Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to consult with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (NOAA) (together “Agencies) before undertaking work or issuing permits to maintain structures that may affect listed species or protected habitat. On January 5, 2022, the Agencies signed a joint resolution memorandum (Memorandum) that provides guidance on whether to include existing structures (such as a dam or a pier) involved in a proposed action as an “effect of the action” or within the “environmental baseline” for the purposes of ESA Section 7 consultation. Depending upon the scope of the “effects of the action,” NOAA may determine that the action will have no effect on ESA-listed species or their critical habitat, that the activity requires a permit for the incidental take, and/or that certain reasonable and prudent measures should be implemented to offset harmful effects.

On December 27, 2021, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) issued a final rule reissuing 40 existing Nationwide Permits (NWPs) with modifications and issuing a new NWP for water reclamation and reuse facilities. The 40 existing NWPs that the Corps reissued includes NWP 17, which authorizes the discharge of dredged or fill material associated with certain small hydroelectric projects.

As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prepares its Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 rule proposal, litigation regarding the 2020 Trump-era rule (Certification Rule) continues. Currently, the issue of whether to re-instate the Certification Rule is proceeding before U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Ninth Circuit). The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California had vacated and remanded the Certification Rule, and intervenors and several states appealed the vacatur. Appellants, including several industry groups, have filed motions to stay the District Court’s vacatur pending the outcome of the appeal and are now awaiting the Ninth Circuit’s ruling that could, at least temporarily, re-instate the Certification Rule.

On February 17, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) announced two new, significant policies that may have a profound impact on both natural gas pipeline projects before the Commission and the industry in general. Headlining these policies is FERC’s new interim greenhouse gas (GHG) policy statement (Interim GHG Policy Statement), pursuant to which FERC will presume any gas project with 100,000 metric tons per year of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) emissions to have a significant impact on climate change and will trigger the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Notwithstanding the interim nature of FERC’s new Interim GHG Policy Statement – where FERC is accepting comments by April 4, 2022 – FERC clarified that it will apply both policies to all pending and new project applications, effective immediately.

by Amanda A. Reeve

On February 7, 2022, Sierra Club, et al. filed a Notice of Intent to File Suit (“NOI”) over  the Unites States Environmental Protection Agency’s (“USEPA”) supposed failure to perform its duties under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”) to timely “make statutory completeness determinations and findings of failure to submit Regional Haze…

On February 2, 2022, the European Commission adopted a Complementary Climate Delegated Act (the “CCDA”) listing specific gas and nuclear activities as “environmentally sustainable” for purposes of the EU Taxonomy Regulation, subject to strict criteria. Only certain activities that comply with strict emissions limits and other criteria detailed below may be so designated. Even so, the Commission’s decision to list nuclear and gas activities as “environmentally sustainable” is controversial and may still be blocked by EU Member States and the European Parliament through an upcoming scrutiny period, and may also be legally challenged before the EU Courts. Nevertheless there is a significant chance that the Commission’s criteria to consider the listed gas and nuclear activities as “environmentally sustainable” will enter into force by the beginning of 2023. This would allow such listed gas and nuclear activities to have access to green investors and ear-marked public funds under the EU’s Next Generation EU investment program.

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Recent federal legislation seeks to address the ever-increasing demand for electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure. On Nov. 15, 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was signed into law. The IIJA specifically allocates $7.5 billion specifically for EV infrastructure programs and grants on a national level.

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