Kevin M. Voelkel

The National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) -- a law that has been referred to as the “Magna Carta” of the nation’s environmental laws – turned 50 years old on January 1, 2020. On January 10, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) published a...

On March 12, 2018, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resource Division (“ENRD”), Jeffrey H. Wood, issued a U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) memorandum titled...

In recent months, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ” or the “Department”) has issued a series of memoranda from the Department’s highest levels to its various component divisions...

On December 29, 2017, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register, stating its intent to significantly revise provisions of the Oil and Gas Production Safety Systems regulations (30 CFR part 250...

Despite numerous attempts in recent years by local governments to regulate oil and gas activities at the municipal level, recent developments in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Colorado signal a continued trend favoring states’ authority to regulate these issues as matters...

In a July 1 decision with major rate implications for FERC-regulated oil and gas pipelines, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit” or the “Court”) sided with shippers in an appeal of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”)...