On May 30, 2018, the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) approved wide-ranging proposals from the State’s large investor-owned utilities to expand electric vehicle infrastructure and rebate programs with a total budget of over $738 million. The order stems from the 2016 directive ordering investment owned utilities to propose projects that would advance the electrification of […]
On July 25, 2018, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (the “Services”) published three proposed rules to reform the Endangered Species Act. This opens a 60-day public comment period ending September 24, 2018. The proposals respond in part to stakeholder comments submitted […]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a court filing Wednesday that it “does not intend” to revisit a 2015 rule that tightened ozone standards, answering a lingering question that had both industry and environmental groups on edge. Article HERE.
The U.S. State Department has given preliminary environmental approval to a proposed alternative route through Nebraska for the Keystone XL pipeline, a route that is currently being challenged by landowners and other project opponents in the Nebraska Supreme Court. The State Department, which has already issued a cross-border permit for TransCanada Corp.’s project found that […]
As the public comment period ended for the Federal Energy Commission’s proposed revision to its gas pipeline policy, it appeared that the U.S. EPA was backtracking on earlier recommendations it had made to FERC as far as tools for evaluating climate change impacts. The proposed policy identified that FERC was considering changes to how large […]
As of July 24, the BLM has taken an updated position on the issue of compensatory mitigation. The BLM states in a new policy: “Except where the law specifically requires, the BLM must not require compensatory mitigation from public land users.” The BLM will still, in limited circumstances, consider voluntary proposals for compensatory mitigation, but […]
The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (“OEHHA”) proposed a regulation that would exempt coffee from Prop 65 warnings. According to OEHHA, there is scientific evidence that indicates that drinking coffee does not increase the risk of cancer and may reduce the risks of some types of cancers. The International Agency for Research on Cancer […]
As part of an infrastructure investment proposal unveiled by the Trump administration in February, many significant regulatory and environmental permitting reforms are expected in the coming year. One current proposal involves expanding authority under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to states, requiring states and localities to shoulder a larger share of infrastructure project costs […]
It was not a surprise last Thursday, when U.S. District Judge John F. Keenan dismissed with prejudice New York City’s lawsuit against ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP, and Royal Dutch Shell. The city’s lawsuit sought to hold these oil companies accountable for infrastructure damage related to climate change, claiming that the defendants knew that their production […]
Rumors swirling around Washington D.C. indicate that the Department of the Interior (“DOI”) may release a statement rescinding the fairly recently published USFWS Service-Wide Mitigation policy and Endangered Species Act-Compensatory Mitigation Policy, without replacing either policy. Further, the agency may also take the position that, in the absence of further congressional directive, the DOI is […]
