Washington, D.C. – On Friday, the Department of the Interior transmitted a proposal to Congress to expedite the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) title transfer process. The proposal mirrors language of H.R. 3281, the “Reclamation Title Transfer and Non-Federal Infrastructure Incentivization Act” (Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-CO), which passed the Committee in July 2017, and is included in the… Read more »

Today, the Full Committee held an oversight hearing to discuss improving and modernizing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The panel discussed deficiencies in NEPA’s implementation and potential legislative improvements to enable the law to best serve its intended purpose. “In 1969, NEPA was originally designed as a tool to assess the impacts of government actions on the… Read more »

Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources held an oversight hearing on the impacts of the Obama Administration’s Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) controversial Final Guidance for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. “This Guidance is a litigation blueprint for radical special interest groups. The White House staff spent years behind closed doors creatively reimagining the most… Read more »

Today, the Obama Administration’s White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued a sweeping and controversial National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) guidance on greenhouse gas emissions.  House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement: “There they go again, more ‘voluntary’ guidelines that must be obeyed by all. Finding… Read more »

Today, the House Committee on Natural Resources held an oversight hearing titled “Investigating the Appropriate Role of NEPA in the Permitting Process.”   The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) was designed as a regulatory compliance framework for projects or actions requiring a federal permit.  In practice, the NEPA process has often proven overly burdensome,… Read more »

Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) rejected a permit application for the Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point in Washington proposed by Pacific International Holdings, LLC. USACE cited interference with the Lummi Nation’s treaty fishing rights as a method of circumventing the private company’s efforts to prove otherwise through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)… Read more »