Avian Influenza: New Commercial HPAI Detections Plummet Nationally
As of June 13, 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)’s HPAI 2022 Confirmed Detections database confirmed a total of 369 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) detections in 36 states (186 commercial flocks and 183 backyard flocks), resulting in 40.09
Conservation Group Efforts Seeking Greater Protection of River Herring Denied
On March 31, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied an appeal filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other conservation groups seeking to overturn a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) decision not to protect two types of river herring, alewife, and blueback herring under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
FWS Proposes to Account for Climate Change When Designating Experimental Populations
On June 7, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued a proposed rule titled, “Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Experimental Populations.” In issuing the proposed rule, FWS re-affirms its authority to designate and introduce experimental populations of protected species into areas of habitat outside of their historical range when climate change,
Biden Administration Releases “Phase 1” of NEPA Revisions
On April 20, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued a Final Rule, revising certain sections of its regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Final Rule represents “Phase 1” of the Biden administration’s plan to reverse the Trump-era rulemaking, which significantly revised the NEPA regulations for the first time since 1978.
New Bureau of Land Management Guidance on Geologic Carbon Sequestration on Federal Public Lands Answers Some Questions, But Uncertainty Remains for Split-Estate Lands
On June 8, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued formal guidance[1] describing BLM’s policy for authorizing use of federal public lands for site characterization, injection, and geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2) for carbon capture and storage (CCS). BLM Instruction Memorandum 2022-041 (IM
The European Union Adopted New Rules for the Trans-European Networks for Energy
On 30 May 2022, the European Union (“EU”) adopted the revised Regulation on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure (No. 2022/869) (the “TEN-E Regulation 2022”), which replaces the previous rules laid down in Regulation No. 347/2013 (the “TEN-E Regulation 2013”) that aimed to improve security of supply, market integration, competition and sustainability in the energy sector.
New Jersey Supreme Court reaffirms public policy underpinning the NJ rescue doctrine is limited to the protection of human life
Injuries to a woman who heroically jumped in a canal to save a neighbor’s dog were not considered viable as a cause of action under the state’s rescue doctrine. See Ann Samolyk v. Dorothy Berthe, III, No. A-16-21 (085946) (N.J. June 13, 2022). The State’s highest court declined to extend the rescue doctrine to those
TCEQ Approves Changes to Compliance History Rules Focused on Industrial Incidents
Prompted by several emergency events, as previously reported, on June 1, 2022, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) adopted revisions to the compliance history rules to authorize the executive director to reclassify a site’s compliance history if an “exigent circumstance” exists. An exigent circumstance is defined as: i) a significant disruption to one
NJ Bill Could Impose Unwarranted Animal Forfeiture
By Meghan Currie, a summer associate at Fox Rothschild LLP, based in the firm’s Princeton office
A recent Bill, A2354, introduced in February of this year by New Jersey legislators should be on the forefront of any New Jersey animal owner’s mind. The Bill proposes amendments, bolstering existing animal cruelty statute 4:22-17, which addresses animal
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of June 13, 2022
Hydraulic Fracturing: Ninth Circuit Grants Summary Judgment Against Federal Agencies in Offshore Drilling Case 
On June 3, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a grant of summary judgment to environmental groups, the State of California, and the California Coastal Commission (together, “plaintiffs”) in their lawsuit against federal agencies including the