The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has agreed to settle litigation in California by preparing environmental impact statements (EISs) for two disputed oil and gas well leases in the Monterey Shale formation. The agreement includes suspension of operations and production on the leased sites pending preparation of the EISs, with the right of the plaintiff environmental groups to return to court to litigate the sufficiency of the EISs, or challenge a decision to move forward with the fracking leases after completion of the EISs. The settlement is of two related lawsuits, both styled Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club… Read more
Tag: NEPA
CEQA Announces Final Guidance on NEPA
by Jessica Lee Reece On January 21, 2010, the Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) issued its final guidance relating to the appropriate use of mitigation under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The CEQ is charged with overseeing NEPA’s implementation by Federal agencies. Through its guidance memorandum (76 Fed. Reg. 3843), CEQ attempts to modernize and increase the transparency of NEPA implementation and so the guidance clarifies certain requirements in Environmental Assessments (EA) and Environmental Impact Statements (EIS). The guidance memo also outlines certain principles that should be applied when Federal agencies develop their NEPA regulations, as well as procedures to… Read more