On June 3, 2023, President Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act to temporarily suspend the United States’ debt limit. The legislation also amends the National Environmental Policy Act with the intent of streamlining the federal permitting process for infrastructure projects.
Continue Reading Amendments to NEPA Following Debt-Ceiling Deal Would Improve Permitting for Major Infrastructure Projects
On May 17, 2023, the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted summary judgment to federal government defendants and intervenor Vineyard Wind in the first of four lawsuits pending in that court challenging the development of Vineyard Wind, a 62-turbine offshore wind project being built off the coast of Massachusetts.
Continue Reading Federal Judge Rules for Vineyard Wind in First of Four Pending Actions
On March 21, 2023, the US Department of Energy (DOE) released three reports as part of its ““Pathways to Commercial Liftoff,” articulating its vision on how the private sector and policymakers can reach full-scale commercialization for advanced nuclear, clean hydrogen, and long-duration energy storage.
Continue Reading DOE Identifies Pathways for the Large-Scale Commercialization of Clean Energy Technologies
On February 22, 2023, the US Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Energy Management (BOEM) released its first-ever proposed notice for an offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico.
Continue Reading First Offshore Wind Energy Lease Sales in the Gulf of Mexico
On January 30, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Energy Management published its proposed Renewable Energy Modernization Rule – which is intended to update and modernize the regulations governing wind energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) – in the Federal Register, opening a 60-day comment period.
Continue Reading BOEM Publishes Proposed Renewable Energy Modernization Rule
On January 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Energy Management (BOEM) announced the signature of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) addressing the regulations governing wind energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). As BOEM notes in the NOPR, the first OCS renewable energy regulations were promulgated in 2009 by the Minerals Management Service, the predecessor to BOEM. Through the NOPR, BOEM intends to modernize its regulations by implementing reforms identified by the agency and recommended by stakeholders since 2010, when BOEM was established. Continue Reading BOEM Proposes New Regulations for Offshore Wind
On October 18, 2022, the Department of the Interior announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will hold an offshore wind energy lease sale on December 6, 2022, for areas on the Outer Continental Shelf off central and northern California. This will be the first-ever offshore wind lease sale on America’s west coast and the first-ever US sale to support potential commercial-scale floating offshore wind energy development.
Continue Reading First Offshore Wind Energy Lease Sale in the Pacific Creates Opportunity for Developers
The Gulf of Mexico has long been home to offshore energy development, but with President Biden’s call to advance offshore wind development, a new change is potentially coming to the horizon—wind farms. At the helm of Gulf wind development is the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, who has now announced the solicitation of public comments on two potential wind energy areas off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana and the related environmental assessment for the entire Gulf Call Area.
Continue Reading Change on the Horizon for Gulf of Mexico Energy Production
This week the US District Court for the Northern District of California overturned three Endangered Species Act (ESA) rules issued in 2019 that address: (1) listing species and designating critical habitat, (2) extending take prohibitions to threatened species, and (3) § 7 interagency consultation. Center for Biological Diversity v. Bernhardt, 19-05206 (N.D. Cal. July 5, 2022). The three rules were issued by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (together, the Services) in August 2019 and together represented the first comprehensive revisions to the ESA regulations in 33 years. The order has a number of important regulatory and caselaw implications. Continue Reading Court Vacatur of Comprehensive 2019 Endangered Species Act Rules Raises Big Questions
Yesterday, June 23, 2022, The Biden Administration announced the launch of a Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership (“Partnership”) to expedite and foster the growth of wind energy, tackle the climate crisis, strengthen American energy security, and achieve the goal of deploying 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030. Continue Reading Power to Launch: Creation of Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership