When the president’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) produced its Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (CEQ NEPA Regulations) in 1978, those regulations were sufficiently comprehensive and of such high quality that they have received hardly any amendment or modification since 1978. Nevertheless, because of the long period of time since the regulations were issued, and in response to President Donald Trump’s call in Executive Order No.

A number of U.S. state and local governments have adopted strategies for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation and land development. Although some have made significant progress in reducing GHG emissions from the power sector, transportation emissions in most states continue to rise.

Offshore drilling has been thrust back into the spotlight by the Trump Administration’s focus on “energy dominance.” While it is unlikely that leasing will take place in all areas included in the Administration’s proposed plan, its enormous scope has raised serious questions about the government’s capacity to properly plan for potential activities and evaluate impacts, and it has again prompted calls to amend the laws governing Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas.

The Donald Trump years have been painful for advocates of a forceful U.S. response to climate change. The White House has pulled out of the 2015 Paris Agreement, tried to revive coal, and moved to scuttle landmark U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations for vehicles and power plants. Despite these setbacks, a heightened sense of urgency and passion has emerged following the Democratic takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives. Progressive climate policy is once again at the top of the national agenda.

Environmental disasters wreak havoc on ecosystems and public trust resources. The environmental statutory regime in place today aims to remedy these disasters and restore the public trust as efficiently as possible. In order to do so, natural resource trustees, agencies made up of experts in their respective scientific fields, have been given broad authority to assess injuries to natural resources, choose an appropriate remedy, and develop restoration plans.

U.S. energy requirements, policy, and regulations are changing rapidly. Numerous large-scale energy projects are underway, and generation, supply, and distribution infrastructure is evolving at an unprecedented rate. With these shifts, the focus has turned to energy transmission and pipelines, including regulatory updates, stormwater and erosion and sedimentation control requirements, environmental impact analysis and permitting, and construction monitoring.

The global community is awakening to the extent and sophistication of the illegal wildlife trade.

Congress established the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in 1968 to reduce flood damages nationwide and ease the federal government’s financial burden for providing disaster recovery. To achieve this goal, the program was designed to perform three primary functions: (1) provide federally backed insurance to property owners and renters; (2) establish minimum requirements for building, land use, and floodplain management practices that local communities must adopt in order for their residents to be eligible to purchase NFIP insurance coverage; and (3) map high flood-risk areas th

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is defined as a deep understanding of the environment developed by local communities and indigenous peoples over generations. In the United States, Canada, and around the world, indigenous peoples are increasingly advocating for incorporation of TEK into a range of environmental decisionmaking contexts, including natural resource and wildlife management, pollution standards, environmental and social planning, environmental impact assessment, and adaptation to climate change.

The issue of environmental injustice has again come into sharp focus in the wake of the predominantly African-American community in Flint, Michigan, being exposed to lead-contaminated drinking water. To secure environmental justice for all individuals and communities, living in a clean, safe, and healthy environment in America should be considered a human right enforced by the adoption of an environmental rights amendment in the bill of rights sections of every state constitution and the federal Constitution.