Yesterday, the House Committee on Natural Resources, chaired by Bruce Westerman from Arkansas' 4th Congressional District, conducted a full legislative hearing on three bills concerning the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). These bills aim to amend and update NEPA by: ✅Addressing issues that have caused extended project timelines and increased litigation ✅ Reducing the level of analysis required in agency documents, ✅ Clarifying the conditions that trigger NEPA reviews, ✅ Setting clear limits and timelines for judicial review, ✅ Increasing transparency by requiring the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to publish an annual report on NEPA projects & their outcomes. "I commend Chairman Westerman and the House Committee on Natural Resources for their tireless efforts on federal permitting reform. A recent S&P Global report showed that it can take nearly 30 years to permit a mine from discovery to operation. Reform is essential if we are to strengthen critical mineral supply chains domestically and boost copper production through great projects like Resolution Copper's proposed mine, NewRange Copper Nickel's NorthMet project and Twin Metals Minnesota LLC's proposed Copper-Nickel-Cobalt mine to name a few. Permitting reform benefits rural communities, national security, and the environment alike." Ryan Sistad - Executive Director of Better In Our Back Yard For more information, visit the link below: https://lnkd.in/gQhk457R
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Last week, AFP Foundation sent a letter to the House Committee on Natural Resources detailing how the new NEPA rule “flips NEPA’s procedural focus on its head by transforming it into a substantive, results-oriented mandate” furthering the Administration’s eco-agenda." https://lnkd.in/eGihtszb The House Committee on Natural Resources held an oversight hearing on May 16 titled “Examining the Council on Environmental Quality Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request and Related Policy Matters.” CEQ Chairwoman Brenda Mallory testified before the full committee. These new regulatory requirements for environmental reviews will most certainly not help to streamline the process as Congress intended. AFP Foundation’s letter states that these changes invite “arbitrary and capricious agency decisionmaking by directing agencies to consider factors Congress could not have intended for them to consider.” Energy prices have increased significantly under the Bidenomics agenda. CEQ’s failure to faithfully implement statutory measures meant to expedite the development of energy-producing projects is a continuation of this Adminstration’s policies driving up energy costs for Americans.
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Climate and Sustainability Leader, Advisor, and Expert; Founder- D. A. Carlin and Company
A legal earthquake: The Supreme Court’s overturning of Chevron may be disastrous for climate and environmental action. The deeply conservative court dispensed with 4 decades of precedent in overruling the Chevron decision. Essentially, Chevron had told judges that in the case of legal ambiguity they should defer to the judgement of the relevant agency’s interpretation. This made sense as the example below shows. If a case is brought about air pollution that challenges a law on clean air, that appears unclear, guidance in Chevron was that the judge ruling should defer to what the Environmental Protection Agency’s perspective on the law is. Given that the agency is full of experts whose careers have been spent exploring the science and implications of such pollutants and policies, this ensures that the relevant expertise informs the decision, rather than leaving it in the hands of a judge who may have little or no familiarity with the science. Now, why is this so crippling for climate policy? Well, by cutting out the agency expertise, the enforcement and validity of numerous environmental (both current and future) is left in the hands of an increasingly politicized and reactionary judiciary. That means politics over science and bias over expertise. It’s easy to see legal judgments as technical and abstract, but it’s more important than ever that we pay attention to what is happening in the courts! I’ll write more about this in my newsletter this week, and I’m eager to hear your perspectives in the comments. #climate #legal #climateaction #scotus #environment #epa #us
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Yesterday it became difficult for Congress: ▶️To keep America’s air and drinking water free of dangerous pollution & chemicals ▶️To keep our food supply and vital medications free of contamination ▶️To insure toys and other consumer products are reasonably safe to use and free of dangerous chemicals. ▶️ To punish powerful interests who rip off shoppers/consumers in the market place. The US Supreme court decided to award itself the power that Congress traditionally held and shared with the federal agencies under Congress’ jurisdiction. This Congress/Agency team allowed Congress to determine the legal principles/law… and the agencies would (following Congress’ law) hire scientists and engineers to figure out the details of implementing our laws in a way that would help society as they balanced economic interests. Now that the Supreme Court has taken over deciding how to balance the economic and societal interests of each aspect of every law… our Justice’s simply don’t have the basic personal knowledge nor the staff, nor the time to understand these issues and to make good decisions. The current court has fallen far behind with its current workload … and taking on the role once held by Congress and its federal agencies will be an impossible task for this court. This ruling was a historically significant failure by this US Supreme Court.
Climate and Sustainability Leader, Advisor, and Expert; Founder- D. A. Carlin and Company
A legal earthquake: The Supreme Court’s overturning of Chevron may be disastrous for climate and environmental action. The deeply conservative court dispensed with 4 decades of precedent in overruling the Chevron decision. Essentially, Chevron had told judges that in the case of legal ambiguity they should defer to the judgement of the relevant agency’s interpretation. This made sense as the example below shows. If a case is brought about air pollution that challenges a law on clean air, that appears unclear, guidance in Chevron was that the judge ruling should defer to what the Environmental Protection Agency’s perspective on the law is. Given that the agency is full of experts whose careers have been spent exploring the science and implications of such pollutants and policies, this ensures that the relevant expertise informs the decision, rather than leaving it in the hands of a judge who may have little or no familiarity with the science. Now, why is this so crippling for climate policy? Well, by cutting out the agency expertise, the enforcement and validity of numerous environmental (both current and future) is left in the hands of an increasingly politicized and reactionary judiciary. That means politics over science and bias over expertise. It’s easy to see legal judgments as technical and abstract, but it’s more important than ever that we pay attention to what is happening in the courts! I’ll write more about this in my newsletter this week, and I’m eager to hear your perspectives in the comments. #climate #legal #climateaction #scotus #environment #epa #us
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Chevron deference was already on its way out. The writing was on the wall when the court ruled in West Virginia v. EPA. The truth is the Executive Branch abused the Chevron Deference, using it to usurp powers the Constitution reserved to Congress; legislating by fiat (executive order); and relying on the court's reluctance to second-guess itself. Another unpleasant truth is that Congress was passively complicit and almost never acted to rein in Executive Branch overreach, even when the rule of lenity was appropriate. Understand that any of the regulations that might be imperiled can easily by protected by Congress. Congress has the power to not only pass laws, but to change them, including expansions of delegated authority. This what the Founders intended when they wrote the Constitution.
Climate and Sustainability Leader, Advisor, and Expert; Founder- D. A. Carlin and Company
A legal earthquake: The Supreme Court’s overturning of Chevron may be disastrous for climate and environmental action. The deeply conservative court dispensed with 4 decades of precedent in overruling the Chevron decision. Essentially, Chevron had told judges that in the case of legal ambiguity they should defer to the judgement of the relevant agency’s interpretation. This made sense as the example below shows. If a case is brought about air pollution that challenges a law on clean air, that appears unclear, guidance in Chevron was that the judge ruling should defer to what the Environmental Protection Agency’s perspective on the law is. Given that the agency is full of experts whose careers have been spent exploring the science and implications of such pollutants and policies, this ensures that the relevant expertise informs the decision, rather than leaving it in the hands of a judge who may have little or no familiarity with the science. Now, why is this so crippling for climate policy? Well, by cutting out the agency expertise, the enforcement and validity of numerous environmental (both current and future) is left in the hands of an increasingly politicized and reactionary judiciary. That means politics over science and bias over expertise. It’s easy to see legal judgments as technical and abstract, but it’s more important than ever that we pay attention to what is happening in the courts! I’ll write more about this in my newsletter this week, and I’m eager to hear your perspectives in the comments. #climate #legal #climateaction #scotus #environment #epa #us
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MPA student looking to leverage my skills in leadership, research, and community outreach and apply my passions in emergency management, community resilience, and related public policy.
Check out this article I wrote! It was a pleasure to learn about Ben’s path at OU and the great things it has led him to.
All members of the Ohio University community are invited to an alumni panel to celebrate 50th Anniversary of OHIO’s Environmental Studies Program on Friday, Sept. 27! 💚 One of the panelists will be Ben McCament, Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Mineral Resources chief.
ODNR Mineral Resources chief to speak at Homecoming celebration of Environmental Studies' 50th Anniversary
news.ohio.edu
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Forty under 40 I Reconciliation and Nature Champion I Environmental, Indigenous and Climate Lawyer at Fasken
Another day, another Fasken #environmentallaw bulletin from yours truly (and my co-author Tara Bishop) 🏭 +🌲 + 💵 = BC’s Public Interest Bonding Strategy continues to move forward. Engagement is currently underway to inform the regulations that will implement Phase 1. Phase 1 will implement bonding in relation to foreseen cleanup and remediation costs for new and existing facilities permitted under the Environmental Management Act. The cost implications of the strategy could be significant.
BC’s Public Interest Bonding Strategy Expands the Reach of “Polluter Pays”
fasken.com
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Meet the Soil Dr… aka Tim Waters. With over 45 years of experience in environmental consulting, Tim has a wealth of knowledge to answer any questions you have regarding environmental issues. He is always happy to discuss your concerns and provide insightful answers. If you are looking for someone to guide you through the process of due diligence the Soil Dr. is here to help. #environmentalconsulting #timwaters #duediligence #lethbridgesmallbusiness #environmentalengineering #environmentalassessment #lethbridgerealestate
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In case you need more reasons to practice managed grazing! 📷: Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI)
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Learn more about the Webequie Supply Road project through our latest series! 🔴 Did you know that technical experts will conduct field surveys during the Environmental Assessment process for the Supply Road? 💭 . Did you find this helpful, by chance? If you did, let us know in the comments! #wsr #webequiesupplyroadproject #didyouknow
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