MuirNet

National Strategy Proposed to Respond to Climate Change’s Impacts on Fish, Wildlife, Plants

Public encouraged to review and provide comments

WASHINGTON (Jan 19, 2012) – In partnership with state, tribal, and federal agency partners, the Obama Administration today released the first draft national strategy to help decision makers and resource managers prepare for and help reduce the impacts of climate change on species, ecosystems, and the people and economies that depend on them.

The strategy represents a draft framework for unified action to safeguard fish, wildlife and plants, as well as the important benefits and services the natural world provides the nation every day, including jobs, food, clean water, clean air, building materials, storm protection, and recreation.

Categories: Legislation

Third Circuit Weighs in on Clean Water Act Jurisdiction under Rapanos

The Third Circuit is the latest federal appeals court to attempt to decipher the U.S. Supreme Court’s Rapanos v. United States[1] decision. Rapanos is the 4:1:4 decision from 2006 – famous in Clean Water Act (“CWA”) circles – in which the Supreme Court announced differing standards for delineating the reach of federal jurisdiction over wetlands and other “isolated waters.” In United States v. Donovan,[2] the Third Circuit, joining two other circuits, holds that a wetland falls within CWA jurisdiction if it satisfies either test announced in the fractured Rapanos decision. Specifically, the court held that a wetland falls within CWA jurisdiction if: (1) Justice Scalia’s plurality test is met – i.e., there is a “continuous surface connection” between a wetland and a water of the United States in its own right, “so that there is no clear demarcation between ‘waters’ and ‘wetlands’”; or (2) Justice Kennedy’s “significant nexus” test is met – i.e., there is “a significant nexus to waters that are or were navigable in fact or that could reasonably be so made” so that, “either alone or in combination with similarly situated lands in the region,” the wetlands “significantly affect the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the covered waters more readily understood as ‘navigable.’”

Donovan follows on the heels of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (“Corps”) recently released draft guidance regarding CWA jurisdiction.[3] The draft guidance relies heavily on Justice Kennedy’s concurring opinion in Rapanos, and replaces the Corps’ previous 2008 guidance interpreting CWA jurisdiction under Rapanos. Since recent congressional efforts to clarify the CWA following Rapanos have failed and the Supreme Court appears unwilling to revisit the issue anytime soon, lower court decisions and agency guidance will continue to guide CWA jurisdiction for the foreseeable future.

The CWA prohibits the unpermitted discharge of pollutants into “navigable waters” from any point source.

Read more at: http://www.martenlaw.com/newsletter/20111206-clean-water-act-jurisdiction

Categories: Legislation

BLM Seeks Comments on Development of Regulations for Competitive Leasing of Solar and Wind Energy on Public Lands

(Jan 7, 2012) - The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today published in the Federal Register an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) to give the public background information about the BLM’s interest in establishing an efficient, competitive process for issuing right-of-way (ROW) leases for solar and wind energy development on the public lands. The BLM believes such a process would help ensure fair access to leasing opportunities for renewable energy development and capture fair market value for the use of public lands, as required under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. Existing regulations limit the competitive process to procedures for responding to overlapping right-of-way applications. The BLM is seeking input on how best to offer public lands through a nomination and competitive process instead of just by right-of-way application.

Categories: Legislation

FWS To Review Petition To List Sierra Nevada Red Fox

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announced a 90-day finding on a petition to list Sierra Nevada red fox (Vulpes vulpes necator) as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), and to designate critical habitat. Based on review, they find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing this subspecies may be warranted. The publication of this notice, initiates a review of the status of the subspecies to determine if listing Sierra Nevada red fox is warranted.

Categories: Legislation

BLM Issues Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation Guidance

The Bureau of Land Management today issued two Instructional Memorandums (IMs) that will help guide both immediate and longer-term conservation actions aimed at conserving the greater sage-grouse and its sagebrush habitat in 10 western states – aimed at benefitting the species while maintaining a robust economy in the West:

Categories: Legislation

BLM Issues Guidance on Carbon Sequestration Studies

The BLM recently issued guidance on processing land use proposals and permit applications for exploration and site characterization studies for potential subsurface carbon sequestration projects on BLM lands.

Categories: Legislation

BLM Issues Report on Lands Deserving Protection

Salazar Highlights 18 Backcountry Areas Deserving Congressional Protection as Conservation Lands or Wilderness

Washington, DC - Beauty Mountain in California, the San Juan Islands of Washington, and Castle Peak in Colorado are among 18 backcountry areas in nine states that Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar highlighted today as deserving protection by Congress as national conservation areas or wilderness areas.

Categories: Legislation

Draft PEIS for Solar Energy Development in Six Southwestern States Available

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Department of Energy (DOE) have announced the availability of the Supplement to the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Solar Energy Development in Six Southwestern States.  The BLM and the DOE will hold four public meetings on the Supplement to provide an overview of the document, answer questions, and receive public comments.

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The meeting site will open to the public at 6 p.m. The official meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and close after all individuals who wish to speak have been heard. The meeting dates and locations are given below. The specific venues will be announced at least 15 days in advance via local media, the project Web site (http://solareis.anl.gov/), and the DOE NEPA Web site (http://energy.gov/nepa).

• Las Vegas, Nevada—Wednesday, November 30, 2011
• Phoenix, Arizona—Thursday, December 1, 2011
• El Centro, California—Wednesday, December 7, 2011
• Palm Desert, California—Thursday, December 8, 2011

Click here to read the complete Federal Register Notice

Categories: Legislation