Over the last year or so, anti-pipeline forces have increasingly used “tree sitting” to obstruct natural gas infrastructure projects. The tactic involves individuals who climb trees slated for removal in a proposed pipeline project and stay there—sometimes for months and
On August 12, 2019, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service signed final rules instituting the first comprehensive revisions to Endangered Species Act regulations in 33 years. The Services made substantial revisions to their regulations
The Trump Administration’s recent executive order signals potentially significant changes to the regulatory landscape for domestic energy infrastructure generally and LNG in particular. Among the notable features of the order are the provisions directing US DOT to (1) update its
On April 12, 2019, the US District Court for the Northern District of California entered an order vacating the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) repeal of the 2016 Valuation Rule due to violations of the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). The
Over the past several decades, significant tension has developed between the federal role in overseeing and authorizing certain types of energy infrastructure projects and states’ roles in regulating water quality under the cooperative federalism structure of the Clean Water Act
In Algonquin Gas Transmission, LLC v. Weymouth Massachusetts, a First Circuit panel last month ruled that a statute of limitations defense is inapplicable to a Natural Gas Act (NGA) preemption claim against a locality. The court also held that the
On Wednesday, April 10, President Trump signed an Executive Order seeking to expedite the permitting process for energy infrastructure projects by reforming the Clean Water Act section 401 water quality certification process.
On March 21, 2019, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) held its monthly open meeting. Highlights of the meeting included the following:
The costs of overly nationalistic policies likely outweigh the benefits for Mexico with respect to the international energy community. If the AMLO administration chooses to attempt nationalization of the considerable foreign investment which followed the 2013 Energy Reforms in an
Last week the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) made some headway in how it evaluates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from natural gas-related projects. In recent FERC pipeline certification proceedings, the two Democrats on the Commission have been critical of how
