Administrative Law

NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Issues CLCPA Compliance Guidance

On December 8, 2021, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC or the Department) issued two policies that incorporate climate change considerations into Departmental decision making and ensure compliance with the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019 (CLCPA). As previously covered by the SPR Blog, the CLCPA requires DEC to establish…

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Council on Environmental Quality’s New NEPA Regulations: An Analysis

On September 14, 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality’s (“CEQ”) Final Rule overhauling its regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) became effective.  The Final Rule represents the first comprehensive revision of the NEPA regulations since their initial issuance in 1978, and introduces process-based and substantive changes to the NEPA regulations, codifies existing case law and…

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Where Can Dredge Spoil Find a Home? Connecticut Seeks Dismissal of New York Challenge to Designated Ocean Dumping Site.

By Michael S. Bogin and SPR Summer Associate Aaron Aber  Connecticut and New York will file final briefs this summer in an ongoing dispute before the Eastern District of New York, regarding the legality of the U.S. EPA’s decision to designate a site in the Long Island Sound for disposal of navigational dredge material. The…

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NEPA Review of Pipeline Project Upheld by D.C. Circuit – With Asterisk

On June 4, the D.C. Circuit issued a decision in Birckhead, et al. v. FERC, in which the petitioners challenged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“FERC”) environmental review of a natural gas pipeline project.[1] Although the court ultimately rejected the challenge, the court suggested in dicta that FERC should do more to obtain information on…

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WOTUS Rule Reinstated in 26 States through Nationwide Injunction of Trump Administration “Suspension Rule”

On August 16, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division, issued a nationwide injunction to the Trump administration’s so-called “Suspension Rule,” which called for the delayed effective date of the Obama-era “waters of the United States rule” (or “WOTUS Rule”). Thus, the struggle to delineate the federal government’s jurisdiction…

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White House Invites Public Comment on Possible Changes to NEPA Procedures

By: Eric Stern On June 20, 2018, the Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) published a (the “Notice”) that it is considering updates to the regulations governing environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”). The Notice does not propose any specific changes.  Rather, it broadly solicits comments from the public on “potential revisions to…

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