American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2021 - 16

IndustryDigest
of climate change, coupled with loss
and degradation of habitat, are pushing
more and more wildlife species to the
brink. "
According to DOI, the Jan. 7 rule
raised significant concerns from the
public and international treaty partners
and created numerous legal challenges.
" With this final and formal revocation
of the Jan. 7 rule, the service returns to
implementing the MBTA as prohibiting
incidental take and applying
enforcement discretion, consistent with
judicial precedent and longstanding
agency practice prior to 2017. "
" Our next step will be to create a
common-sense approach to regulating
the incidental take of migratory birds
that works to both conserve birds and
provide regulatory certainty to industry
and stakeholders, " says Assistant
Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and
Parks Shannon Estenoz. " That's why
the service is simultaneously publishing
an advanced notice of proposed
rulemaking announcing our intent to
solicit public comments and
information as we consider developing
proposed regulations. "
USFWS indicates it also is preparing
a draft environmental impact statement
pursuant to the National Environmental
Policy Act. The agency says it will
initiate a new public scoping process to
engage in meaningful conversations
with stakeholders, receive suggestions,
identify significant issues, and share
information on the scope of issues and
alternatives to consider.
The final MBTA revocation rule is
to go into effect on Dec. 3, 60 days
after its publication in the Oct. 4.
Federal Register. ❒
EPA Draft Strategic Plan
Emphasizes Climate,
Environmental Justice
WASHINGTON-When the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency on
Oct. 1 announced its draft fiscal year
2022-2026 EPA Strategic Plan, it
emphasized matters such as global
climate and environmental justice.
According to EPA, the strategic plan
communicates the agency's priorities
and plans for the next four years under
the Biden administration.
Press accounts note that the plan
diverges sharply from the last one,
16 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
which was issued by the agency's thenadministrator
Scott Pruitt under the
Trump administration. That document,
reports note, steered clear of climate
change and emphasized concepts such
as " cooperative federalism " and the
" rule of law. "
EPA indicates its new plan for the
first time includes a strategic goal
focused solely on addressing climate
change, as well as an unprecedented
strategic goal to advance
environmental justice and civil rights.
At its core, the agency asserts, the plan
entails a renewed commitment to the
three principles articulated by EPA's
first administrator, William
Ruckelshaus: follow the science,
adhere to the law and be transparent.
However, EPA says, the latest strategic
plan adds the fourth principle of
advancing justice and equity.
" I could not be prouder of the
strategic plan that EPA is putting forth,
rooted in the principles that have guided
our mission since day one, and only
enhanced by a new focus on justice and
equity, " says EPA Administrator
Michael S. Regan. " EPA is at the center
of the Biden-Harris administration's
agenda on climate change and
environmental justice, and so it's critical
that our strategic direction reflects those
priorities and values. "
Media with access to an internal EPA
email report that Regan has told EPA
employees the aforementioned tenets
will provide the cornerstones on which
its decisions will be based. " These four
principles form the basis of the agency's
culture and will guide our day-to-day
work and decision-making now and into
the future, " Regan is quoted.
According to EPA, the strategic plan
outlines seven goals and four crossagency
strategies for accomplishing
EPA's mission outcomes:
· Maintaining scientific integrity
when making decisions;
· Considering children's
environmental health protection;
· Advancing organizational
excellence and workforce equity; and
· Strengthening partnerships,
including early, meaningful involvement
with tribes and states and on-the-ground
engagement with communities.
EPA says the plan also includes
measures that will help the agency
monitor progress and ensure
accountability for achieving its
priorities to protect human health and
the environment. The agency adds that
the plan builds on work already begun
under President Biden's Executive
Orders 13985: Advancing Racial Equity
and Support for Underserved
Communities Through the Federal
Government and 14008: Tackling the
Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.
The final plan will be issued in
February along with EPA's fiscal 2023
budget. ❒
Court Kills Trump Rule
To Aid Pipeline Permits
SAN FRANCISCO-A federal court
in November not only sided with the
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's request to remand a Trump
administration rule that curbed states'
and tribes' ability to block pipeline
projects, but went a step further and
vacated the regulation. The ruling was
made by Federal Judge William Alsup
for the Northern District of California.
According to press accounts, the
Trump administration had crafted the
rule partly to prevent states from using
their authority under Section 401(d) of
the Clean Water Act to stymie interstate
pipeline projects. The Trump
administration described its revisions as
a way to keep other jurisdictions from
indefinitely delaying or blocking
infrastructure projects and return CWA
certification to its original purpose
(AOGR, June 2020, pg. 24).
However, a coalition of 21 states
attorneys general, tribes and
conservation groups sued EPA almost
immediately, and court documents note
that, under Biden, the agency asked that
the rule be sent back to EPA for
revisions. In explaining his rationale for
nullifying the rule instead, Alsup deems
the 2020 rule incompatible with the
CWA. He added that concerns EPA
expressed about the rule in a legal brief
suggest it's unlikely to adopt the
meaningful parts of the revised rule.
" These are not narrow issues, "
Alsup's decision holds. " They address
nearly every substantive change
introduced in the current rule. Even
without admitting error, the scope of
potential revisions EPA is considering
supports vacatur of the current rule
because the agency has demonstrated
that it will not or could not adopt the
same rule upon remand. "
American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2021

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