Following are links to our full series of eAlerts analyzing revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulation, published in the Federal Register on July 16, 2020 by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).
These eAlerts focused on changes the CEQ has made to the definitions section of the NEPA regulations, the beginning of the NEPA process for preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) and the required contents of an EIS. They also covered changes the CEQ has made to clarify and enhance the use of categorical exclusions (CE) and environmental assessments (EA), and examined changes made regarding public involvement, influencing judicial review, potential impacts to Federal-State Environmental Reviews and Studies and several other significant updates to the regulations.
NEPA Rules Rewrite: The Series
Vol 1. What’s in a Name?
Vol 2. Initiation of the Environmental Impact Statement Process
Vol 3. Categorical Exclusions and Environmental Assessments
Vol 4. Content of NEPA Documents Under New CEQ Rules
Vol 5. Public Involvement Process
Vol 6. Revised NEPA Regulations Designed to Influence Litigation
Vol 7. Potential Impacts on Federal-State Environmental Reviews & Studies
Vol 8. What Else Do You Need to Know?
Vol 9. What's Next?
We help clients with large development and infrastructure projects navigate the maze of state and federal environmental regulations. We work together, with their outside consultants, to devise regulatory compliance strategies and defend against judicial challenges to keep projects moving forward.
We possess an in-depth understanding of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as well as other environmental statutes. This insight enables us to draft comprehensive planning and environmental documents, including state and federal environmental impact reports and statements, that avoid pitfalls and survive court challenges.
When challenges do arise, we have an exceptional reputation for successfully defending major land use projects facing opposition from local groups and/or regional, state and federal agencies. We have successfully defended numerous development and infrastructure projects against state and federal environmental challenges. We are especially proud of our established track record of devising CEQA and NEPA compliance strategies and approaches to documentation that avoid litigation. We are equally proud of our ability to devise litigation strategies that allow the timely and on-budget delivery of complex, large-scale development projects.
The successful defense of environmental documents often depends on pre-litigation counseling. As such, our land use and environmental attorneys focus on compliance and litigation strategies that facilitate timely and cost-effective completion of the environmental regulatory process.