At its May 23, 2024 open meeting, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) proposing to establish a one-year “reasonable period of time” for certifying authorities to...more
At its May 23 open meeting, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR), proposing to establish a one-year “reasonable period of time” for certifying authorities to act on...more
On 9 June 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the federal register a proposed rule regarding the Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 water quality certification process (the Proposed Rule), undoing...more
Entities seeking federal authorization for infrastructure projects that may impact waters of the United States must obtain a Section 401 certification under the Trump administration’s narrowed Section 401 certification...more
On April 6, 2022, by a 5-4 vote in the case of Louisiana, et. al. v. American Rivers, et. al., the Supreme Court temporarily resurrected a Trump-era rule that sought to stop the practice of many states and tribes from...more
Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) requires applicants for federally permitted projects “that may result in any discharge into the navigable waters” of the United States to seek water quality certifications from the...more
The saga of judicial efforts to enforce the one-year limit on state review of applications for water quality certifications under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act shows no sign of reaching a conclusion. First, in Hoopa...more
FERC issued a final rule on March 18 amending its regulations to establish a one-year period for state agencies or other certifying authorities to act on requests for water quality certifications required for a certificate of...more
On June 1, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a regulation intended to reduce the ability of individual states, Native American tribes or interstate regulatory agencies to veto federal permits for...more
On April 10, 2019, President Trump signed two executive orders intended to address a range of legal and procedural hurdles commonly facing infrastructure projects, particularly in the energy sector. Most notably, the...more
The Washington Post last week reported a leaked White House document that revealed a far-reaching set of proposals to streamline the environmental review process for infrastructure projects. The 23-page document included more...more