FERC Seeks Industry Input on Financial Assurances for Hydro Projects

Posted on: January 21, 2021 By: Dave Poe, Boris Shkuta, Taylor Stuart
On January 19, 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) requesting industry input regarding the scope and necessity of potential financial assurances that it should impose on hydroelectric projects seeking FERC licenses. [1] In opening this NOI, the Commission noted recent experiences where a lack of funding for needed dam safety repairs led to the recent dam failures near Midland, Michigan in May of 2020. This proceeding has been instituted to determine whether additional Commission requirements for financial assurances by...
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Power
FERC
Renewable Energy

Will Congress Rollback Trump Regulatory Actions to Advance the Biden Policy Agenda?

Posted on: January 20, 2021 By: Brittany Pemberton, Christine Wyman, Ann Navaro
Recent news that the Democrats flipped both U.S. Senate seats in Georgia’s run-off election means that the Democrats have enough votes to add the Congressional Review Act (CRA) [1] to the tools that could be used to advance President-elect Joe Biden’s regulatory agenda through the repeal of recent Trump administrative actions. The CRA is a desirable tool because it can reverse actions of the prior administration without the time and resources necessary to do so through traditional rulemaking. But what considerations might Congress and the Biden administration face in deciding whether to...
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Environment
EPA
Environmental

EPA Approved Texas NPDES Oil and Gas Program Authorization on January 15, 2021

Posted on: January 19, 2021 By: Sara Burgin
On January 15, 2021, Region 6 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) approved the State of Texas’ October 12, 2020 submittal to the EPA requesting partial National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) program authorization for oil and gas discharges. TCEQ’s authority to implement NPDES permitting, compliance monitoring and enforcement for oil and gas activities applies to discharges into water in the state from facilities on land within the State of Texas and extends three (3) statute miles offshore into the Gulf of Mexico. EPA retains jurisdiction for oil and gas...
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Oil & Gas
Environment
EPA
Environmental

Changes to Expect in Environmental Litigation Under Biden

Posted on: January 5, 2021 By: Ann Navaro, Ryan Eletto
One thing is certain about 2021 – environmental and natural resources-related litigation against the federal government will continue apace and it will impact a range of private projects that require federal authorization of some sort or that rely on public natural resources and lands. What is not certain is how the Biden Administration may alter its approach to such defensive litigation to reflect its priorities. That being said, we have identified four areas for potential litigation changes to watch for in 2021. Potential Change #1: Reversing the De-Regulatory Efforts of the Trump...
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Environment
Environmental

FERC Adopts Expanded Definition of Cogeneration QFs to Include Certain Fuel Cell Systems

Posted on: December 22, 2020 By: Michael Brooks, Stephen Hug, Catherine McCarthy, Boris Shkuta
On December 17, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) adopted a final rule (“Final Rule”) [1] regarding the potential for certain fuel cell systems to attain qualifying facility (“QF”) status pursuant to Sections 201 and 210 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, as amended (“PURPA”) [2] . The Final Rule slightly amends the underlying proposed rule , issued on October 15, 2020 and discussed in greater detail here , in response to comments that the proposed rule would have applied to an overly-narrow subset of fuel cell technologies. In the Final Rule, the...
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Power
FERC

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