Stoel Rives LLP is pleased to announce that Ankur Tohan has joined the firm’s Seattle office as a Partner in the Environment, Land Use and Natural Resources practice group.
Ankur brings extensive experience in environmental and energy law, with a practice focused on renewable energy development, carbon capture and sequestration, energy infrastructure, and complex regulatory
On December 5, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance issued a memorandum titled “Reinforcing a ‘Compliance First’ Orientation for Compliance Assurance and Civil Enforcement Activities”(Compliance Memorandum). The Compliance Memorandum, nicknamed the Pritzlaff Memo, directs staff to prioritize efficient compliance over punitive measures, supporting the agency’s “Powering the
Imagine you’re running late for a flight. You get into the TSA line, which snakes longer than expected. People fumble with their countless carry-ons, one person argues about the “new” twenty-year-old liquid restriction, and you worry you’ll miss your departure—yet you wouldn’t skip the safety checks. That’s what permitting often feels like: urgent projects—mines, transmission
Originally published in The Advocate, the magazine of the Idaho State Bar (October 2025).
EPA enforcement activity remains an ongoing concern for regulated entities, even amid shifting political priorities. In this article, Stoel Rives attorneys outline how the EPA exercises its inspection and enforcement authority and what businesses can do to prepare.
They discuss key
UPDATE:
On Wednesday, August 20, 2025, Plaintiffs filed a Notice of Appeal to the Ninth Circuit challenging the District Court’s denial of their motion for a preliminary injunction. Along with their appeal, Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Injunction Pending Appeal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 62(d) and Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 8(a)(1)(C). Plaintiffs
On July 15, 2025, the Department of Interior (DOI) issued a memorandum titled, “Departmental Review Procedures for Decisions, Actions, Consultations, and other Undertakings Related to Wind and Solar Energy Facilities” (the Memo). The Memo directs federal agencies within DOI to elevate a nonexclusive list of 69 categories of routine permitting activities related to
In Waterkeeper Alliance v. EPA, the Ninth Circuit held that the Environmental Protection Agency failed to properly consider key factors when it declined to revise technology-based Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards (ELGs) for seven industrial categories. The ruling suggests the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may face increased pressure to revisit existing discharge requirements across multiple
In a significant decision interpreting the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado on May 29, 2025. For certain projects, NEPA requires federal agencies to prepare Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) that detail significant environmental effects of the proposed action along with
On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“USFWS”) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) (collectively the “Services”) published a notice in the Federal Register of a proposed rulemaking that would rescind the regulatory definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”). The ESA prohibits “take” of threatened and endangered species.
On April 9, 2025, the White House published a new Memorandum entitled “Directing The Repeal of Unlawful Regulations,” aimed at identifying and reviewing unlawful or potentially unlawful regulations for potential repeal. The Memorandum avers that illegal, unnecessary, and onerous regulations impede the Administration’s objectives of promoting economic growth and American innovation, and impose massive costs