As reported in my June, 2015 article on this site, the DEP’s Chapter 78 rulemaking effort is not without its share of controversy and concern. Perhaps the biggest issue for the industry is the expansion of the “Public Resource” requirements... 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

Coal, oil and gas, timber, and multiple other activities within the Guyandotte and Big Sandy watersheds in West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky will be subject to new restrictions if the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) proceeds with its... Read More

By Meredith James In December, the Federal Government followed through on its commitment (and obligation) to introduce an Emergency Protection Order for the Greater Sage Grouse, a species on the verge of extinction in Canada. Earlier this month... Read More

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is to decide whether or not to list the greater sage-grouse as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.[1] The proposed listing has caused conflict between two groups of environmentalists: conservationists... Read More

On April 2, 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced that it would be listing the northern long-eared bat as threatened , rather than endangered, as it had originally proposed in October of 2013. The listing gives the bat new protections... Read More