A proposed “wild-fire fix” bill (PL 115-141 of March 23), sponsored by Senator Simpson (R-Idaho), includes various provisions to address forest and fuels management. The provision proposes to categorically exemption from environmental review hazardous fuels reduction projects less than 3,000 acres and authorized pursuant to the Health Forests Restoration Act of 2003. The House approved […]
On February 9, 2018, Department of Interior (“DOI”) Secretary Ryan Zinke issued a secretarial order (Secretarial Order No. 3362) designed to improve habitat quality and western big game winter range and migration corridors for antelope, elk, and mule deer. The order directs the DOI to work with the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, […]
January 16, 2018 | Category:
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lawsuitOn Wednesday, a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit rejected environmentalists’ appeal to overturn a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) policy that allows the taking of one owl species to help recover another. Friends of Animals initially sued the USFWS over a 2014 plan to kill thousands of barred owls (on the left in […]
Matthew Leopold was confirmed as U.S. EPA’s general counsel, and David Ross (formerly Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General) was also confirmed as the EPA’s water office chief. New Release HERE and HERE.
This week environmental groups brought a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its recent support of a company’s plan to pump 16.3 billion gallons of groundwater each year from a Mojave Desert aquifer to developments in South Orange County and other locations. Los Angeles-Based Cadiz Inc. seeks to build a pipeline that pumps the water […]
This week, President Trump signed two proclamations, which reduced the size of two national monuments in Utah by 2 million acres and is now the largest rollback of federal land protection in U.S. history. Using the Antiquities Act, Trump formally downsized the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument to about half its size (from 1.9 million acres to […]
The U.S. Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed Bill Wehrum to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s air and radiation office, on a party-line vote.
November 1, 2017 | Category:
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NEPA,
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mitchell chadwick llp,
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oil and gasLast week, California Representative Alan Lowenthal (D) introduced HR 4103 (2017), also known as the “Having Open Access to Relevant Data Act” or the “HOARD Act.” The legislation specifically targets applicants who have obtained Permits to Drill on federal lands, but had not begun timely drilling. The HOARD Act is in response to the Bureau […]
October 27, 2017 | Category:
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NEPA,
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NEPAThis week the BLM announced its plans to hold public hearings in November to allow for public comment regarding the agency’s decision to reopen 98 federal land use plans that were put in place to protect the greater sage grouse. Meanwhile, a watchdog group filed a federal lawsuit against the Interior Department, claiming the agency […]
October 26, 2017 | Category:
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Endangered Species,
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NEPA,
News | Tags:
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lawsuitOn October 16, 2017, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt issued an administrative order with the goal of ensuring that the Environmental Protection Agency is transparent when settling lawsuits – particularly those filed by environmental groups seeking to regulate through litigation. A press release accompanying the administrative order explains that the EPA has long been sued by […]
