Please join Stoel Rives partner, David Benson, host of "Mission Critical: Clean Energy and the U.S. Military," on March 15, 2012 in Seattle, WA. A new and formidable leader has emerged in the push for clean energy. The U.S. Department of Defense is setting aggressive objectives to reduce its fossil fuel dependence and invest
Energy Law Alert: BIA Proposes Regulations for Surface Leases of Trust Land for Energy and Other Uses
A legal update from our colleagues Michael O’Connell and Stephen Kelly:
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) on November 29, 2011 published proposed regulations for leasing tribal and individual Indian trust land for business and residential uses. The comment period runs through January 30, 2012. It will take the BIA some time to review and
The Bureau of Land Management, Tribal Cultural Resources and Renewable Energy Development
My collegue Michael O’Connell issued the legal alert below on a recent significant Interior Board of Land Appeals decision concerning the intersection of tribal cultural resources and a BLM geothermal lease application:
The Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA or Board) decision, Earth Power Resources, 181 IBLA 94 (May 12, 2011), deals with BLM action on a geothermal lease application in Nevada. Citing National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) section 304, 16 U.S.C. § 470w-3, BLM withheld from a geothermal lease applicant an ethnographic study of Ruby Valley that identified a tribal traditional cultural property (TCP) important to an Indian Tribe and disapproved the lease application in order to protect the TCP. The Board overturned BLM’s decision and remanded the case for further action.Continue Reading The Bureau of Land Management, Tribal Cultural Resources and Renewable Energy Development
Compliance with California Cap-And-Trade May Be Deferred until 2013
Yesterday, the Executive Director of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), Mary Nichols, announced that CARB is proposing to delay full implementation of California’s cap-and-trade program for a year. In testimony before the California Senate Select Committee on the Environment, the Economy, and Climate Change, Nichols stated that CARB is proposing to “initiate” the cap-and-trade
Stoel Rives Partners to Present Wind Project Development Case Study at Chinese Wind Conference in Beijing
Stoel Rives Partners Alan Merkle, Ed Einowski and Michael Mangelson will participate in the upcoming Workshop on Investment in U.S. Wind Energy by Chinese Companies, held in Beijing, China on June 30, 2011.
The opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation between U.S. and China wind power industries have become increasingly profitable. Now more than
New Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets – from the U.K. to Bank of America
This week, the United Kingdom proposed cutting its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 50% below 1990 levels, in its recently released proposed carbon budget for 2023 to 2027. This would put it on track to cut emissions by 80% by 2050, as required under the U.K. Climate Change Act of 2008. Moreover, this target would go beyond the
BLM Notices Interim and Proposed Rules Protecting Renewable Energy Development From Mining Claims
Stoel Rives attorney Heath Curtiss, one of the
co-authors of "Federal Land Issues with Siting
and Permitting" in our Law of Wind, describes
a Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") plan to
protect certain land suitable for renewables
development from the location of mining claims :
As many of our clients with right-of-way (“ROW”) applications pending before BLM
New Temporary BETC Rules Issued by ODOE
The Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) has issued new temporary BETC rules. The purpose of these rules, according to ODOE, is to clarify how the Section 1603 Grant will be deducted from BETC project costs. In an apparent reversal of ODOE’s recent position during the Tier Two and Tier Three application phases, the temporary rules
California Court Enjoins Implementation of Cap-and-Trade
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Legal News Alert from Stoel Rives Environmental Law Group March 23, 2011 San Francisco Superior Court has issued a final decision in Association of Irritated Residents v. California Air Resources Board. For the moment, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is enjoined from further rulemaking to implement the California Global Warming Solutions Act (A.B. 32), including |
Ninth Circuit Decision Further Dismantles an Already Weakened Federal Transmission Siting Authority
Congress’ experiment with establishing federal siting authority for transmission lines suffered another setback after a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision issued yesterday, February 1, 2011, vacated the Department of Energy’s (“DOE”) 2007 Transmission Congestion Study that had designated national interest electric transmission corridors in mid-Atlantic and Southwestern states. This ruling is the latest of