Despite criticism from environmentalists and the Obama Administration concerning provisions that would streamline compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Senate passed the Water Resources Development Act of 2013 (WRDA), S. 601, by a decisive 83-14 vote on May 15. The bill in its final form includes provisions that would speed up deadlines… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Environment
Subscribe to Environment RSS FeedEPA Comments on the Keystone NEPA Review—Monetizing the Social Costs of CO2 Emissions
On April 22, 2013, comments filed on the Keystone Pipeline draft supplemental environmental impact statement, EPA unveiled a new approach to evaluating climate change impacts under NEPA—monetizing social costs of CO2. In those comments, EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance recommended that the State Department use “monetized estimates of the social cost of… Continue Reading
IRS issues favorable guidance on tax credits for wind and other renewable electric generation developers
The Internal Revenue Service has issued highly anticipated guidance in the form of Notice 2013-29, providing guidelines and a safe harbor to determine when the owner of a renewable electricity generation facility (wind, biomass, or other renewable generation sources) is considered to have “begun construction” on any such facility by the end of 2013, making… Continue Reading
Friends of the Earth: how ECJ judges have smoothed the way for applicants to bring claims in environmental cases
R (on the application of Edwards and Pallikaropoulos) v Environment Agency (C260/11) The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that in deciding whether the costs of bringing a claim on an environmental matter are “prohibitively expensive” it is not enough for national courts simply to consider the applicant’s financial situation, it must engage in… Continue Reading
Senate Energy Committee Schedules Forums on Natural Gas
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has announced it will hold a series of roundtable forums on natural gas issues in May. Each of the three forums, which follow a February Committee hearing on natural gas challenges and opportunities, will focus on specific policy issues facing the country’s growing natural gas resources.
Shale gas exploration: European Commission launches stakeholder Consultation
The European Commission is completing a Consultation on the need for additional regulation of unconventional fossil fuel (e.g., shale gas) exploration and development in Europe. The Consultation period ends on 23 March 2013 and results will be made available on the Commission’s website and at a stakeholders’ meeting to be held by the Commission in… Continue Reading
EPA Response to Sixth Circuit Denial of Petition to Rehear Earlier Rejection of CAA Aggregation Policy Creates Geographic Confusion
The National Environmental Development Association’s Clean Air Project (NEDA/CAP) recently filed a petition for review for review in the D.C. Circuit challenging a December 21, 2012 EPA Memorandum, which provides policy guidance on the applicability of the Sixth Circuit’s decision in Summit Petroleum Corp. v. EPA (No. 09-4348/10-4572) to Clean Air Act (CAA) Title V and… Continue Reading
CEQA Modernization Efforts and New Transportation Bill Provisions May Open the Door to NEPA Harmonization
In his State of the State message on January 24, California Governor Jerry Brown’ urged reform of the forty-three-year-old California Environmental Quality Act, Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 21000 et seq., in order to make it “based more on consistent standards that provide greater certainty and cut needless delays.” Under this “standards-based” approach, CEQA would… Continue Reading
DOE, EPA, OMB Nominees Announced
Earlier today, President Obama announced the nomination of three cabinet-level appointments to his Administration: Ernest Moniz as Secretary of Energy; Gina McCarthy as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and Sylvia Matthews Burwell as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Sally Jewell Nominated for Interior Secretary
In a move that surprised many, President Obama has nominated REI chief executive Sally Jewell to replace Ken Salazar as the next Secretary of the Department of Interior. Salazar announced in January that he would be stepping down by the end of March. Jewell is an engineer by trade, and has previously worked in both… Continue Reading
Senate Energy Committee to Hold Major Hearing on Natural Gas
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) has scheduled a full committee hearing on February 12 entitled, “Opportunities and Challenges for Natural Gas.” The hearing will be held at 10:00 am in room 366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. This hearing comes at a pivotal time for the U.S. natural gas… Continue Reading
Review of issues for 2013
The following is a summary of some of the key issues Congress and the Administration will be debating in 2013. Please contact us with any questions. We are happy to provide further analysis as well as insight into other areas of interest. Agriculture: Tom Vilsack is expected to stay on as Secretary of Agriculture…. Continue Reading
MOU on Culturally Important and Sacred Sites for Indian Tribes
On Dec. 6, 2012, the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, and the Interior and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (the Participating Agencies) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enhance Federal protection of and tribal access to culturally important sites held sacred by Indian tribes. As defined in previously-promulgated Executive Order (EO) 13007, sacred… Continue Reading
RCRA “Review” Lawsuits and Toxicity Characteristic/TCLP
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), at Section 2002(b), provides that each of EPA’s hazardous and nonhazardous waste rules “shall be reviewed [by EPA] and, where necessary, revised not less frequently than every three years.” Until recently, this provision had never been enforced to require action by EPA, but on April 5, 2012, ten… Continue Reading
Clinton-era Roadless Rule Survives Final Legal Hurdle: SCOTUS Denies Cert
Last week, the Supreme Court declined to review the Tenth Circuit’s October 2011 decision upholding the Forest Service’s 2001 promulgation of rules limiting road-building and timber cutting in approximately 1.9 billion acres of National Forests (aka the Roadless Rule). This was the final legal hurdle for the Roadless Rule, which over the last 10… Continue Reading
Dollars Do Count—In the Designation of Critical Habitat, At Least
Landowners who object to the listing of endangered species pursuant to Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) are often chagrined to learn that agencies need not consider the economic impacts of their listing decisions. In designating critical habitat under Section 4, however, the ESA requires the Secretary of the Interior (or Commerce, in… Continue Reading
Court Rejects EPA Title V Emissions Aggregation Interpretation
In Summit Petroleum Corp. v. EPA, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected EPA’s attempt to classify natural gas production wells and a dedicated processing plant, located miles from the wells, as a single major source under Title V of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The Sixth Circuit’s decision is important not… Continue Reading
High Speed 2 in the sidings as Court allows legal challenge
A number of opponents to the controversial “High Speed 2″ railway project have been granted permission to bring a judicial review challenge to the scheme. High Speed 2 aims to link London with Birmingham and, subsequently, Manchester and Leeds and possibly Scotland, by way of a high speed train line. The plan was initially developed… Continue Reading
Winding Up: Implementing New Wind Energy Siting Guidelines
The Department of the Interior’s new, voluntary Land-based Wind Energy Guidelines are the result of a four-year effort by the Wind Turbine Guidelines Federal Advisory Committee and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to reconcile the sometimes competing public goods of wind energy deployment and the protection of wildlife. The Guidelines set out recommended best practices… Continue Reading
EPA Withdraws Proposed NPDES CAFO Reporting Rule
EPA has announced the withdrawal of its proposed National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) Reporting Rule that would have imposed significant new and broad information reporting obligations requiring CAFOs nationwide to provide a host of specific business and operational information to EPA. In its July 13, 2012 notice withdrawing the… Continue Reading
D.C. Circuit Upholds EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Rules
In a per curiam decision (issued by the whole three-judge panel), the D.C. Circuit recently upheld EPA’s endangerment finding and several greenhouse gas (GHG) emission rules under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The decision endorses EPA’s current regulation of GHGs, and paves the way for future GHG rulemaking. The D.C. Circuit addressed challenges to several… Continue Reading
EU Agrees to First Energy Efficiency Directive
Authored by Christopher Norton and Camilla Shires, Hogan Lovells London Office Against a background of growing dependency on energy imports and the recognition that the EU is currently not on track to meet its 20% energy saving target by 2020, European policymakers have finally reached agreement on the first-ever Energy Efficiency Directive. The Directive is… Continue Reading
NET Power announces pressurized CO2 power generation system
A revolutionary new power generation system, developed by NET Power LLC, continues to draw top-notch partners and investors including Toshiba Corp, The Shaw Group Inc., and Exelon Corp. The technology NET Power developed utilizes a pressurized stream of carbon dioxide (CO2) to drive a turbine to generate electricity. After the electricity is generated, the CO2… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Rules Agencies Must Honor Contract Obligations Even if “Subject to the Availability of Appropriations”
Co-Authored by Agnes P. Dover, Partner and Director of Hogan Lovells’ Government Contracts Practice In the only government contract case it considered this term, Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, et al. v. Ramah Navajo Chapter et al., the Supreme Court of the United States addressed the question of whether a federal agency is excused from paying… Continue Reading