The Department of Fish and Wildlife proposed amendments to regulations governing the Wildlife Habitat Conservation Management Program. The amendments would enable the program to strategically focus on priority habitats, change documentation of compliance, and share program administration and implementation with the cooperating agencies and counties. A hearing will be held April 19, 2024. Comments are due the same date.
The Department of Agriculture proposed to amend the state list of endangered and threatened plants. The amendments would add a subset of six plant species (Castilleja mendocinensis, Lasthenia ornduffii, Lomatium bentonitum, Penstemon hesperius, Pyrrocoma scaberula, and Rorippa columbiae) to the list. A hearing will be held March 19, 2024. Comments are due March 29, 2024. See https://secure.sos.state.or.us/oard/viewRedlinePDF.action?filingRsn=56622.
The Water Resources Department proposed amendments to regulations governing allocation of new groundwater rights. The amendments would, among other things, redefine the criteria for making a finding of groundwater availability based on the presence of reasonably stable water levels, avoidance of substantial interference with existing rights to appropriate surface water, and a finding that the proposed groundwater pumping rate is likely to be obtainable given the expected yield of the proposed well(s). Hearings will be held April 4, April 18, May 16, and May 21, 2024.
The Department of Environmental Quality proposed amendments to regulations governing laboratory certification. The amendments would give the NC WW/GW Laboratory Certification Branch the authority to certify for the parameter known as "PFAS." A hearing will be held March 20, 2024. Comments are due April 30, 2024. See https://files.nc.gov/oah/documents/2024-03/Volume-38-Issue-17-March-1-2024.pdf?VersionId=HkD76.zCGLliQyNyAbaI.e.ynPvacwP3.
The Environmental Protection Division proposed amendments to regulations governing air quality control. The amendments would specify the dollar-per-ton rate for annual emissions fees, reference the Fee Manual for state fiscal year 2025 fees, and change the date that administrative fees start being calculated. A hearing will be held April 1, 2024. Comments are due April 8, 2024. See https://epd.georgia.gov/chapter-391-3-1-air-quality-control.
A district court granted NMFS' motion to dismiss a challenge to its decision to issue several incidental take authorizations (ITAs) for wind farm development off the coasts of New Jersey and New York. A nonprofit group argued NMFS violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act because the ITAs had more t...
A district court denied summary judgment for a trade group representing ranchers and beef producers in a challenge to FWS' denial of the group's petition to remove the southwestern willow flycatcher from the endangered list under the ESA. The group argued FWS' denial, which concluded the southwester...
In an en banc decision, the Ninth Circuit, 6-5, affirmed a district court order denying a tribal group's motion for preliminary injunction against the U.S. government's transfer of federal land within Tonto National Forest to a mining company. The land is a site of spiritual value to the Western Apa...
The D.C. Circuit affirmed dismissal of a challenge to two FWS rules that delayed a 2021 proposed rule to reduce the amount of land in the Pacific Northwest designated as critical habitat for the northern spotted owl. A logging group challenged the validity of the rules delaying the effective date of...