Transportation
The NEPA Amendments in Nine Blog Posts
Surveying the legal problems of the biggest NEPA changes in the past fifty years.
On June 5, President Biden signed the debt ceiling bill, which provides the first significant rewrite of NEPA since it was passed over fifty years ago. In a series of blog posts, I’ve explored some of the legal issues raised by the amendments. My goal has been highlighting problem areas rather than providing anything like …
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CONTINUE READINGAre California Cities Ready for an Equitable EV Transition?
How well are cities planning for the transition, and how can we track readiness?
A recent report from ACEEE reinforces California’s leadership in vehicle electrification–at the state level, California’s EV policies, incentives, and supporting strategies outpace the closest competitors by a significant margin (and most pro-electrification states’ programs owe their design and federal authorization to California): Source: ACEEE, 2023 Transportation Electrification Scorecard. But with …
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CONTINUE READINGNEPA 2.0 and Transmission Projects
Will the new NEPA provisions speed approval of urgently needed projects?
In terms of the energy transition, the most important question about the recent NEPA amendments is whether they streamline permitting for transmission projects. The answer is complicated. We can divide transmission projects into two groups. The first group consists of transmission projects where federal involvement is limited to specific segments, such as stream crossings requiring …
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CONTINUE READINGHow Much Credit Can California Take for the Electric Vehicle Revolution?
New CLEE report responds to criticism over how the state quantifies policy impacts.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is the state’s lead agency on zero-emission vehicle policy, from its first-in-the-nation mandate on automakers to produce zero-emission models to its wide-ranging incentive programs, among other policy approaches. But in 2021, the California State Auditor released a report criticizing how CARB measures the effects of its zero-emission vehicle policies. …
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CONTINUE READINGMapping City Priorities for an Equitable EV Infrastructure Rollout
How can cities identify high-priority, high-feasibility, high-utility sites?
As state regulators and auto manufacturers begin the drive toward 100 percent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035, leaders across California face a daunting challenge. How can they ensure that all Californians–not just those who can afford a new EV and a charger in their garage–have access to affordable, reliable, and convenient vehicle charging that meets …
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CONTINUE READINGFunding Public Transit Is Crucial for California’s Climate Goals
Transit networks need more–not less–support for state to reach 2045 carbon neutrality
It has been widely reported in recent weeks that California’s public transit systems are seeking billions of dollars in support from the state budget to avoid the fiscal cliff they are facing due to slow ridership recovery following the pandemic and shifts in work commute patterns. Without this support, the agencies will need to begin …
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CONTINUE READINGAccelerating Freight Decarbonization
A Guide to Zero-Emission Zones in Cities
The Transport Decarbonisation Alliance (TDA) is a collaboration among countries, cities, regions and companies with the goal of accelerating the global transformation of the transport sector towards a net-zero emission mobility system by 2050. CLEE is actively supporting California Air Resources Board (CARB) with its TDA presidency through research and strategic coordination. Together with various …
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CONTINUE READINGThe New NEPA: A User’s Guide
The Debt Ceiling Law Rewrote NEPA. Here’s a map to the new statute.
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was passed over fifty years. It created a new tool for environmental protection, the environmental impact statements, It also created the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), which issued guidelines of implementing NEPA in 1978. Lawyers will need to retool quickly because of recent changes. Here’s a roadmap …
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CONTINUE READINGNEPA and the Debt Deal
Will the permitting sections of the debt ceiling bill undermine environmental reviews?
Prior to the release of the text of the debt ceiling bill Sunday night, press reports had mentioned only a couple of provisions relating to environmental impact statements. It turns out there’s a lot more. The bill would make numerous changes in the statute governing impact statements, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Revenge of the Lawyers
Economists ousted lawyers (and law) from their central role in the regulatory process. That’s changing.
As you’ve probably heard, the Biden Administration has proposed aggressive new targets for greenhouse gas emissions from new vehicles. That’s great news. One really important aspect of the proposal relates to the justification for the proposal rather than the proposal itself. Following a recent trend, the justification is based on the factors specified by Congress …
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