In January 2021, the mining sector was made eligible for coverage under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41) program, a pilot project designed to expedite federal permitting. Although mining projects have been eligible for over two years, only recently was the first one posted on the Permitting Dashboard.
Climate change is ravaging the flora and fauna of the United States and contributes to ecosystem damage, including the conversion of Alaskan forests to savannah grasslands, rising sea levels that have destroyed the Key deer’s habitat, and warming regional temperatures that have stifled the growth of crops in the Northeast. What if there were a way for species to thrive away from the sinking coasts and changing landscapes that they have historically inhabited?
A district court denied summary judgment for a group of landowners in a challenge to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's (BOEM's) and NMFS' decisions approving an offshore wind energy project off the coast of Nantucket. The group argued that NMFS violated the ESA by failing to adequately conside...
The Ninth Circuit affirmed vacatur of FWS' designation of an area in the northern Santa Rita Mountains as occupied critical habitat for jaguar. An environmental group initially sued FWS, challenging the Service's conclusion that a proposed copper mine project in the area would not destroy or adverse...
A district court adopted the recommendations of a magistrate judge and vacated portions of NMFS' 2019 biological opinion concerning the incidental take statement that authorized take of southern resident killer whales and chinook salmon resulting from commercial harvest of chinook salmon during trol...
A district court granted environmental groups' motion to preliminarily enjoin a logging project in the Kootenai National Forest. The groups argued the project violated the ESA by failing to adequately consider the impacts of unauthorized motorized access on grizzly bears in the project area. The cou...
As population growth and increased electrification rapidly raise demand for power, U.S. electric grids are struggling to keep pace, and the need for more transmission capacity is pressing. The U.S. Congress has delegated its interstate commerce authority to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to regulate interstate transmission rates. Meanwhile, states regulate intrastate transmission rates. What is perhaps surprising, though, is the fact that states generally have authority over the siting and construction of interstate transmission lines.
The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's dismissal of an industry group's challenge to the city of Berkeley's natural gas hookup ban. The group argued the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) preempted the ban, which enacted a building code prohibiting installation of natural gas p...