Tag Archives: Environmental Protection Agency

COVID-19: US Developments – Implementation and Oversight of CARES Act – June 11, 2020

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has been the lead domestic policy negotiator for President Donald Trump and his administration during the COVID-19 crisis, made clear in testimony Wednesday to congressional lawmakers that the White House believes passage of another major coronavirus response package will be necessary soon, notwithstanding a generally positive national jobs report … Continue Reading

Department of Energy To Cut Energy Development Regulations; EPA Stays Landfill Rules; Senate To Consider Nominations for DOE, EPA, DOI and Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Regulatory Activity Department of Energy Cutting Energy Development Regulations This follows our earlier report highlighting the Trump Administration’s recent memo with specifics as to how the President expects agencies to carry out his previously issued energy Executive Order (EO) 13783 – “Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth”. EO 13783 directs agencies to identify regulations that would … Continue Reading

States Attorneys General May 29 Update

Squire Patton Boggs’ State Attorneys General Practice Group is comprised of lawyers who have served at senior levels in state AG offices around the country and whose practices focus, to one degree or another, on representing clients before these increasingly assertive and powerful, yet often overlooked, government agencies, as explained in detail here. In these updates, … Continue Reading

President Trump Issues New Guidance Clarifying Energy Executive Order; EPA Moving on WOTUS and RFS

Executive Branch Activity New Guidance Clarifying Energy Executive Order Last week, just four days before federal agencies’ initial plans were due to OMB, the White House issued a memo updating with more specifics as to how President Trump expects agencies to carry out his previously issued energy executive order (Executive Order 13783, “Promoting Energy Independence and … Continue Reading

State Attorneys General May 1 Update

Squire Patton Boggs’ State Attorneys General Practice Group is comprised of lawyers who have served at senior levels in state AG offices around the country and whose practices focus, to one degree or another, on representing clients before these increasingly assertive and powerful, yet often overlooked, government agencies, as explained in detail here. In these … Continue Reading

State Attorneys General April 3 Update

Squire Patton Boggs’ State Attorneys General Practice Group is comprised of lawyers who have served at senior levels in state AG offices around the country and whose practices focus, to one degree or another, on representing clients before these increasingly assertive and powerful, yet often overlooked, government agencies, as explained in detail here. In these … Continue Reading

President Trump Requests 2018 Budgets Slashed for EPA, Energy, Interior and Water; Upcoming Executive Orders for Oil and Gas

Executive Branch Activity  EPA, DOE, Interior, and Water 2018 Budgets Cut in President Trump’s Request to Congress EPA:  President Donald Trump’s FY 2018 budget request, which was released last week, included a significant 31.4 percent decrease for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), from the current funding level of $8.2 billion to $5.7 billion. This represents the … Continue Reading

State Attorneys General March 13 Update

Squire Patton Boggs’ State Attorneys General Practice Group is comprised of lawyers who have served at senior levels in state AG offices around the country and whose practices focus, to one degree or another, on representing clients before these increasingly assertive and powerful, yet often overlooked, government agencies, as explained in detail here. In these … Continue Reading

State Attorneys General March 6 Update

Squire Patton Boggs’ State Attorneys General Practice Group is comprised of lawyers who have served at senior levels in state AG offices around the country and whose practices focus, to one degree or another, on representing clients before these increasingly assertive and powerful, yet often overlooked, government agencies, as explained in detail here. In these … Continue Reading

State Attorneys General February 20 Update

Squire Patton Boggs’ State Attorneys General Practice Group is comprised of lawyers who have served at senior levels in state AG offices around the country and whose practices focus, to one degree or another, on representing clients before these increasingly assertive and powerful, yet often overlooked, government agencies, as explained in detail here. In these … Continue Reading

State Attorneys General January 2 Update

Squire Patton Boggs’ State Attorneys General Practice Group is comprised of lawyers who have served at senior levels in state AG offices around the country and whose practices focus, to one degree or another, on representing clients before these increasingly assertive and powerful, yet often overlooked, government agencies, as explained in detail here. In these … Continue Reading

State Attorneys General December 12 Update

Squire Patton Boggs’ State Attorneys General Practice Group is comprised of lawyers who have served at senior levels in state AG offices around the country and whose practices focus, to one degree or another, on representing clients before these increasingly assertive and powerful, yet often overlooked, government agencies, as explained in detail here. In these … Continue Reading

Senate Needs to Act on Energy; House Reviews Stay of Clean Power Plan; Prospects for Offshore Oil and Gas

Legislative Action Comprehensive Energy Legislation To begin the process of reconciling the House and Senate energy bills, the House has voted to go to conference and has appointed its conferees, which will include 24 Republicans and 16 Democrats. However, the Senate has yet to do the same. Work continues in the Senate to clear potential … Continue Reading

Possible Conferees for Energy Bill; House to Vote on Energy and Water Appropriations; Senate To Examine WOTUS; House to Review Clean Power Plan

Legislative Action Energy Bill Last week, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee released a 50-page section-by-section of the recently passed S. 2012 Energy Modernization Policy Act of 2016. Looking forward to a potential conference of the Senate and House energy bills, Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee recently … Continue Reading

Zika Virus Priority Review Voucher Slated for House Floor Consideration; House Energy and Commerce Committee to Hold Hearing on the Flint Water Crisis; FTC Issues Guidelines for Health App Developers; Request for Information Regarding the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015

Legislative Activity Zika Virus Priority Review Voucher Slated for House Floor Consideration House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced that S. 2512, Adding Zika Virus to the FDA Priority Review Voucher Program Act, will be considered on the floor on Monday, April 11. This bill, introduced by Al Franken (D-MN) in the Senate, amends the … Continue Reading

Senate To Consider Amendments to Energy Bill; House To Examine Flint Water and COP 21; EPA Proposes New Oil and Gas Regulations

Legislative Activity Comprehensive Energy Legislation This week the Senate will continue its floor debate of S. 2012, the comprehensive energy bill that Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) authored. Under the open amendment process 130 amendments were filed.  While some of the non-controversial amendments were accepted last … Continue Reading

House To Potentially Forever Alter Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF); EPA Issues Latest NAAQS Draft

Regulatory Activity EPA Continues to Review Air Quality The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the availability of its draft plan for the agency’s review of secondary national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for oxides of nitrogen and oxides of sulfur (NOX/SOX). For information on accessing the draft, click here. Comments are due December 30. … Continue Reading

EPA Proposes New Water Quality Rule; EPA, State Propose International Air Quality Monitoring; Congress to Review FY 16 Budgets for Environment and Natural Resources; Free Admission to National Parks for Kids

Regulatory Activity Clean Water Proposed Rule The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has announced a proposed rule that would allow “changes to pollutant analysis methods that are used by industries and municipalities to analyze the chemical, physical, and biological components of wastewater and other environmental samples that are required by regulations under the Clean Water Act.” … Continue Reading

Congress Expresses Discomfort with EPA’s Waters of the U.S. Proposed Rule; Senate to Hold Oversight Hearing Concerning Obama Administration’s Power Plant Emissions Proposed Rules; EPA Seeks Clean Air Expert Input On NAAQs

Legislative Activity Waters of the U.S. Last week, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a joint hearing to discuss the “Impacts of the Proposed Waters of the United States Rule on State and Local Governments.” The hearing addressed concerns with the proposed rule including costs, definitions … Continue Reading

Keystone, LNG Export Push Continues in Congress

Legislative Activity Senate Completes Keystone Consideration Last week, the Senate completed consideration of S. 1, the “Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Act,” and passed the legislation by a vote of 62-36. Congressional leaders must now determine how to resolve differences between the two chambers’ Keystone bills before the Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Act is ready for … Continue Reading

President to Release EPA’s FY 2016 Budget; Executive Order on Flooding; Congress Addresses Waters of the U.S. and Drinking Water Issues

Executive Activity Fiscal Year 2016 Budget for EPA On Monday, February 2, President Obama will announce his Fiscal Year 2016 Budget request to Congress to fund the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We expect a significant focus in the proposed budget on climate change and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. There is some concern that these … Continue Reading

Congress to Take Up Waters Of The U.S.; Senate Hearings on Permitting for LNG; New Financing Options For Water Infrastructure; International Environmental Goods Agreement; Offshore Wind Leases in NC

Legislative Activity Waters of the U.S. On Wednesday, February 4, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, in conjunction with the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, will hold a hearing to examine the impacts of the proposed Waters of the U.S. rule on state and local governments. Liquid Natural Gas On Thursday, January 29, the … Continue Reading

Congress Moves Ahead on Keystone

Legislative Activity Keystone Legislative Action Continues Amid Veto Threat, Legal Action Last Thursday, on January 8, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the “Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Act” with a 13-9 vote. One day later, the House voted on Friday, January 9 to approve identical legislation by a 266-153 vote, with 28 Democratic … Continue Reading
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