Recent Updates to Federal Environmental and Natural Resource Regulations
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Updates to federal environmental and natural resource regulations and recent consequential decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court have resulted in a significant shift to the federal environmental and natural resource landscape...more
On February 12, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a final rule creating new permitting pathways and revising existing regulations for the take of bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and golden...more
Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) published notice in the Federal Register of a final rule amending its regulations authorizing permits for eagle incidental take and eagle nest take. The final rule comes...more
On February 2, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a final rule increasing civil monetary penalties for violations of several federal wildlife and natural resource protection laws (Final Rule). The...more
This January, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce announced updated civil monetary penalties for violations of federal wildlife and natural resource protection laws including the Endangered Species...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently published a proposed rule revising regulations that authorize permit issuance for eagle incidental take and eagle nest take under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (the...more
On September 30, 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a proposed rule to amend its eagle permit regulations (Proposed Rule) administered in accordance with the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act...more
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that ESI Energy LLC (ESI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Nextera Energy Resources LLC, pleaded guilty to violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) and acknowledged at least 150...more
In the last few weeks, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has published several major regulatory actions affecting federal avian protections. The Service has repealed a Trump-era rule that excluded incidental take...more
The Biden administration has committed to significantly expanding development of renewable energy. These projects, including solar and wind are welcomed by many. They have the potential to generate significant amounts of...more
On May 5, 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“USFWS”) published its updated collision risk model (“CRM”) for bald and golden eagles at wind energy facilities. The CRM is a complex Bayesian model the USFWS has endorsed...more
The regulation of protected wildlife is likely to undergo a seismic shift as a result of the change in administrations. Whereas the Trump Administration took several actions to narrow the reach of wildlife protection...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a proposed rule on January 30, 2020, that narrowly interprets the protections afforded by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The new rule would provide that the MBTA prohibits only the...more
On December 13, 2018, the United States District Court for the District of Colorado vacated an eagle take permit issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) authorizing a construction company to disturb a pair of...more
On April 11, 2018, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued a Memorandum titled “Guidance on the recent M-Opinion affecting the Migratory Bird Treaty Act” (the “Memorandum”), giving field advice to its enforcement...more
On February 9, 2018, Nossaman veteran Environmental Law attorney Steven Quarles will be serving as a member of the faculty for the American Law Institute (ALI) CLE program, Environmental Law 2018. The full conference, held...more
On October 25, 2017, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) released a report entitled “Review of the Department of the Interior Actions that Potentially Burden Domestic Energy” identifying agency actions that potentially...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has formally approved the long-awaited, 30-year eagle take rule, which will allow renewable energy companies and other developers of large projects to obtain a 30-year permit (as opposed to...more
On November 1, 2016 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced its plan to issue what will be only the second programmatic eagle take permit under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA) permit program...more
On July 5, 2016, the public comment period closed for the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) proposed revisions to the rules authorizing eagle take permits under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (Eagle Act) and...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published an interim rule (pdf) revising its civil procedure regulations for the assessment of civil penalties for violations of various laws and regulations within the Service’s...more
On May 6, 2016, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS or Service) published a proposed rule (Proposed Rule) that would substantially change how the Service administers its conservation and management program under the Bald and...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) on May 6, 2016, issued a draft rule that would extend to 30 years the maximum life of permits authorizing the incidental take of bald and golden eagles pursuant to the federal Bald...more
On May 2, 2016, the US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) announced its second attempt to revise its rules authorizing eagle take permits under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (Eagle Act). The rule would extend the...more
On May 6, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) published its proposed revisions to the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (“BGEPA”) permit program. The stated intention of these proposed revisions is to...more