Oceans
Interior hits the pause button again
Cross-posted at CPRBlog. As he had promised, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today issued a new decision memorandum suspending certain deepwater drilling operations. Today’s decision replaces the moratorium that the federal District Court in New Orleans enjoined on June 22, and which the Fifth Circuit declined to reinstate last week. As I made clear in my …
Continue reading “Interior hits the pause button again”
CONTINUE READINGStay denied in appeal of offshore moratorium decision
Cross-posted at CPRBlog. A three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit heard argument today on the Obama administration’s request that it stay the District Court’s injunction of the 6-month deepwater oil development moratorium, and by a 2-1 vote quickly rejected the request. The moratorium halted any new drilling, and the granting of any new permits for …
Continue reading “Stay denied in appeal of offshore moratorium decision”
CONTINUE READINGLegislative response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster
What’s happening in Congress since the Deepwater Horizon tragedy and the gusher that followed? There have been a lot of hearings, and a lot of bills introduced. Several are moving ahead. One has become law, one has been passed by the full House, and two have been reported out of Senate committees. 1) Both houses …
Continue reading “Legislative response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster”
CONTINUE READINGAnother information gap in the Gulf
As the Washington Post points out today, BP’s Regional Oil Spill Response Plan (large file) for the Gulf of Mexico was, like the NEPA analysis and the ESA analysis, wildly over-optimistic. The Response Plan is more realistic than the NEPA documents with respect to the possibilities. It does include worst case scenarios (Appendix H). The …
Continue reading “Another information gap in the Gulf”
CONTINUE READINGOffshore drilling and endangered species — Part 2
Cross-posted at CPRBlog. Yesterday I wrote about the shortcomings of ESA consultation on the Deepwater Horizon and other offshore oil rigs. Today I take up the implications of the spill itself under the ESA. At least one ESA lawsuit has already been filed, and at least partially resolved. The Animal Welfare Institute, Center for Biological …
Continue reading “Offshore drilling and endangered species — Part 2”
CONTINUE READINGOffshore drilling and endangered species — Part 1
Cross-posted at CPRBlog The media have paid a lot of attention to the cavalier attitude of the former Minerals Management Service (now called the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement) toward the National Environmental Policy Act (I blogged about it here and here and Dan weighed in here). Less has been said, so …
Continue reading “Offshore drilling and endangered species — Part 1”
CONTINUE READINGAdministration delays next step on offshore drilling plan
Finally, some news about offshore oil drilling that contains no nasty surprises. The Obama administration has announced that it will delay public meetings on the plan for expanded offshore drilling it unveiled shortly before the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The planned “scoping” meetings, which had originally been announced for June or July in Alaska, the south …
Continue reading “Administration delays next step on offshore drilling plan”
CONTINUE READINGNews Flash: Richard Lazarus to be Executive Director of Deepwater Horizon Team
DOE has announced: The co-chairs of the bipartisan National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling have selected a highly regarded Georgetown University law professor to serve as the commission’s executive director. Richard Lazarus, the Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., Professor of Law at Georgetown, will lead the staff of the …
Continue reading “News Flash: Richard Lazarus to be Executive Director of Deepwater Horizon Team”
CONTINUE READINGMore on Today’s U.S. Supreme Court Property Rights Decision
As fellow Legal Plant contributor, Sean Hecht, reported earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the most important environmental law case on its current docket: Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection, No. 08-1151. The Court’s opinion can be found here. The issue in the Stop the Beach Renourishment case is …
Continue reading “More on Today’s U.S. Supreme Court Property Rights Decision”
CONTINUE READINGSupreme Court issues decision in Florida beach sand takings case
UPDATE: Rick Frank has published some insighful analysis here of the decision discussed below, including discussion of the impacts of the changing Supreme Court composition on the development of doctrine in the so-called “judicial takings” area. The U.S. Supreme Court just issued its decision in Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection …
Continue reading “Supreme Court issues decision in Florida beach sand takings case”
CONTINUE READING