Expert Analysis

• How Justices' EPA Ruling Thwarts The Will Of The People

  

  By reversing a long-standing presumption in favor of executive branch interpretations of ambiguous statutes, the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling limiting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's powers to fight climate change blocks the will of the popular majority that elects the president, exacerbating our political system's dysfunction, says Jonathan Martel at Arnold & Porter.

• High Court's New EPA Ruling And Its Long-Term Implications

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in West Virginia v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will change the legal landscape in a number of ways — including constraining future climate regulations that may be advanced by the Biden administration and states, while providing litigants a powerful new administrative law precedent to challenge all kinds of agency rules, say attorneys at Beveridge & Diamond.

• Capturing Carbon In California: Opportunities And Challenges

  

  California is well situated to play a leading role in carbon capture and sequestration, but there remain barriers to widespread CCS deployment — including policy and regulatory hurdles, and the concerns of potentially affected communities, say Brian Israel and Samuel Pickerill at Arnold & Porter.

• EPA Ruling Signals Arrival Of 'Major Questions Doctrine'

  

  While the specific subject of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in West Virginia v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was how the EPA may regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, the ruling's lasting legacy will be the elevation of the so-called major questions doctrine, which could constrain federal regulatory authority in many areas, says Allison Wood at McGuireWoods.

• New P3 Authority Means Opportunities For Colo. Agencies

  

  A recently passed Colorado law expanding public-private partnerships changes state-level project finance and infrastructure dramatically, allowing virtually all state agencies to avail themselves of P3 benefits including cost and schedule savings, sharing of risk, and access to innovation and private sector efficiency, say Gregory Johnson and Peter Gould at Squire Patton.

• Texas Infrastructure Act And Renewables Projects: 1 Year In

  

  A year into implementation of Texas' Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act, Jennifer Pier at Husch Blackwell discusses how renewable energy project developers, owners and investors planning projects in Texas can incorporate LIPA-related provisions into transaction and financing documents.

• How Cos. Can Track Infrastructure Act Projects — And Funds

  

  As federal funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act begin to flow to thousands of infrastructure projects across the nation, savvy contractors can determine which types of funded projects are likely to offer the best opportunities, and then follow the flow of federal money into those projects, says Nena Lenz at Fredrikson & Byron.

• Cos. Should Comment Now On New Offshore Wind Areas

  

  The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's recent calls for information regarding potential wind energy areas along the Central Atlantic and Oregon coasts give developers an important opportunity to participate in creating a defensible environmental review process that will enable project development, says Andrew Glenn at Husch Blackwell.

• How FERC Proposal Will Guide Clean Grid Development

  

  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's major new proposal on regional electric transmission planning and cost allocation appears likely to substantially reshape how the transmission system is built out to accommodate the clean energy future, say attorneys at Day Pitney.

• What To Expect From Biden Admin.'s NEPA Updates

  

  The Council on Environmental Quality's recent National Environmental Policy Act updates will be critically important to federal agencies seeking to implement the Biden administration's renewable energy policies, but their practical impact may be limited, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

• Adapting To New Hybrid Energy Project Contracts

  

  As growing complexity and risk make contractors reluctant to sign lump-sum turnkey engineering, procurement and construction contracts for big energy projects, parties must give careful thought to how new procurement structures can encourage timely and efficient execution of the work, say Daniel Garton and David Strickland at White & Case.

• What FERC Flip-Flop Says About Politics And Energy Projects

  

  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's about-face on its policies for considering the environmental impacts of natural gas infrastructure shows that the agency is not immune to political pressure — so energy sector investors should stay mindful of broader politics when planning projects, say Martha Kammoun and Rachael Marsh at Bracewell.

• Gov't On Solid Ground In Moving Against Offshore Wind Suit

  

  The federal government's motion to dismiss Save Long Beach Island v. U.S. Department of the Interior, a lawsuit in a D.C. federal court over the designation of portions of the New York Bight as offshore wind energy areas, is backed by strong precedent — and the government could assert additional viable grounds to dismiss the plaintiff's claims, says Stacey Bosshardt at Perkins Coie.