Unpacking the Senate Permitting Reform Bill: CWA
Clean Water Act provisions have largest impacts on Section 404 permitting, and some on Section 401 certification
This post continues my review of the provisions of the Senate Permitting Reform Bill, focusing on the Clean Water Act provisions in Title II. My introduction to the coverage of the bill is here. My discussion of Title I, covering NEPA is here (for remedies) and here (everything else). Water Quality Criteria: Section 1201 requires notice and comment for water quality criteria issuance. This may make it more time consuming to issue those criteria (which EPA is ...
CONTINUE READINGUnpacking the Senate Permitting Reform Bill: NEPA
NEPA provisions are substantial in their changes, but (mostly) leave the core of the Act in place
I've already written some about the Senate permtting reform bill, including the provisions on NEPA remedies. In the next few posts I'm going to take deep dives on Titles I through IV of the bill, which are the primary changes to environmental law. First, I'll cover the changes to NEPA in Title I besides NEPA remedies (roughly in order as they appear in the bill) and what I think their importance is. NEPA as Procedural First, there is a provision in Section 11...
CONTINUE READINGOur Powerful ‘Eye in the Sky’ Just Multiplied
The Drain is a roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
Next month, scientists and diplomats from all over the world will arrive in Antalya, Türkiye for the UN climate conference known as COP31. The host country wants to make global progress on reducing planet-warming methane from landfills, which could be a big deal. So, UCLA’s STOP Methane used satellite data to create a Top 10 list of super-emitting landfills in Turkey’s waste sector to provide some very specific mitigation opportunities since that count...
CONTINUE READINGOpening Shots in a War on Doctors
What began as a war on science has now reached your kid’s doctor.
The doctors we all rely on have now apparently joined liberals and journalists as enemies of the people. RFK, Jr., is excited about eliminating “medical tyranny” by replacing doctors with AI. Texas AG Ken Paxton is investigating the state’s pediatricians for misconduct. Medical associations are under fire. Fanning the flames of distrust for modern medicine has real consequences. We saw that Monday when the Governor of New York was forced to declare an emergency o...
CONTINUE READINGThe Other Big Environmental Case at the Supreme Court
Guest contributor Clifford Villa writes that Dept. of the Air Force v. Prutehi Guahan, which will be argued Wednesday, raises profound questions for democracy and environmental justice.
Guest contributor Clifford Villa is law professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law. With all eyes on Suncor Energy v. Boulder County, it’s been easy to overlook another environmental law case on the docket of the U.S. Supreme Court this week: Dept. of the Air Force v. Prutehi Guahan. Prutehi Guahan illustrates how NEPA remains a critical component of environmental law, even in the post-Seven County world. In the oral argument, set for Wednesday,...
CONTINUE READINGWould You Believe That, by Law, Renewables are a National Defense Priority?
Support for Clean Energy from an Unexpected Direction
The National Defense Act was a Korean war measure. As behooves a wartime law, it seems to contemplate fairly heavy-handed economic control by the government. (If we were ever to get a truly socialist president, they’d do well to give the DPA a careful read.) Even though it’s been amended since then, it’s not a source you would expect be a support for clean energy. You would be wrong, however. The DPA’s purpose is to ensure that the U.S. industrial base is su...
CONTINUE READINGThe Arguments We Did and Didn’t Hear in Suncor v. Boulder
Oral arguments in the climate case before the Supreme Court gave hints to possible outcomes. But one of Boulder's strong answers to the "tort suits are regulation" objection went unmade.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder County. At issue is whether the city and county of Boulder can move forward with its state court case against defendants Exxon Mobil Corporation and Suncor Energy for allegedly deceiving the public about their products' role in climate change. Some three dozen local governments and states throughout the United States have filed similar lawsuits in state court against fossil f...
CONTINUE READINGDeregulatory Theater of the Absurd
The new CAFE standards are a master class in pretending you’re implementing a law while totally sabotaging it.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) recently issued CAFE standards — fuel efficiency standards for new cars. Rolling back more rigorous standards from Biden, DOT applied considerable ingenuity to ensure that fuel efficiency will stagnate for the foreseeable future. Like an Escher drawing, you have to step back from all the intricate details to appreciate just how weird the overall design is. What’s happening on each staircase in the drawing seems believabl...
CONTINUE READINGPermitting Reform Bill: NEPA Remedies
Efforts to tailor remedies for NEPA violations address an important issue, but may have misfired
To me the most important change in environmental law from the permitting reform bill is the effort to restrict remedies for NEPA violations. I’ve written before about why I think this is important work to do, and why it is important to do it well. And there are good components to the proposal on the table (not just because it aligns some with an earlier suggestion of mine). But after spending some time considering the provision, I’m increasingly concerned it i...
CONTINUE READINGThe Endhó Dam: One of the World’s Least Known Sacrifice Zones
It's well past time to end sacrifice zones, including the area that has been treated as "Mexico's toilet bowl" for decades.
Last week, about halfway down the New York Times’ Monday morning newsletter, there was a video titled “Living Next to Mexico’s Toxic Reservoir.” I watched it, appalled not only by the dangerous conditions described in the video and accompanying article, but also by the fact that I had never heard of this enormous environmental justice disaster. I worried that if I—someone who inevitably spends some part of everyday thinking about environmental injustices—...
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
The Drain is a roundup of climate and environmental news from Legal Planet delivered to your Inbox once a week.
