Lawmakers Consider Reforms to California’s Water Delivery Rules Representatives from California and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy introduced H.R. 23 on January 4, 2017, to facilitate further drought relief for California farmers and water districts. Among other things, the bill aims to protect water rights, reduce costs of water delivery contracts, amend the 1992 Central […]
Challengers battle Obama over BLM Oil and Gas Methane Rule The Obama administration will square off against industry and several states this month over the Bureau of Land Management’s new methane rule regulating emissions from the oil and gas operations. The U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming will hear both state and industry […]
December 21, 2016 | Category:
NewsFWS Reconsidering Lesser Prairie Chicken Listing In late November, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) agreed to reconsider the status of the lesser prairie chicken, whose habitat sprawls through the oil and gas fields of West Texas, New Mexico, Kansas and the Rockies. In response to a petition requesting relisting, the agency published a […]
December 14, 2016 | Category:
NewsBreaking: Trump taps Montana congressman Ryan Zinke as interior secretary According to the Washington Post (full article HERE), President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke, who has represented Montana’s at-large congressional seat for one term, to serve as secretary of the Department of the Interior, according to an individual with firsthand knowledge of […]
December 14, 2016 | Category:
NewsBREAKING: Trump Taps Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson For Secretary Of State Post President-elect Donald J. Trump on Tuesday officially tapped ExxonMobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson to serve as U.S. Secretary of State. Democrats and some Republicans have expressed concern and alluded to confirmation trouble ahead, speculating that Tillerson’s path to confirmation could be rocky given […]
December 13, 2016 | Category:
NewsLawmakers Oppose EPA’s “Midnight Rules” Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has encouraged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to stop work on the Clean Power Plan, which will require power plants to reduce carbon emissions, the Clean Water Rule, and a registration review of the herbicide atrazine, which has been shown to be harmful to birds. […]
December 1, 2016 | Category:
NewsSarah M. Taylor With a background in environmental law, Sarah provides clients with valuable insight into the regulatory process. She has worked on complex cases involving the Clean Water Act, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Sarah uses her experience in both the public and […]
November 24, 2016 | Category:
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Rocky Mountain Mineral Law FoundationObama Administration Declares Atlantic and Arctic Off-Limits to Oil and Gas Drilling On Friday, November 18, 2016, the Obama administration announced that the Department of the Interior’s 2017-2022 offshore oil and gas leasing plan (“Leasing Plan”) will restrict drilling activities to the Gulf of Mexico, and one already-developed area in the Arctic’s Cook Inlet. Secretary […]
November 18, 2016 | Category:
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Waters Of The U.S. Santa Barbara County Water Supply Vanishing Due to Drought The reservoir serving much of Santa Barbara County reached a record low this summer and could continue to disappear with a dry winter. The 3,000 acre reservoir, Lake Cachuma (see above photos in “before” and “after” shots), holds Santa Barbara County’s drinking water and reached […]
November 5, 2016 | Category:
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mitchell chadwick llpCalifornia Supreme Court rejects “new project” test for supplemental review and upholds the application of CEQA Guidelines section 15162 to negative declarations. After requesting additional briefing, the California Supreme Court published its decision in Friends of the College of San Mateo Gardens v. San Mateo Community College District (S214061) on September 19, 2016. In its […]
