By Mr. Michael Anderson Get the latest expert analysis on the federal "Roadless Area Conservation Rule," which bans road building and logging on millions of acres of national forest land in numerous states. This article includes an overview... Read More
On June 6, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its latest comments and rating on the State Department's Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) for the Keystone XL project, a major new oil pipeline being developed... Read More
The Massachusetts Oil Spill Prevention Act (OSPA) was enacted following an oil spill in Buzzards Bay. [As the appellate court notes, Buzzards Bay is a scenically beautiful body of water. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Buzzards_Bay_map.png... Read More
By Mr. Al Herson Get the latest analysis on the Council on Environmental Quality's revised draft guidance on climate change analysis in NEPA reviews. The article reviews the major provisions of the draft guidance, including analyzing greenhouse... Read More
A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, [ enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers ], rejected certain portions of an environmental analysis conducted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission... Read More
By E. Lynn Grayson, Partner, Jenner & Block EPA has issued a new online mapping tool, NEPAssist, to assist federal agencies in evaluating possible NEPA environmental review obligations. NEPAssist is one of five pilot projects selected by the White... Read More
By Michael B. Gerrard The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), signed into law by President Richard Nixon on January 1, 1970, was the first U.S. environmental statute of the modern era. It requires the preparation of environmental impact statements... Read More
By Michael B. Gerrard The remarkable Encyclical Letter issued last month by Pope Francis could be read as a primer on the importance and idealized operation of many of our environmental laws. The headings below are mine; the text is from the... Read More
Ethan I. Strell, Associate Director & Fellow, Columbia Center for Climate Change Law In a subtle but meaningful shift, the environmental impact review process in New York City is beginning to more systematically consider the potential effects... Read More
Numerous environmental groups, represented by attorneys from Earthjustice, have filed a lawsuit against the Export-Import Bank over the Bank’s approval of a $90 million loan guarantee in support of Xcoal’s mining, transport, and export of... Read More
By Justin Gundlach, Climate Law Fellow The Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project is enormous. It is designed to link natural gas drilling operations on the North Slope of Alaska to liquefaction facilities in Nikiski (south of Anchorage) via an... Read More
Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),[1] and the corresponding NEPA regulations issued by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)[2] and the respective reviewing agencies, federal agencies are required to consider the environmental... Read More
By Daniel Firger, Associate Director, Center for Climate Change, Columbia Law School Coal is the most polluting fossil fuel, releasing far higher levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and conventional air pollutants-including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide... Read More
On December 24, 2014, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) released Revised Draft Guidance on how federal agencies should evaluate GHG emissions and the impacts of climate change when conducting reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act... Read More
By Mr. Ronald Bass The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has prompted the Council on Environmental Quality and the Department of Interior to review the Mineral Management Service's compliance with NEPA. MMS is the federal agency within DOI responsible... Read More