On May 25, 202
3, the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, which significantly narrowed the Clean Water Act’s (“CWA”) test for determining whether wetlands are protected “waters of the United States” and the federal permitting requirements for development projects in covered wetlands areas.
The Court’s Ruling
The Supreme Court’s ruling has two basic parts:
Key Takeaways:
Last week, actions by the Second Department of the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division set the tone for offshore wind development in New York by denying a challenge brought by local opponents to the NY Public Service Commission’s (“NYPSC”) grant of a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need (“CECPN”) for the transmission line needed to interconnect New York State’s first offshore wind project, South Fork Wind,… More
After weeks of hints and leaks, yesterday morning (May 11, 2023), EPA proposed a new rule regulating emissions from power plants. The proposed rule would apply to new and existing gas plants and existing coal plants—new coal plants are separately regulated—and promises to significantly cut carbon and other harmful air pollutant emissions from fossil plants over the next two decades and beyond.
EPA’s accompanying Fact Sheet spells out the proposed rule’s emissions reductions estimates:
EPA has evaluated the emissions reductions,… More
Yesterday, the Biden-Harris administration outlined in a fact sheet its priorities for permitting reform to accelerate the build-out of America’s energy infrastructure “faster, safer, and cleaner.” The fact sheet provides an endorsement of the Building American Energy Security Act of 2023, establishes several major objectives for permitting reform, provides several recommendations to streamline federal permitting processes, and urges Congress to include the objectives and recommendations as part of bipartisan permitting reform legislation.… More
On May 9, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a notice of intent to establish a process for designating “route-specific” National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (commonly referred to as “NIETCs,” pronounced \NIT-sees\)—setting in motion an anticipated shift in the balance of transmission permitting authority between the federal and state governments.
As we’ve previously noted, DOE has statutory authority to designate transmission-constrained or congested geographic areas,… More
After a month of hotly debated budget talks, New York passed its 2024 fiscal year budget late Tuesday night, and with it, took a long-awaited step towards decarbonizing New York’s building sector. The budget deal includes first-in-the-nation legislation to ban fossil fuel-powered appliances and heating in certain new buildings across the state by 2026 and all new buildings by 2029, effectively mandating the electrification of new buildings. New York is the first state to enact such a ban,… More
This was a big week for offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine. BOEM advanced two offshore wind leasing processes in the Gulf of Maine by announcing a Call for Information and Nominations for commercial development and a Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental assessment for the State of Maine’s proposed research lease.
And while these two BOEM actions are the focus of this piece, recent legislative activity in Maine should also be noted.… More
