The Nickel Report

Earlier this month, the US Department of Energy (DOE) released the first National Definition of a Zero-Emissions Building. DOE intends for this definition to set forth “standardized, consistent, and measurable minimum criteria” that can be adopted by public and private entities to support the transition for buildings toward zero emissions. The release of the definition follows on the heels of DOE’s National Blueprint for the Buildings Sectors, published in April. The Blueprint sets forth actions with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from US buildings 65% by 2035 and 90% by 2050 from a 2005 baseline, with cross-cutting goals of equity, affordability, and resilience. While this definition serves only as non-binding guidance, it may influence other regulatory and industry standards as buildings move toward decarbonization.  

On February 12, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or the Service) published a final rule revising the regulations governing the issuance of eagle take permits (ETPs) under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.  89 Fed. Reg. 9920 (Feb. 12, 2024).  The rule revises certain requirements for individual permits – referred to as “specific” permits in the rule – and creates a new program of general permits covering certain activities.  Activities for which general permits will be available include (i) incidental take of bald and golden eagles associated with qualifying wind energy projects, (ii) incidental take of bald and golden eagles associated with power line infrastructure, (iii) certain activities that may cause bald eagle disturbance take, and (iv) certain categories of bald eagle nest take.  We previously reported on the proposed version of the rule, which was published in September 2022.

With the growing emergence of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, companies selling products in the United States must increasingly plan for the end of a product’s life. EPR programs shift waste-management responsibilities that have traditionally been handled by consumers or state and local governments to the “producer” of the product.

Most existing EPR programs in the United States target packaging materials, especially plastic packaging. So far, four states have finalized EPR legislation for packaging: Maine, Oregon, Colorado, and California.[1] Each of these states is currently in the process of developing a regulatory program. In 2023, several additional states introduced EPR legislation, signaling that other states may soon follow.

On June 3, 2023, President Biden signed the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA) to suspend the United States’ debt limit until January 2025. The legislation also imposes changes to the environmental review process for infrastructure projects. Most notably, the FRA amends key provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a touchstone environmental statute that imposes procedural requirements for the approval of major federal actions. The amendments to NEPA are the first major changes to the statute in almost 40 years. These changes signal Congress’s intent to streamline the environmental review of projects and improve the federal permitting process for energy projects. The amendments to NEPA will likely influence (and may delay) the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) Phase 2 revisions to NEPA’s implementing regulations which are currently undergoing interagency review. The FRA also expedites the approval process for all permits for the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline project in West Virginia.

On May 17, 2023, the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted summary judgment to federal government defendants and intervenor Vineyard Wind in the first of four lawsuits pending in that court challenging the development of Vineyard Wind, a 62-turbine offshore wind project being built off the coast of Massachusetts, approximately 14 nautical miles south of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard at its nearest point. Vineyard Wind—which is slated to be the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project, with capacity to power over 400,000 homes and businesses—has been under development for several years and has met opposition from a range of constituencies, including local residents and the fishing industry.

On March 21, 2023, the US Department of Energy (DOE) released a series of reports aimed at advancing President Biden’s ambitious goal of achieving  a decarbonized electricity sector by 2035 and net-zero emissions economy-wide by 2050. (See Executive Order 14057, Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability, Dec. 8, 2021.) The reports come on the heels of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s March 20, 2023, Synthesis Report for the Sixth Assessment Report, calling for urgent action on climate change. 

As previously forecast, the winds of change are heading to the home of America’s offshore energy industry. On February 22, 2023, the US Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Energy Management (BOEM) announced the first-ever offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The proposed GOM sale comes in the middle of the comment period on the agency’s proposed changes to the offshore wind regulations.

The Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) includes 102,480 acres near Lake Charles, Louisiana, and two areas near Galveston, Texas, one comprising 102,480 acres, and the other comprising 96,786 acres (see the below image). BOEM appears to be interested in comments on regulations that would limit leasing near Galveston to a single area or potentially eliminate the sale of leases in either area.

As we described in a recent post, the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the signature of its proposed Renewable Energy Modernization Rule in mid-January 2023. The proposed rule – which is intended to update and modernize the regulations governing wind energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) – was published in the Federal Register on January 30, opening a 60-day comment period. 

As we described in a recent post, the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the signature of its proposed Renewable Energy Modernization Rule in mid-January 2023. The proposed rule – which is intended to update and modernize the regulations governing wind energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) – was published in the Federal Register on January 30, opening a 60-day comment period. 

On January 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Energy Management (BOEM) announced the signature of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) addressing the regulations governing wind energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). As BOEM notes in the NOPR, the first OCS renewable energy regulations were promulgated in 2009 by the Minerals Management Service, the predecessor to BOEM.  Through the NOPR, BOEM intends to modernize its regulations by implementing reforms identified by the agency and recommended by stakeholders since 2010, when BOEM was established. 

On October 18, 2022, the Department of the Interior announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will hold an offshore wind energy lease sale on December 6, 2022, for areas on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) off central and northern California.

This will be the first-ever offshore wind lease sale on America’s west coast and the first-ever U.S. sale to support potential commercial-scale floating offshore wind energy development. Auction details, lease terms, and qualified bidding companies that can participate in the auction will be outlined in a Final Sale Notice (FSN) to be published in the Federal Register later this week.

The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) has long been home to offshore energy development, but with President Biden’s call to advance offshore wind development, a new change is potentially coming to the horizon—wind farms. At the helm of GOM wind development is the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), who has now announced the solicitation of public comments on two potential wind energy areas (WEA) off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana and the related environmental assessment (EA) for the entire GOM Call Area.

This week the US District Court for the Northern District of California overturned three Endangered Species Act (ESA) rules issued in 2019 that address: (1) listing species and designating critical habitat, (2) extending take prohibitions to threatened species, and (3) § 7 interagency consultation. Center for Biological Diversity v. Bernhardt, 19-05206 (N.D. Cal. July 5, 2022). The three rules were issued by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (together, the Services) in August 2019 and together represented the first comprehensive revisions to the ESA regulations in 33 years. The order has a number of important regulatory and caselaw implications. 

Yesterday, June 23, 2022, The Biden Administration announced the launch of a Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership (“Partnership”) to expedite and foster the growth of wind energy, tackle the climate crisis, strengthen American energy security, and achieve the goal of deploying 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030. 

In line with the Biden administration’s focus on expanding offshore wind energy, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is seeking public review and comments on the draft Morro Bay Wind Energy Area (WEA) environmental assessment (EA) by Friday, May 6, 2022. The EA for the Morro Bay WEA “considers potential environmental and socioeconomic effects from issuing offshore wind energy leases and related site characterization and assessment activities.” Written comments may be filed or shared virtually at the April 14 or April 19 meeting.

On December 7, 2021, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) held a public workshop to preview potential changes to the groundbreaking California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program, which has served as a model for other low carbon fuel programs across the country.  CARB is accepting written public comments on the concepts presented in the workshop through January 7, 2022.

As a top priority for the Biden Administration and a key component of energy transition plans, offshore wind energy development is front and center and receiving a lot of attention.  The Biden Administration has announced a commitment to create 30 gigawatts of electricity via US offshore wind by 2030. Congress provided a boost to offshore wind development late last year via a 30% investment tax credit to projects that start construction before 2026.  And just last week, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced plans to spur that development by offering a slate of offshore wind lease sales by 2025 in federal waters off the East, Gulf, and West Coasts.