On Friday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that applicants for licenses under the Federal Power Act may not reach private agreements with states to circumvent the FPA requirement that states act on water quality certification requests under § 401 of the Clean Water Act within one year.
The facts are important here and somewhat convoluted. The short version is that PacifiCorp operates a number of dams on the Klamath River. … More
On September 13, 2018, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of claims that the zero-emission credit (ZEC) program enacted by the Illinois legislature in 2016 violated the U.S. Constitution’s dormant Commerce Clause and was preempted by the Federal Power Act. The Court took the unusual step of requesting an amicus brief from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). FERC and the Department of Justice jointly filed a brief in response,… More