John L. Watson

On April 20, 2022, in the first leg of a two-phase process, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued its final rule amending its regulations for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).  To be effective May 20, 2022, the amendments restore provisions that were in effect for forty-two years before being modified in 2020 by the Trump administration. These “Phase 1” changes focus on the (a) purpose and need of a proposed action, (b) an agency’s NEPA procedures for implementing the rules, and (c) the definition of “impacts’ and “effects.”

The EPA and Colorado Partnership For Environmental Justice

Colorado focuses on environmental justice as a core priority. In 2021, Governor Polis signed the Environmental Justice Act (HB21-1266) into law, and subsequently appointed members to Colorado’s first Environmental Justice Advisory Board. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) then launched the new Environmental Justice Action Task Force and the agency created a new Environmental Justice Unit to reduce environmental health disparities for communities of color and low-income communities across Colorado.

Weld County Lacks Standing to Challenge New Oil and Gas Air Rules

On February 24, 2022, a division of the Colorado Court of Appeals upheld a district court’s dismissal of a challenge to regulations issued by the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission (“Commission”) which address oil and gas operations.  In Bd. of Cnty. Comm’rs v. Ryan, the appellate court addressed whether Weld County had standing to seek judicial review of the air quality rules. See opinion here.

EPA’s Proposed Rule – Back to the Pre-2015 Program

In June 2021, premised on the agencies’ determination that the Trump Administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule (finalized April 21, 2020) significantly reduced clean water protections, the EPA and the Department of the Army announced their intent to revise the definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS).

It All Depends on Translating Commitments Into Action

It ran a day longer than expected, and, no surprise, the results are mixed.  Indeed, the nearly 200 countries represented actually put off to next year the negotiation of enhanced emissions targets (COP27 is scheduled for November 8 – 20, 2022 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt).

Summarizing is difficult; actually a bit painful in light of the many reports summarized in my earlier blog.  So, how to address it here?

Disappointing Updated Targets

On October 28, 2021, China submitted updated nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to fight climate change.  NDCs are non-binding plans submitted to the United Nations as part of the 2015 Paris Agreement.  The disappointment comes because the updates offer essentially nothing new; and indeed show some backtracking.

The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, is the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference and will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, running from October 31 to November 12, 2021.  It is the third meeting of the parties to the 2015 Paris Agreement (CMA3).

The parties are expected to embrace enhanced international commitments to slow climate change.  Originally planned for November 2020, the event was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

23 Major Federal Agencies Release Their Plans

On October 7, 2021, twenty-three federal agencies released plans describing how they will integrate climate-readiness across agency missions and programs and bolster the resilience of federal assets. The plans are available here.

CEQ Targets Trump Administration NEPA Rule Changes

On October 6, 2021, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) announced its intention to reverse the Trump Administration’s revisions to environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The announcement states that the action will restore essential safeguards for the protection of public health and the environment.

On Tuesday, September 29, 2021, the U.S. Department of Interior (“DOI”) announced the revocation of the Trump Administration’s regulation that had limited the scope of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (“MBTA”). The revocation rule will go into effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register on October 4, 2021.

Report to Colorado Attorney General Details Failings of Agency Permitting Procedures

An earlier Spencer Fane blog post in May detailed the whistleblowers’ allegations that were contained in their letter to the EPA’s Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”).

The allegations caused the state’s Attorney General, Phil Weiser, to hire outside counsel to investigate. The Troutman Pepper report, released last week on September 22, concluded that fraud (or an intent to circumvent the law) on the part of the agency was not an issue; but, the permitting process needs improvement lest continuing “confusion” taints the process.

Three air quality modeling staff ask the EPA Inspector General to investigate

In a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) dated March 30, 2021, three self-styled “whistle blowers” who serve as air quality modelers working in the Air Pollution Control Division (APCD) of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) asked EPA’s Inspector General, Sean W. O’Donnell, to open an investigation into policy decisions made by the agency. See letter here.

At Issue? Impacts on 10 million acres of public lands

On May 11, 2021, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced it will take another look at its greater sage grouse conservation plans and the agency’s process related to the possible withdrawal of up to 10 million acres of habitat from mineral location and entry.  See the BLM announcement here.

The agency’s long-delayed announcement comes after two federal court judges ordered the agency to re-think its plans: (1) a May 2020 federal Court’s decision in Montana vacating oil and gas lease sales on BLM lands in Wyoming and Montana [see opinion here], and (2) a February 2021 federal Court’s decision in Idaho that vacated the Trump administration’s decision to stop withdrawal of millions of acres of public lands for mineral development [see opinion here].  The focus of the courts’ opinions is BLM’s management plans that were designed to support sagebrush ecosystems on which sage grouse rely.

The Prospective Claims: States “Impermissibly” Impede the Export of Wyoming Coal and Force Closure of Coal-Fired Power Plants

Colorado (as only one example of many states) is working to reduce its reliance on coal and other fossil fuels for its electricity and transportation needs.  Colorado plans to transition to 100 percent clean electricity generation by 2040 and rapidly expand the electrification of vehicles.

Although other states and parties tried, Colorado was the only state that succeeded in persuading a U.S. District Court Judge to enter a preliminary injunction against enforcement (in Colorado only) of the new waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule which was published nearly a year ago, i.e., April 21, 2021. After being on appeal for several months, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals expressed its displeasure with that ruling.  In State of Colorado v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency et al., case number 20-1238, Judge Baldock, in his March 2, 2021 opinion, was direct and to the point:

How is Colorado Dealing with “Gap” Waters?

The scope of federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act remains perplexing, particularly now that Colorado is the only state in the nation where the Navigable Water Protection Rule did not take effect June 22, 2020.  In the context of a lengthy “stakeholder” process, on November 20, 2020, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) issued a White Paper addressing its regulatory options in light of the new federal WOTUS rule.  Construction companies, developers, and other businesses seeking to permit activities around wetlands, ephemeral waters, and intermittent streams in Colorado would benefit from reviewing this comprehensive discussion of the multitude of dilemmas Colorado and others states face in light of the new rule.

Judge Contreras’s Second Opinion Blasts the Bureau of Land Management for Sloppy Environmental Analysis

Last year, in a 60-page opinion issued in March 2019, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras stopped the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from leasing oil and gas on over 500 square miles of federal lands in Wyoming.  He began his opinion by stating:  “Climate change, and humanity’s ability to combat it, are increasingly prominent topics of public discourse. This case concerns the attention the government must give climate change when taking action that may increase its effects.”

California Judge Denies Nationwide Injunction

This is an updated version of a previous blog to include recent developments. 

Something to do during lock-down: track the twists and turns of the multiple court challenges to the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule; a fascinating pass-time.

The partial vacation of Nationwide Permit 12 (NWP 12) will remain in place for now as the Ninth Circuit today denied emergency motions for a partial stay pending appeal. In its May 28, 2020, Order (available here) the Ninth Circuit held that appellants “have not demonstrated a sufficient likelihood of success on the merits and probability of irreparable harm to warrant a stay pending appeal.”

This is an updated version of a previous blog to include recent developments. 

On May 22, 2020, Colorado joined the surge of lawsuits challenging the Waters of the United States (“WOTUS”) rule issued in April by the Trump administration.  See the link below to the Colorado lawsuit filed in federal court in Colorado as well as links to other similar lawsuits in other jurisdictions.

This week the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana restored use of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Nationwide Permit 12 for some utility line construction and maintenance activities (primarily for non-pipeline projects) by restricting the scope of its earlier vacation of the permit, while the Ninth Circuit ruled on an initial round of briefings in the government’s request for an emergency stay.  The District Court’s April 15 decision has been the source of significant disruption because it not only blocked application of the popular nationwide permit to the Keystone XL pipeline (the subject of the litigation), but also barred any and all other uses of the permit.  See our earlier alert here.

On January 23, 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army (Corps) finalized anticipated revisions to the Navigable Waters Protection Rule defining the scope of waters subject to federal regulation under the Clean Water Act.  The revisions follow the dictates of President Trump’s February 28, 2017 Executive Order 13778: “Restoring the Rule of Law, Federalism, and Economic Growth by Reviewing the ‘Waters of the United States’ Rule.”

Short-term risks of exposure can include headaches, dizziness, and respiratory, skin and eye irritation

Building on an earlier assessment released in February 2017, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environmental released a state-funded study on October 17, 2019 titled:  “Human Health Risk Assessment for Oil & Gas Operations in Colorado.”  A peer-reviewed article summarizing the study was published in the Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association.

A Court Order Halting Agency Actions Would Prevent Any Oil and Gas Permitting for Months While the Commission Promulgates Revised Regulations  

 On October 8, 2019, a citizens group based in Broomfield, Colorado, filed suit in Denver District Court requesting a Court order for an immediate stay of all actions by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (“COGCC”) involving “permitting of any drilling, pooling, and spacing units until the COGCC rulemaking is completed.”

Case of First Impression Overturns Mined Land Reclamation Board Ruling

On July 25, 2019, the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed a ruling of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board (“MLRB” or “agency”) which had authorized a second period of temporary cessation for a uranium mine.  The Court in Information Network for Responsible Mining, Earthworks, and Sheep Mountain Alliance v. Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board was asked to determine if the agency properly authorized a “second period of temporary cessation” which would allow the mining permit issued by the MLRB to remain in effect.

On January 23, 2019, Wildgrass Oil and Gas Committee (reportedly an anti-fracking group but also an organization that includes mineral owners in the Wildgrass subdivision in Broomfield, Colorado), filed suit in federal court in Denver challenging, on federal constitutional grounds, that portion of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Act (C.R.S. 34-60-116) (the “Act”) that allows the Commission to “force pool” the development of oil and gas resources.

There are several online resources available to track the regulatory activities of the current federal administration, including various federal government agency websites.  The two sites which I and others often turn to for comprehensive and easy-to-use online access for tracking the current state of federal deregulatory efforts are the sites produced and maintained by the law schools at Harvard College and New York University.

In a unanimous decision which resolved more than five years of dispute, the Colorado Supreme Court on January 14, 2019 upheld the decision of the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission (COGCC) which had refused to engage in rulemaking proposed by environmental groups. Led by the so-called teenage activist Xiuhtezcatl (pronounced Shoe-Tez-Caht) Martinez, the activists proposed a rule that would have conditioned all new oil and gas development on a finding of no cumulative adverse impacts to public health and the environment.  Responding to the rulemaking petition which was originally submitted in 2013, the COGCC said the rulemaking was beyond its statutory authority; on appeal, the district court agreed with the agency; and then the Court of Appeals, in a split decision, reversed. 

On August 16, the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission set a hearing to consider establishing a new Regulation Number 20 to adopt specific provisions of the California low emission vehicle (LEV) rule for model year 2022 and newer light and medium duty vehicles. The Division’s proposed rule will not include a Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) mandate and has no impact on heavy-duty vehicles or non-road (construction and agricultural) equipment.

A recent analysis by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (“COGCC”) shows that increasing the current regulatory setback of 500 feet to the 2500-foot setback proposed in Initiative # 97 would prevent oil and gas development on 85% of the non-federal land surface in the state. 

On Wednesday, July 18, 2018, Governor Hickenlooper of Colorado issued an Executive Order directing the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission (COGCC) to act to “plug, remediate, and reclaim” orphaned oil and gas wells and sites.  Of the over 50,000 oil and gas wells in the state, the COGCC is currently tracking 262 orphaned wells and 373 associated well sites that require remediation and reclamation. 

The U.S. is projected to produce more crude oil than any other nation, including Saudi Arabia and Russia.  The July 10, 2018 forecast from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts that, in 2019, U.S. crude oil production will grow to 11.8 million barrels a day.

On June 11, 2018, the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Georgia issued a preliminary injunction preventing implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2015 Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule in 11 states including Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.  The court held that if the WOTUS rule became effective the states would suffer irreparable harm in both a “loss of sovereignty and unrecoverable monetary losses.” 

About the only thing that stakeholders agree on is that the risk assessment saga in Colorado means one thing – more study is needed. On March 27, 2018, the latest in a series of health risk studies was published by the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Medical Campus. Using air emissions data taken from within the 500 foot regulatory setback requirement for homes near wells, the study concludes that people living in close proximity to oil and gas wells are subject to an increased risk of developing cancer.

On April 2, 2018, the EPA announced the results of its updated Midterm Evaluation (MTE) determination related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for cars and light trucks for model years 2022-2025. The agency stated that the current standards are not appropriate, and that it will work with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to set a notice and comment rulemaking to set new standards.

Authorized by Congress in 2012, the EPA’s Electronic Manifest System (e-Manifest) will become effective on June 30, 2018.  When they register, generators, transporters, and receivers of hazardous wastes will be able to use this system to facilitate the electronic transmission of the uniform hazardous waste manifest form.  States must adopt the provisions of the final rule in order to enforce them under state law and to maintain manifest program consistency.

On March 22, 2018, the Colorado Court of Appeals held that the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s authority to undertake unannounced, warrantless inspections (i.e., administrative searches) at oil and gas sites does NOT violate the U.S. or Colorado constitutions.

House Bill 1071, if enacted as written, will obviate the need for the Colorado Supreme Court to resolve the dilemma caused by the Colorado Court of Appeals opinion in the Martinez case.   As described in earlier Spencer Fane posts, that appellate decision effectively elevated the protection of public health and the environment over the interests of mineral rights owners and developers.  The issue before the Colorado Supreme Court is whether the current statute dictates that the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) implement a statutorily directed balancing act without giving priority to any particular interest.

On February 13, 2018, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission approved new rules to require the industry to track the location of oil and gas pipelines. The new rules stem from an explosion in Firestone, Colorado caused by a leaking pipeline that destroyed a house and killed two people on April 17, 2017. That disaster triggered a massive public outcry, directives from the Governor, and now significant revisions to state regulations.