Posts Tagged ‘News’

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (“the Services”) have issued three final rules amending the federal regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The changes constitute the most sweeping revisions to ESA rules in the statute’s history. The new rules change how species are listed as endangered or…

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is expected to release proposed regulations to substantially modify its rules implementing the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act, also known as NEPA. NEPA and its implementing regulations require federal agencies to conduct environmental review and impact assessment and engage the public on major federal actions such as infrastructure, energy…

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps signed a final rule last Thursday, September 12, to repeal the rule defining “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) the agencies promulgated in 2015 (“2015 Rule”).  See pre-publication version, available at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2019-09/documents/wotus_rin-2040-af74_final_frn_prepub2.pdf.  The repeal will take effect 60 days after the rule is published in the…

EPA’s and the Army Corps’ 2015 promulgation of a revised definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) was met with an executive order and extensive legal challenges questioning the definition’s lawfulness (with which KMCL has been involved).  The Agencies thus commenced a lengthy process to rescind and replace that rule.  One piece of that…

Attorneys from Kazmarek Mowrey Cloud Laseter LLP were part of a team that recently obtained a significant victory in the D.C. Circuit. On Friday, May 18, the DC Circuit reversed the listing of an Indiana site with groundwater pollution on the federal Superfund list.  In its decision, the court found that the U.S. EPA ignored…

On March 1, 2018, Bob Mowrey will speak at the Defense Research Institute (DRI) conference in Nashville.  DRI is the leading organization of defense attorneys in the U.S.  DRI’s Toxic Torts and Environmental Law annual conference for 2018 is March 1-2 in Nashville.  Bob will address the tricky questions around privilege and work product protections in…

On Monday, EPA reopened the public comment period on the Agency’s December 2016 notice designating ten chemical substances for initial risk evaluations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).  Comments may now be made until March 15, 2017.  EPA is soliciting comments on the scope of TSCA risk evaluations to be conducted for ten specific…

This past weekend, the UNFCCC secretariat released the attached document as the next draft of the forthcoming Paris Agreement.

Resolving a contentious dispute over the proper interpretation of one of Georgia’s key water protection statutes, the Georgia Supreme Court held today that Georgia’s stream buffer law does not apply to wetlands (particularly non-coastal wetlands) because they generally lack “wrested vegetation.”[1]  Siding with the state Environmental Protection Division (EPD), the Court rejected environmental advocacy groups’…