Navigating Environmental Restrictions on Alternative Project Delivery for Complex Infrastructure Projects
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[WEBINAR] Update on the California Environmental Quality Act: What’s New for 2018
On May 29, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado that dramatically changes the way courts scrutinize federal agencies’ environmental reviews under the...more
President Trump’s January 31, 2025, executive order (EO), Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) February 25 interim final rule removing CEQ regulations...more
Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, et al. v. Eagle County, Colorado et al. On Tuesday, December 10, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could redefine what constitutes a “reasonably foreseeable”...more
Back in 2003, Michael Herz and I wrote an article calling for the creation of an online, word searchable database of environmental impact statements that had been prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)...more
A federal court in Washington, D.C. recently ruled that the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) does not have authority to issue environmental regulation sunder the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969,...more
With argument looming at the Supreme Court December 10 on Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, the D.C. Circuit’s November 12 decision in Marin Audubon Society v. F.A.A. opens the door to much wider changes...more
A split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit landed an unexpected blow on the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on November 12, ruling that CEQ lacked authority to promulgate its umbrella...more
On November 12, 2024, a divided (2-1) panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a ruling invalidating the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations...more
Earlier this week, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the National Environmental Policy Act does not authorize the Council on Environmental Quality to issue binding regulations governing how federal...more
The two-judge majority opinion in Marin Audubon Society v. Federal Aviation Administration effectively invalidates the White House Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ’s) longstanding regulations implementing the National...more
In a partially published decision in People ex rel. Bonta v. County of Lake (Oct. 13, 2024, A165677) __ Cal. App. __ [2024 Cal.App. LEXIS 667], the First District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s ruling in favor of...more
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and other environmental laws can create significant legal risks for the delivery of complex infrastructure projects using...more
This morning our nation's highest court agreed to hear an appeal by seven Utah Counties and a railroad company of a DC Circuit Court of Appeals decision. That DC Circuit decision revoked the Surface Transportation Board's...more
This is the fifth in a series of six eAlerts on the Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule published in the Federal Register on May 1, 2024 (Final Rule) by the Council for Environmental Quality (CEQ). The Final Rule...more
On May 8th, 2024, the Little Hoover Commission released its much-anticipated report, “CEQA: Targeted Reform for California’s Core Environmental Law” putting forth recommendations to improve the functioning of the California...more
This is the third in a series of six eAlerts on the Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule published in the Federal Register on May 1, 2024 (Final Rule) by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The Final Rule...more
In the Fall of 2023, the Interagency Working Group on Mining Laws, Regulations, and Permitting (“IWG”) released its final report containing recommendations to reform how mining is conducted on public lands (the “Final...more
Welcome to “CEQA News You Can Use,” a quarterly production of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP’s Natural Resources lawyers. This publication provides quick, useful bites of CEQA news, which we hope can be a resource to...more
Several recent proposals impacting implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") demonstrate a renewed focus on considering climate change in federal decision-making. In July, the Council on Environmental...more
This week, the Ninth Circuit considers personal jurisdiction in a trademark declaratory judgment action and assesses an agency’s decision to omit an environmental-impact statement in connection with a forest-fire-management...more
On July 31, 2023, the Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) proposed the Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule (“Proposed Rule”), 88 Fed. Reg. 49,924 (July 31, 2023), which is better known as Phase 2 of the...more
On June 3, 2023, President Biden signed into law the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA). The FRA was the result of an agreement between White House and congressional GOP negotiators....more
The reform mainly focuses on streamlining and narrowing the scope of environmental review at the federal level. On June 3, 2023, President Biden signed legislation implementing the bipartisan debt ceiling and budget...more
On Wednesday, May 17, 2023, the federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted summary judgment in favor of the United States Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) and Vineyard Wind, and denied summary...more
The United States House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources (“Committee”) is holding a hearing today addressing the following legislation: Building United States Infrastructure through Limited Delays and...more