After two years of continuous behind-the-scenes work, Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va), who chairs the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, joined by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), released S. 4753, the Energy...more
Below is this week’s congressional update by BakerHostetler’s Federal Policy team. We’ll continue to post in weeks when both chambers of Congress are in session....more
The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what’s happening in Washington, D.C., could impact your business. ...more
On January 31, 2024, the United States Department of the Interior issued gaming procedures under the Federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (“IGRA”) for five tribes located in California: Blue Lake Rancheria, Chemehuevi Indian...more
After years of concerns raised by Indian law practitioners and tribal leaders alike, the rules under which the Secretary of the Department of the Interior accepts lands in trust for federally recognized Indian tribes have...more
During her oral testimony on U.S. Department of the Interior Fiscal Year 2023 budget priorities before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and National Resources on May 19, 2022, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced that...more
U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Deb Haaland announced in October that the Biden Administration would be opening up the U.S. coastline to large-scale, offshore wind farming. Speaking at a wind industry...more
On November 23, 2021, the US District Court for the District of Columbia invalidated a 2021 gaming compact between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the State of Florida, which permitted mobile sports wagering throughout the...more
On June 29, 2021, fourteen members of Congress delivered a letter to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to use its authority to list the monarch butterfly (Danaus...more
The Secretary of the Interior issued Order Number 3400 on April 27, concerning the delegation of authority for non-gaming fee-to-trust land acquisitions concerning off-reservation Tribal lands. The Department of...more
This week, as part of a series of significant executive actions, President Biden issued an executive order directing the United States Department of Interior (DOI) to pause new oil and natural gas leasing on federal public...more
On January 27, 2021, President Biden issued an executive order — effective immediately — directing the Secretary of the Interior to pause new oil and natural gas leases on federal public lands or offshore waters to the extent...more
As of August 10, 2020, with the signing of Secretary’s Order 3382 by the U.S. Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt, Grand Junction, Colorado is officially the new home to the headquarters for the Bureau of Land Management...more
On July 9, 2020, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in McGirt v. Oklahoma, ruling that most of the eastern half of Oklahoma is an Indian reservation. While the decision ostensibly resolves a jurisdictional challenge to a...more
On May 1, 2020, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Securing the United States Bulk-Power System” which gives the Secretary of Energy the authority to prohibit certain interests from supplying the U.S....more
The State of California recently sent a 60-day notice of intent to sue to the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior and concurrently filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California...more
Focus - Interior Secretary Zinke resigns amid investigations - WASHINGTON POST - Dec 15 Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke submitted his resignation to the White House on Saturday after facing pressure to step...more
On May 16, 2018, the House Committee on Natural Resources passed six bills, including the Federally Integrated Species Health Act (H.R. 3916). ...more
The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision last Tuesday affirmed the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Patchak v. Zinke, holding that Congress through the Gun Lake Act, which reaffirms...more
United States of America v. Osage Wind, LLC et al., 871 F.3d 1078 2017 WL 4109940 (10th Cir. Sept. 18, 2017). Causing heartburn for project applicants developing on tribal land, the Tenth Circuit reversed the District Court...more
On February 27, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Patchak v. Zinke, No. 16-498. No opinion commanded a majority of the Court, but six justices concluded that the plaintiff’s lawsuit under the Indian...more