Blog

Law and the Environment

Our blog provides perspective on developments in environmental law and policy - which developments may matter to you, and how and why they matter. Whether you are a manufacturer or a power plant developer, a renewable energy developer or hoping to be a renewable energy consumer, this blog offers commentary on current issues that are important to your business.

Department of Energy Releases Final Guidance on Designation of National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors
Blog December 20, 2023
On December 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released long-awaited final guidance on its process to designate National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (commonly referred to as “NIETCs,” pronounced \NIT-sees\). Once designated, these corridors will bolster federal permitting authority over transmission projects in areas most in need of additional capacity. As we've previously noted, DOE has statutory authority to designate NIETCs in transmission-constrained or……
BLM Approves the TransWest Express Transmission Project; This Is Good News and We Need More of It
Blog April 12, 2023
Yesterday, the Bureau of Land Management announced that it has given final approval to the TransWest Express transmission line, a 732-mile project that will move electricity from a large wind farm in Wyoming to an interconnection point near Las Vegas.  Most of the electrons will ultimately provide power to California.  According to EnergyWire (subscription required), the notice to proceed was issued a mere 18 years after the project was first initiated…
Biden Announces New Initiative on “Game-Changing” Technologies for Achieving Net-Zero Emissions
Blog November 07, 2022
On November 4, 2022, the White House announced a new initiative to support research and development projects on 37 “game-changing” technologies to advance the Biden Administration's goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Led by an interagency working group, the “Net-Zero Game Changers Initiative” will direct billions of dollars under the bipartisan infrastructure law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act toward five initial priorities: Efficient Building Heating and……
FERC Proposes to Reform Transmission Planning; It's Not a Small Task
Blog May 04, 2022
Late last month, FERC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking.  Its intent is to “remedy deficiencies in the Commission's existing regional transmission planning and cost allocation requirements.”  In short, it's time for a 21st Century grid that actually accommodates changes in how electricity is being generated. I'm not sure I can improve much on FERC's own summary of the NOPR: the proposal would require public utility transmission providers to (1) conduct long-term regional transmission……
Maura Healey Has a Climate Plan:  Is It Too Ambitious Or Not Ambitious Enough?
Blog April 21, 2022
Take my predictions with a grain of salt, because I still remember saying that Ronald Reagan would never fool enough voters to get elected, but it seems very likely at this point that Maura Healey will be the next Governor of Massachusetts.  That makes her release of a climate plan a matter of some significance.  My take is that it is extremely ambitious…
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Part 2: Investing in Transmission
Blog November 16, 2021
This is the second post in our series on the recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, covering how the Act invests in strengthening our electric grid, which could better prepare us for the shift from fossil fuel generated electricity to renewable power. To decarbonize our energy system, electrify transportation and buildings, and drastically reduce our contribution to climate change, we'll need to develop and deploy significant wind…
How To Straighten the Long and Winding Road that We Call NEPA
Blog October 11, 2021
So CEQ has proposed to amend the NEPA regulations in order to eliminate some of the changes made by the Trump Administration in 2020.  Important changes include: explicit consideration of indirect impacts renewed emphasis on consideration of cumulative impacts elimination of the requirement that there be “a reasonably close causal relationship” between a proposed action and a potential impact…
The Electric Vehicle Future: Major Climate Opportunity Faces Three Critical Challenges
Blog June 22, 2021
Amid renewed national ambitions to tackle climate change, electric vehicles (EVs) have emerged as a promising way to reduce emissions in the transportation sector, which accounts for nearly a third of greenhouse gas emissions. This approach has garnered support even from private industry, as evidenced by the flurry of car manufacturers who recently committed to all-EV fleets in the coming decades…

ABOUT

In today’s fast changing world, almost all of us get our news – including our news about developments in environmental law and policy – electronically. This blog is not intended to be a substitute for the BNA™, or Greenwire™, or Google™, although we do hope that we will be able on occasion to let you know about issues that haven’t yet come to your attention.

What we really want to accomplish is to be able to provide some perspective on those developments. We’ll try to tell you which developments may matter to you. And why they matter. And how they matter. Whether you are a manufacturer or a power plant developer, whether you are a renewable energy developer or hoping to be a renewable energy consumer, whether you are a municipality or public agency or university, we want to comment on current issues in a way that is useful to you in your business.

Frankly, this blog also provides us with the opportunity to introduce you to Foley Hoag’s Environmental Practice Group. Our practice has been New England’s preeminent environmental practice for the past twenty years. We have the depth and capacity to handle the wide array of environmental issues that can arise in the course of your business. We will work with you to resolve any environmental issues that must be addressed in order for you to achieve your business goals – from permitting new projects to cost-effective cleanup of urban Brownfields properties to implementation of cost-effective due diligence in the support of acquisitions to navigating the emerging world of climate change regulations.

We will also assist you in the defense and prosecution of environmental litigation. As a result of our service to our clients, we have attained a national reputation in environmental matters. Our lawyers have built an impressive record resolving environmental disputes at the negotiating table and in the courtroom, and a number of our cases have produced precedents of national importance.

The scope of this blog will be commensurate with the scope of our practice. We’ll cover climate change, renewable energy, hazardous and solid waste, clean air and water, sustainability and green design. You name it, if it’s got an acronym attached to it, we’ll cover it.

As the headline indicates, we want to inform, update, comment, and discuss. In other words, while we’re going to enjoy posting, we’ll enjoy the blog more – and its usefulness will increase – if we hear from you also. Please comment on the blog entries. Let us know about developments we missed or implications of our discussions that we did not consider.

We look forward to the conversation.