Public Health: DOI Publishes Draft Guidance for $500 Million Grant to States for Orphaned Well Cleanup
On January 30, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) released draft guidance on the $500 million grant that is being provided to states under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the purpose of orphaned well cleanup. This grant…

Under the Clean Water Act (CWA), the U.S. federal government is responsible for regulating the discharge of pollutants into the “navigable waters of the United States” and has discretionary power to formulate the regulatory details and geographical scope of federal jurisdiction over those “navigable waters.” 
The manner in which the government should define these “navigable…

International Trade: U.S. Requests Second USMCA Arbitration Over Canada’s Dairy Tariff-Rate Quotas
On January 31, 2023, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the U.S. has requested—for the second time—that an arbitration panel adjudicate the U.S.’s claim that Canada’s  administration of its dairy tariff-rate quotas (TRQ) violate the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).…

Hydraulic Fracturing Bans: Fossil Fuel Companies Petition Supreme Court to Reverse Ban on All New Permits for Oil Production on the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf
On January 25, 2023, the American Petroleum Institute, Exxon Mobile, and DCOR petitioned the Supreme Court to review the decision by the Ninth District Court of Appeals to uphold an…

WOTUS: Ag Groups Challenge New WOTUS Rule
On January 18, 2023, several agricultural advocacy groups and the state of Texas filed complaints in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas Galveston Division seeking to vacate the recently published final rule defining “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act…

Community Impacts: DOE Provides Application Guidance for Community-Oriented Clean Energy Program
On January 18, 2023, The U.S. Department of Energy (2023) provided additional guidance for its Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program. The EECBG program will allow state, local, and Tribal governments to apply for $430 million in grant funding to support…

WOTUS: EPA Publishes Final Rule Defining ‘the Waters of the United States’
On January 18, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army Corps of Engineers published in the Federal Register a final rule revising the definition of “the Waters of the United States” (WOTUS). This rule defines the range…