On March 12, 2025, EPA Administrator Zeldin announced that the agency will undertake 31 deregulatory actions to advance President Trump’s Day One executive orders and EPA’s “Powering the Great American Comeback.”
Continue Reading EPA Announces 31 Historic Actions Publicized as “Greatest Day of Deregulation Our Nation Has Seen”
On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued the “Unleashing American Energy” Executive Order (“EO”) with the stated purpose of ensuring an abundant supply of affordable and reliable energy in the United States.
Continue Reading NEPA Changes Slated Under President Trump’s Unleashing American Energy Executive Order
On December 10, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump promised expedited permitting for energy and other construction projects worth more than $1 billion.
Continue Reading Louisiana is “Open for Business,” but Projects Need to Proceed Carefully
The Offshore Parity Act of 2024 (H.R. 10183), introduced on November 20, 2024, by Congressmen Garret Graves (R-LA) and Troy A. Carter, Sr. (D-LA), looks to extend Louisiana’s state authority from 3 to 9 nautical miles offshore into the Gulf of Mexico.
Continue Reading Casting a Wider Net: Proposed Expansion of Coastal States’ Authority
In 2021, the Biden Administration set a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts (“GW”) of federal offshore wind projects by 2030, and in 2022, the U.S. Department of the Interior (“DOI”) set an additional goal of deploying 15 GW of floating offshore wind by 2035.
Continue Reading U.S. Federal Offshore Wind in 2024: Growth and Growing Pains
This week, a Maryland federal district court amended its prior Biological Opinion (“BiOP”) vacatur judgment, extending the timeline for vacatur from December 20, 2024, to May 21, 2025, which averts for now a potential shutdown of Gulf of Mexico (“GOM”) oil and gas operations.
Continue Reading Potential Shutdown of GOM Oil and Gas Operations Due to BiOp Vacatur Averted – For Now
On October 9, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published the final rule, Vessel Incidental Discharge National Standards of Performance (“VID-NSP”), establishing national performance standards under the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (“VIDA”).
Continue Reading EPA Issues Much-Anticipated Final Rule Establishing National Standards of Performance for Vessel Incidental Discharges
On August 19, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland issued its merits decision in Sierra Club et al. v. NMFS, API, et al., No. 8:20-cv-03060-DLB, which vacated the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Service’s (“NMFS”) 2020 programmatic Biological Opinion on the Federally Regulated Oil and Gas Program Activities in the Gulf of Mexico (the “2020 BiOp”), and corresponding Incidental Take Statement (“ITS”), for violations of the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 et seq., and Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C. §§ 551 et seq.
Continue Reading Maryland Court’s Vacatur of Biological Opinion Could Cause Severe Disruption of Gulf of Mexico Oil & Gas Activities
This week EPA released the newest version of its environmental justice (EJ) screening and mapping tool, EJScreen 2.3. EJScreen is a mapping tool that combines environmental and socioeconomic data and is used to screen for potentially overburdened communities that may be affected by federal government programs and activities.
Continue Reading EPA Releases New Version of EJScreen
On July 1, 2024, the United States Supreme Court extended the deadline for challenging agency actions under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), holding that the statute of limitations period does not begin to run “until the plaintiff is injured by final agency action.”
Continue Reading SCOTUS Stretches Statute of Limitations for Challenging Agency Actions Under APA