Recent Updates to Federal Environmental and Natural Resource Regulations
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On April 12, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) new regulations for eagle take permitting under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act will go into effect. The regulations, issued on February 12, 2024,...more
Beginning April 12, 2024, USFWS will offer a general permit application for incidental take of bald and golden eagles for wind energy and power line projects. The general permit option will provide an alternative to...more
Last month, in 89 FR 9920, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“USFWS”) published a final rule revising the eagle take permit (“ETP”) process. USFWS believes the new rule will encourage more participation in the ETP program...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
On February 12, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) released its final rule revising its permit regulations for “take” under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA), an overhaul that has been several...more
A new federal proposal may reduce the burden and costs for wind energy projects and power lines to ensure compliance with federal wildlife protections. Energy projects often require a wide array of federal, state, and local...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 US Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a proposed rule in the Federal Register that would revise the regulations for the eagle take permit program under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection...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
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 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has upheld the approval of a utility-scale wind facility in California, rejecting claims that the Bureau of Indian Affairs violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the...more
In December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced that the agency will be proposing a streamlined eagle incidental take permitting process for wind energy projects that are considered “low-risk” to eagles....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
In December 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued new regulations that provide an important mechanism for renewable energy, transmission line and other development projects to obtain eagle “incidental...more
On December 16, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a long-awaited final rule (Rule) revising the regulations that govern the Service’s eagle take permit program (Eagle Permit Program) under the Bald and...more
On December 16, 2016 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a final rule (Final Rule) revising its 2009 regulations establishing requirements for issuance of permits for “non-purposeful take” of bald and...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 April 15, 2016, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued its Draft Midwest Wind Energy Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan) and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) proposing a regional approach to...more
On June 6, 2016, in Backcountry Against Dumps et al. v. Jewell et al., the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the judgment of the District Court for the Southern District of California upholding federal...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 United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“USFWS”) recently proposed revisions to its regulations authorizing take of bald and golden eagles. The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (“BGEPA”) imposes criminal 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 March 29, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California granted summary judgment in favor of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (“BIA”) in a lawsuit involving the grant of a lease to Tule Wind, LLC for...more
On August 11, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California struck down the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s so-called “30-Year Rule,” which had extended from 5 years to 30 years the duration of...more