Endangered Species Act

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By Jennifer Roy, Marc Campopiano and Joshua T. Bledsoe

On September 23, 2014, the California Energy Commission (“CEC”), California Department of Fish and Wildlife (“CDFW”), US Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”), and US Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) released the Draft Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”)/Environmental Impact Statement (EIS”) for the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (“DRECP”).  The DRECP would create a framework to streamline permitting for up to 20,000 megawatts of renewable energy projects on more than 22 million acres in the California Mojave and Colorado/Sonoran desert region.

By Christopher W. Garrett, Daniel P. Brunton and Taiga Takahashi

On March 14, 2014, in Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility et al. v. Beaudreu et al. [click here to view opinion], the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued a decision on multiple challenges to the Cape Wind Offshore Wind Farm based on alleged violations of federal laws, including the Administrative Procedure Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, and the National Historic Preservation Act.[1]  The Court rejected all of the claims, except the Court granted summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs on the Endangered Species Act claims, remanding the case to the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marines Fisheries Service to make independent determinations regarding whether the feathering operational adjustment was a reasonable and prudent measure and to issue an incidental take statement for right whales, respectively.

By Janice Schneider, Buck Endemann, and Jennifer Roy

On October 22, 2012, the Ninth Circuit vacated certain federal authorizations for the Ruby Pipeline, a completed natural gas pipeline running from Wyoming to Oregon.  The Court concluded that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) Biological Opinion (BiOp) failed to comply with the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).[1]  The Court also found that the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Record of Decision (ROD) relying on the…

By Taiga Takahashi

In early July, the Federal Government agreed to review and revise the West-wide Energy Corridor Plan to settle a lawsuit[1] brought by environmental groups in 2009 challenging the Energy Corridor Plan under NEPA, the FLPMA, and the ESA. The original version of the Energy Corridor Plan designated energy corridors across 11 western states[2] primarily for oil, gas, and hydrogen pipelines and electricity transmission and distribution lines. These energy corridors were developed pursuant…

By Michael Feeley and Aron Potash

A lawsuit which delayed and once threatened to dismantle California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) cap and trade scheme was largely resolved last week, removing one roadblock to California’s plan to be the first state to impose an economy-wide GHG trading program.  Under modified regulations adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on October 20, 2011, California will require certain emitters of GHGs to obtain allowances or offsets in amounts commensurate to their respective emissions…

Clean energy projects have tremendous potential to create jobs and grow the economy and help the nation meet its energy needs in a more sustainable way, but regulatory and legal barriers to energy projects have substantially reduced job creation and economic growth while impeding efforts to bring new energy generation facilities on line, according to a recent economic study commissioned by the US Chamber of Commerce as part of its Project No Project.  The report, entitled, “Progress Denied: A Study on the Potential Economic Impact of Permitting Challenges Facing Proposed Energy Projects,” (PDF) found that legal challenges, threats of legal challenge, and regulatory hurdles caused the delay or cancellation of 333 energy projects which, if constructed and operated for twenty years, would have potential economic and employment benefits of  a projected $3.4 trillion.  These estimated benefits would include $1.4 trillion in employment earnings and one million or more jobs per year.