Energy and Climate Change
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Gas Regulation 2018: United States3.30/Article
Need an update on the state of the natural gas sector in the United States? This recently published article has you covered.
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New CERCLA Brownfields Amendments03.29/Blog
Spurred by the realization there may be as many as 450,000 Brownfields sites around the country that require some financial assistance, the recently enacted bi-partisan BUILD Act reauthorizes the EPA's Brownfields program at current funding levels through 2023.
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Administration Issues “Legislative Outline for Rebuilding Infrastructure in America”02.22/Blog
The Trump Administration's legislative proposal to rebuild American infrastructure identifies a number of specific laws that will require amendments. Here is a brief review of some of the plans many provisions.
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Congress Expands the Oil Pollution Act to Reach Spills Originating Outside of the U.S.01.22/Alert
The Foreign Spill Protection Act of 2017 establishes oil spill liability in the U.S. for foreign-based offshore exploration and production facilities.
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The Fall 2017 Unified Federal Regulatory Agenda12.20/Blog
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and the Office of Management and Budget have posted the Fall 2017 Agency Statements of Regulatory Priorities. Here's a look at what's ahead.
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The Trump Administration’s First Steps Toward Streamlining Environmental Reviews12.05/Article
An August Executive Order aims to fast-track federal review of infrastructure projects, including a streamlined environmental review process of projects deemed “high-priority.” Recent actions taken by the Council on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Department of the Interior indicate what that might look like.
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U.S. DOT Releases Draft Strategic Plan Beginning Implementation of Trump Administration’s Executive Order on Project Streamlining10.27/Blog
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has released a draft Strategic Plan that establishes goals for increasing investment and streamlining environmental review and approval of transportation infrastructure projects over the next five years. The draft Plan is DOT’s first formal action in response to the Administration’s Executive Order on streamlining. Although it identifies needs and objectives it provides few specifics.
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Council on Environmental Quality Takes First Step to Implement Trump Executive Order on Streamlining Federal Environmental Reviews09.25/Blog
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), which oversees federal agency compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, has announced a list of planned actions to implement President Trump’s Executive Order on streamlining federal environmental reviews. While the Order and CEQ notice have launched a process that could transform federal environmental reviews and approvals, they provide few specifics, and their impact remains to be seen.
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DOE Opens the Door to Major Energy Market Reforms08.25/Alert
In August, the Department of Energy published a much-anticipated study analyzing the market hurdles facing conventional baseload generation, such as coal, nuclear and hydropower. The study sets the stage for a high-stakes debate before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
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Time Will Tell If Trump Infrastructure Executive Order Shortens Federal Reviews08.22/Alert
On August 15, President Trump issued an Executive Order that seeks to streamline federal environmental review and approvals of major infrastructure projects by imposing new timelines and procedures. Key provisions create a two-year deadline for completing review and issuing authorizations.
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Chemicals, Compliance and the Toxic Substances Control Act08.16/Alert
The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) required the compiling of a national register of chemicals that were manufactured in or imported into the United States for a non-exempt commercial purpose, and the first TSCA Inventory in 1979 included approximately 62,000 chemicals. Since then, the Inventory has been expanded to include approximately 90,000 chemicals—a rate of over 700 new chemicals per year.
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Up in the Air06.22/Alert
Trump Administration officials followed up on the President’s June 1 announcement of U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate accord by announcing that the Administration was reviewing U.S. participation in ICAO’s global aviation emissions offset and trading regime.
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How Companies Can Take Advantage of President Trump’s Plan to Roll Back Federal Energy Regulation05.10/Audio
President Trump’s March 28 Executive Order requires every federal agency and Department to identify and potentially suspend, rescind, or relax federal regulations, policies, prior agency orders and guidelines that impede U.S. energy development or use. In this roundtable discussion, Sheila Harvey, Jeffrey Merrifield, Matthew Morrison and Andrew Weissman examine the implications of the Executive Order and how it could affect businesses in 2017 and beyond.
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DC Lawyer: Trump Executive Order ‘Literally Applies to Everything’ the Federal Government Does with Energy Development04.07/Video
Washington, DC Energy senior counsel Andrew Weissman told The Washington Post that legal professionals and industry experts, among others, are just beginning to grasp the scope of the March 28 order. According to Weissman, the order has far-reaching effects on “almost every environmental regulation that affects energy in any way,” in addition to non-environmental regulations.