USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program Pays More Than $1.77 Billion to America’s Producers in Support of Conservation and Climate-Smart Agriculture

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued more than $1.77 billion this year to agricultural producers and landowners through its Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), a critical piece of the Department’s efforts to support climate-smart agriculture and forestry on working lands. Right now, CRP’s more than 667,000 participants received payments from ...Read More

EPA’s New WOTUS Definition: Ripe for Litigaiton?

Does the EPA’s revised definition of “Waters of the United States” conform with the U.S. Supreme Court’s May 25, 2023, decision in the case of Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency?

Background Leading to EPA’s Revised Definition of Waters of the
United States “WOTUS”

Prior to the May 25,
2023, Sackett decision,
the 2023 WOTUS Rule was finalized by the Corps and EPA on ...Read More

SCOTUS Limits Scope of Duties Created by Agreement Between Native Tribe and Federal Government

On June 22, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United
States (“SCOTUS”) held in a 5-4 opinion that an 1868 treaty between the United
States and the Navajo Nation setting aside land for a reservation does not
require the U.S. to secure water rights for the reservation. While the
reservation is outside of California, SCOTUS’s decision lays the foundation ...Read More

Federal Preemption Prevents Berkeley from Going Cold Turkey on Natural Gas

The United States has the
fourth largest Natural Gas Reserves in the World, consisting of 5.3% of the
World’s share, only dwarfed by Russia (24.3%), Iran (17.3%), and Qatar (12.5%).
As of 2020, 88% of California homes use natural gas for space and water
heating, air conditioning, and/or cooking purposes.

In July 2019, the Council of
the City of Berkeley, California, ...Read More