Audrey Doane

Feb 15, 2024 | jdsupra.com | Audrey Doane |Jason G. Fleischer |Ronald J. Tenpas

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 years in the making. The updated regulations establish, for the first time, general permits for incidental take, two of which are focused on wind energy and power line projects. The rule also updates and simplifies the regulations for specific permits.

Sep 7, 2023 | jdsupra.com | Audrey Doane |Jason G. Fleischer |Benjamin Lippard

On August 29, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) released the text of a rule further revising the definition of “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”) that the agencies had finalized earlier this year (the “January 2023 Rule”). The newest rule seeks to incorporate key limitations on the jurisdictional reach of the Clean Water Act as explained in the Supreme Court’s May 2023 decision in Sackett v.

Aug 2, 2023 | jdsupra.com | Audrey Doane |Jason G. Fleischer |John Geilman

Federal agencies are required to conduct assessments under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) before taking “major federal actions,” such as granting permits needed for infrastructure projects and for certain other necessary approvals for both traditional and renewable energy projects. Compliance with NEPA has become a legal battleground, and protracted agency reviews and court battles have tied up a number of high (and low) profile projects for years.

May 30, 2023 | jdsupra.com | Audrey Doane |John Geilman |Jeremy C. Marwell

On May 25, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in Sackett v. EPA,1 clarifying and narrowing the reach of federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”). For decades, confusion has persisted about the scope of the key phrase “navigable waters” under the CWA, defined vaguely to include “waters of the United States,” or “WOTUS.” Two tests had emerged from a fractured 2006 Supreme Court opinion in Rapanos v.