Monthly Archives: September 2020

Everyone noticed when President Trump issued an order earlier this month banning offshore oil and gas drilling in certain areas until 2032.  It was obvious to everyone that this was a campaign stunt, intended to improve his changes in Florida and North Carolina.  Of course, pretty much no one wants drilling in these areas and the order wouldn’t have been necessary but for Trump’s prior declaration that he was going to open up those areas to drilling.… More

As Bloomberg (subscription required) reported this week, executives of Pebble Partnership, which is developing the Pebble Mine project in Bristol Bay, Alaska, were caught on tape bragging about their political influence.  The recordings were made by the Environmental Investigation Agency, which somehow convinced the Pebble executives that the EIA “investigators” were actually investors considering putting money into the project.

For those of you who are shocked,… More

I’ve been complaining about guidance for most of the 33 years I’ve been in practice.  The summary of the issue provided in Appalachian Power v. EPA in 2000 still has not been bettered:

Congress passes a broadly worded statute.  The agency follows with regulations containing broad language, open-ended phrases, ambiguous standards and the like.  Then as years pass, the agency issues circulars or guidance or memoranda,… More

Last week, Judge James Jones declined to issue a preliminary injunction that would have prevented implementation of the Trump Administration’s NEPA revisions.  Judge Jones’s explanation was fairly sparse.  He merely noted that the plaintiffs had not made the required “clear showing” that they are likely to succeed on the merits, though he did indicate that testimony, including expert opinion, is likely to be necessary.

I can’t say I’m shocked,… More

As the New York Times has documented, President Trump stated numerous times that Mexico would pay for the border wall. With this context, it was hard not to appreciate the delicious irony when EPA announced earlier this week that it would be financing two separate measures to reduce pollution migrating from Mexico to Southern California.

In other words, not only is Mexico not paying for the wall (and neither is Steve Bannon),… More

Last week, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals vacated EPA’s approval of Pennsylvania’s SIP for attaining the 2008 NAAQS for NOx.  Specifically, the Court found that EPA’s approval was arbitrary and capricious with respect to three separate, but related, provisions of the SIP.  The flawed provisions were:

• The NOx standard for power plants utilizing selective catalytic reduction was set at 0.12 pounds/MMBtu.…

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