A district court granted the state of Louisiana's motion to permanently enjoin EPA from (1) enforcing disparate impact requirements under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act against any entity of the state, or requiring compliance with those requirements as a condition of financial assistance; and (2) ...
A district court granted an Indian tribe's motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) in a challenge to BLM's approval of a lithium mine exploration project in Arizona. The tribe argued BLM violated the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) when it found that no historical properties were af...
The D.C. Circuit denied environmental groups' petitions to review NRC's denial of their requests to intervene in licensing proceedings for construction and operation of a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in New Mexico. An energy company had applied for a license to construct and operate the facil...
In a per curiam opinion, the D.C. Circuit granted industry groups' petitions and denied environmental groups' petition to review EPA's application of a 2022 rule that classified industrial boilers built after 2010 as "new" rather than "existing" sources of hazardous air pollutants. The industry grou...
Interconnection queues across the United States prevent renewable energy projects from connecting to the grid because of their years-long backlog. Current procedures are increasing the number of projects that withdraw from the queue and the time it takes for renewable projects to seek approval. This Article examines the recent reforms taken by two regional grid operators, the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection (PJM) and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator.
Among the many detrimental impacts from climate change, sea-level rise is one of the most damaging, costly, and devastating. Sea-level change poses particular challenges for coastal communities, and is becoming more prevalent in environmental law. Existing scientific literature about how sea-level change works can often be inaccessible to the people that need it. In addition, each coastal community experiences a unique combination of global, regional, and local factors that define sea-level change.
Sea-level rise is a common denominator that prompts two related but distinct types of coastal migration: (1) wealthy coastal communities that retreat inland to ensure their physical and economic security while encroaching on the neighborhoods of existing vulnerable communities; and (2) vulnerable Native Alaskan communities that relocate inland to ensure their survival while striving to retain their cultural identity.
As the United States and the global community figure out how to address climate migration, local governments can and have already been preparing for it. Planning for climate migrants is a part of climate resilience. This Comment calls on local governments, community groups, and individuals to make a stand for how their communities will address climate change, focusing on climate migration. Local governments have tremendous power when it comes to future development.
On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, concluding that courts have a constitutional and statutory obligation to exercise their “independent judgment” when deciding whether a federal administrative agency has acted within its statutory authority. As Justice Neil Gorsuch noted in concurrence, the Court’s decision “places a tombstone on Chevron no one can miss.” This Comment discusses the Court’s decision and its implications for legal challenges to federal agency actions.