The U.S. Geological Survey announced that it, in collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada and Mexico’s La Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad, will undertake a two-year regional assessment of biodiversity and climate change, culminating in the first-ever assessment report addressing these two challenges together for the United States, Canada, Mexico, U.S. territories, and Freely Associated States.
NRC issued Revision 2 to Regulatory Guide 1.89, “Environmental Qualification of Certain Electric Equipment Important to Safety for Nuclear Power Plants,” which provides guidance that the staff of NRC considers acceptable to meet regulatory requirements for environmental qualification of certain electric equipment important to safety.
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.
DOE seeks comment regarding the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management’s methane mitigation technologies and point source carbon capture research and development activities and regulation of natural gas imports and exports; specifically, the Department seeks information on strategies and technologies that natural gas and liquefied natural gas companies are deploying or could deploy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management seeks comment on possible commercial wind energy leasing on the outer continental shelf in the Gulf of Maine.
The National Credit Union Administration seeks public input on current and future climate and natural disaster risks to federally insured credit unions (FICUs), related entities, their members, and the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, and on the development of potential future guidance, regulation, reporting requirements, and/or supervisory approaches for FICUs’ management of climate-related financial risks.
DOE announced the establishment of the 21st Century Energy Workforce Advisory Board, pursuant to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
DOE proposed to revise its regulations regarding procedures for calculating a value for the petroleum-equivalent fuel economy of electric vehicles for use in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy program administered by DOT.
More severe storms and rising sea levels resulting from a changing climate pose a threat to ecosystems along the U.S. coast. These include beaches, dunes, wetlands, and marshes, which provide significant environmental, recreational, and economic benefits. Practices to sustain these ecosystems are available, but are not well understood, face legal and financial obstacles, and have not been widely implemented. On January 19, 2023, the Environmental Law Institute hosted a panel of experts who explored measures and practices for sustaining coastal wetlands in the face of a changing climate.
This Article explores the environmental justice, climate justice, and sustainable development implications of the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act, which encourages domestically produced and processed minerals for the country’s energy transition from fossil fuels.