About Andrew Bell

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So far Andrew Bell has created 42 blog entries.

Court Partially Strikes Down California’s Expansive New Dredge and Fill Rules

By |2024-04-17T21:44:42+00:00December 21st, 2020|Clean Water Act, Wetland and riparian permitting|

A 17 December 2020 trial court order largely prohibits the California Water Resource Control Board (State Board) from applying new rules that greatly expand California’s regulatory control over wetlands and dredge and fill activities throughout the state. The effect of the ruling may be temporary, however. The rules, which took effect on 28 May 2020, were in large part an attempt to regulate waters not covered by the narrowed scope of the federal Clean Water Act under the Trump administration. The rules were overturned almost seven months later when the court in San Joaquin [...]

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Joshua Tree Designated as Candidate Species under California Endangered Species Act

By |2024-04-17T21:44:46+00:00September 22nd, 2020|Endangered Species, Uncategorized|

On 22 September 2020, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) unanimously voted to designate the western Joshua tree (yucca brevifolia) as a candidate species under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), as expected.

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California Stalls Joshua Tree Endangered Species Act Determination to Consider Up-Front Take Authorization

By |2024-04-17T21:44:50+00:00August 21st, 2020|Endangered Species, Uncategorized|

On 20 August 2020, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) again postponed its decision whether to designate the western Joshua tree (yucca brevifolia) as a candidate species under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).

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Is To Kill a Mockingbird Good Authority? Federal Court Sets Aside Administration’s Interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act

By |2024-04-17T21:44:54+00:00August 19th, 2020|BGEPA and MBTA, Uncategorized|

On 11 August 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an opinion setting aside the U.S. Department of Interior’s (DOI) interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (MBTA) as contrary to law pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act. The decision deepens a circuit split over an issue of importance to industrial and wind energy installations across the United States.

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Supreme Court Reinstates Army Corps’ Nationwide Permit 12 Except As Applied to the Keystone XL Pipeline

By |2024-04-17T21:44:58+00:00July 7th, 2020|Clean Water Act, Endangered Species, Wetland and riparian permitting|

On 6 July 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a nationwide vacatur on the use of the Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) Nationwide Permit 12 (NWP 12) for the construction of new oil and gas pipelines. However, the Court declined to lift the vacatur as it applies to the Keystone XL Pipeline from which the original order arose. The decision is a blow to Keystone XL but a relief to other oil and gas pipeline developers who may once again employ NWP 12 to permit pipeline crossings over jurisdictional waters of the United States.

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Emergency Relief or Business as Usual? Trump’s Latest Executive Order Aims to Streamline Environmental Permitting on Questionable Grounds

By |2024-04-17T21:45:28+00:00June 5th, 2020|Clean Water Act, Endangered Species, National Environmental Policy Act|

On 4 June 2020 the White House issued an Executive Order (EO) directing federal agencies to invoke emergency procedures under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, and other environmental statutes in order to expedite infrastructure projects as a means of accelerating the nation’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 emergency.

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California Dreaming? Offshore Wind on the West Coast

By |2024-04-17T21:45:33+00:00June 3rd, 2020|California Environmental Quality Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species, National Environmental Policy Act, Uncategorized, Wetland and riparian permitting, Wind Energy|

Offshore wind energy development is in its infancy in the United States compared to Europe. The nation’s first operational project came online in 2016 off the coast of Rhode Island. A few other projects have since gained traction up and down the Eastern seaboard. Deep, crowded waters and technological barriers have largely kept the West Coast out of the discussion. But, as floating turbine technologies become commercially feasible and open up the potential for massive amounts of wind power in California waters, recent inter-agency cooperative efforts have begun to clear a path, and developers are lining up.

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CEQA Update: A Bridge Too Far – Seeking and Accepting a Permit to Implement an Approved Project is Not a “Project” Under CEQA

By |2024-04-17T21:45:37+00:00May 21st, 2020|California Environmental Quality Act, Uncategorized|

On 18 May 2020, California’s Sixth District Court of Appeal unsurprisingly confirmed that a lead agency’s seeking and accepting a discretionary approval from a responsible agency to implement an approved project is not a CEQA event in its own right. The decision, Willow Glen Trestle Conservancy v. City of San Jose, involves an interesting fact pattern and creative arguments from the project’s opponents, but ultimately does not break new ground.

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Court Reconsiders Nationwide Permit 12 Overturn, Limits to Pipelines Only

By |2024-04-17T21:45:45+00:00May 12th, 2020|Clean Water Act, Wetland and riparian permitting|

On 11 May 2020, the federal district court in Montana partially walked back its 15 April 2020 order vacating U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) Nationwide Permit 12 (NWP 12), allowing renewable energy developers and other non-pipeline projects to continue using NWP 12 while the Corps conducts further environmental review.

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Does the Supreme Court’s New “Functional Equivalent” Test Clear the Way for Trump’s Clean Water Act Rule?

By |2024-04-17T21:45:50+00:00April 30th, 2020|Clean Water Act, Wetland and riparian permitting|

April was a busy month for the Clean Water Act (“CWA”). On April 21, 2020 the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and U.S. Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) formally published their Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which limits the scope of the CWA by redefining “waters of the United States.”

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