land for resource production. This post...more
In a significant policy shift, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) policy update designed to expedite the oil and gas leasing process on public lands. Through a newly issued...more
On the President’s first day in office, January 20, the White House released Executive Order 14153, titled “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential” (the “Alaska EO”). The Alaska EO states that: The State of...more
We have previously discussed the State of Alaska’s challenge to the Bureau of Land Management’s Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, also known as the “Public Lands Rule.” Seeking to defend the rule, which treats...more
George Felcyn, senior director of government affairs in Bracewell’s Policy Resolution Group, discusses the future of the wind industry under a second Trump administration....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
Under the Bureau of Land Management’s recently promulgated Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, 43 C.F.R. §§ 6100-6103.2, the BLM must seek to achieve “ecosystem resilience,” which encapsulates an ecosystem’s ability to...more
Leveraging Public Land to House Government Employees - I previously wrote about the use of government-owned land as one potential approach to help address South Florida’s housing affordability crisis. The lack of...more
Earlier this summer, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals issued a decision affirming the lower court’s decision that the Mining Law of 1872 does not impose a limit on the number of mill sites that a mining claimant may...more
In May 2024, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM or the Agency) issued a final rule updating its renewable energy and right-of-way (ROW) policies. BLM is one of the largest landholders in the United States, with significant...more
La Agencia Nacional de Minería (ANM) de Colombia emitió la Resolución No. 371 el 6 de junio de 2024, en la cual se establecen las condiciones y la periodicidad para el reporte de información por parte de los titulares mineros...more
The Interior Department, EPA and Department of Energy (DOE) announced updated equity plans in February 2024. The three updates respond to President Biden’s 2023 Executive Order and the Administration’s initiative to advance...more
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has finalized two rules to further prioritize the health of public lands and facilitate renewable energy leases: the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule and the Rights-of-Way, Leasing,...more
This article is part of Womble Bond Dickinson’s Energy & Natural Resources thought leadership series titled Striking the Balance: Permitting Reforms for Mining and the Energy Transition. In this series, we’ll explore the...more
On 28 February 2024, Paul Chan, the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, delivered the 2024-25 Budget (the “Budget”). Starting off by acknowledging the “challenging external environment” including “heightened geopolitical...more
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced on January 17, 2024, the publication of its draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to help streamline and accelerate utility-scale solar energy development...more
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced an update to its 2012 plan for solar power development in the western U.S., adding five states to the original six. The original plan identified prime areas for solar development...more
In the Fall of 2023, the Interagency Working Group on Mining Laws, Regulations, and Permitting (“IWG”) released its final report containing recommendations to reform how mining is conducted on public lands (the “Final...more
We previously published a legal alert on October 12, 2023, about the extensive housing package that Governor Gavin Newsom signed on October 11, 2023, consisting of 56 bills to help address California’s decades-in-the-making...more
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced the advancement of 15 new renewable energy projects in the western U.S., including a 500 MW photovoltaic facility in Riverside County, which was fully operational Friday, as well as...more
A coalition of 18 Democratic AGs filed a comment letter in support of the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) notice of proposed rulemaking revising its regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act...more
The Law of Taking was Fishy - If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. But what if a man has the right to sell fish, and he builds his business...more
The Biden administration on June 15 announced a proposed new rule that would aim to speed the development of renewable energy on public lands. The rule would cut fees for solar and wind development on public lands by 80%,...more
Rule would have significant new implications for traditional multiple-use management and conservation uses of public land. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently unveiled its proposed Conservation and Landscape...more