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US Fish and Wildlife Service Environmental Policies Department of the Interior

Husch Blackwell LLP

Trump Executive Actions Impacting Renewable Energy

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On President Trump’s first and second days in office, the new administration released a flurry of executive actions, in the form of both memorandums and executive orders, focused on the energy industry:...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Putting People Over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California

President Trump has directed the Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the heads of other departments and agencies of the United States as necessary, to immediately restart the work from...more

Nossaman LLP

Federal Court Allows Center for Biological Diversity to Continue Large ESA Lawsuit Against U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

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Last week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a ruling allowing the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) to continue pursuing its large Endangered Species Act (ESA) lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and...more

Nossaman LLP

2023 Inflation Adjustments to Civil Penalties for Violations of Wildlife Protection Laws Announced

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This January, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce announced updated civil monetary penalties for violations of federal wildlife and natural resource protection laws including the Endangered Species...more

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

Endangered Species Act/Clean Water Act: Environmental Organizations Challenge the State of Washington's Cyanide Water Quality...

The Western Environmental Law Center and Center for Biological Diversity (collectively “CBD”) filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (“Complaint”) in the United States District Court for the District of...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update - January 2022

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California challenges San Bernardino air cargo facility used by Amazon - Freight Waves – January 4 - The state of California on Monday petitioned a federal appeals court to rehear its lawsuit challenging a new air...more

Nossaman LLP

Department of the Interior Releases Hefty Agenda

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On December 10, 2021, the Biden Administration released the Fall 2021 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda), which is a semi-annual compilation of information concerning regulations and policy...more

Beveridge & Diamond PC

Incidental Take of Migratory Birds Once Again a Federal Crime; FWS Considering New Permitting Program

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After a brief hiatus, incidental take of migratory birds will again be a federal crime beginning December 3, 2021. Less than 10 months after instituting a final rule declaring that incidental take of birds is not subject to...more

Nossaman LLP

Congress Urges Action on Monarch

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On June 29, 2021, fourteen members of Congress delivered a letter to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to use its authority to list the monarch butterfly (Danaus...more

Nossaman LLP

SCOTUS Won’t Wade Into the Chicken Coop

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On June 7, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court (“SCOTUS”) agreed with the Department of Justice and declined to hear a case brought by the Kansas Natural Resource Coalition (Coalition) challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update - January 2021 #2

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DOI unveils plan to weaken protections for millions of acres of California desert - Reuters – January 13 - The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) on Wednesday proposed weakening environmental protections for millions...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update - December 2020 #3

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Biden picks North Carolina environmental chief to lead EPA - Associated Press – December 17 - President-elect Joe Biden this Thursday selected Michael S. Regan to serve as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update - September 2020 #2

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White House directs agencies to relax enforcement - Los Angeles Times – September 9 - A memorandum produced by the White House Office of Management and Budget and sent to federal agency heads last week instructs them to...more

Nossaman LLP

Federal Wildlife Agencies Propose Rule to Define Habitat

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The Departments of Commerce and the Interior (Departments) have completed a proposed rule to define the term “habitat” as that term is used in the context of designating “critical habitat” under section 7(a)(2) of the...more

Perkins Coie

Bird Is the Word: US Fish & Wildlife Service Proposes Narrow Interpretation of Migratory Bird Treaty Act

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a proposed rule on January 30, 2020, that narrowly interprets the protections afforded by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The new rule would provide that the MBTA prohibits only the...more

Nossaman LLP

USFWS proposes to codify Trump Administration position on MBTA

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Yesterday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) released a pre-publication version of its long-awaited update to regulations governing Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) implementation (Proposed Regulations)....more

Hogan Lovells

ESA revised regulations: what to expect

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There has been much coverage and misinformation in the public discourse regarding Interior’s recently-announced revisions of regulations to implement the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Doug Wheeler and Hilary Tompkins bring...more

Perkins Coie

California Affirms State Law Prohibition of Incidental Take of Migratory Birds Despite Contrary Federal Stance

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The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the California attorney general have jointly issued an advisory regarding California’s state law protections for migratory birds. The three-page advisory affirms that...more

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

Migratory Bird Treaty Act: Environmental Organizations File Lawsuit Challenging Department of Interior Solicitor's Interpretive...

A number of environmental organizations filed a May 24th Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (“Complaint”) challenging as unlawful and arbitrary and capricious the: . . . December 22, 2017 Solicitor’s...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Fish and Wildlife Service Doubles Down on Department of Interior Opinion on Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA)

On April 11, 2018, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued a Memorandum titled “Guidance on the recent M-Opinion affecting the Migratory Bird Treaty Act” (the “Memorandum”), giving field advice to its enforcement...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

New Department of Interior Solicitor’s Opinion Provides Relief on Incidental Take of Migratory Birds

• The Opinion finds that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) prohibits only affirmative and purposeful actions to take migratory birds. Incidental takes that are not the purpose of an action, even if they are direct and...more

Nossaman LLP

Administration Announces Comprehensive Revisions to Endangered Species Act Implementing Regulations

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In the Fall 2017 publication of the Unified Agenda of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the Department of the Interior announced its intent to revise the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s regulations governing...more

Nossaman LLP

Nevada Solar Project Survives Ninth Circuit Review Despite Impacts to Tortoise Connectivity

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On May 18, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s summary judgment decision in favor of the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and other federal officials in an...more

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