Wednesday, February 17, 2021
Biden-Harris Administration Freezes Rules Pending Review
On January 20, 2021, Ronald A. Klain, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, issued a memorandum regarding “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review.” 86 Fed. Reg. 7424. For rules that have not yet taken effect, the memorandum directs the heads of executive departments and agencies to consider postponing the rules’ effective dates for 60 days from the date of the memorandum for the purpose of reviewing any questions of fact, law, and policy the rules may raise. For postponed rules, during the 60-day period, the memorandum asks agencies to consider opening a 30-day comment period to allow interested parties to provide comments about issues of fact, law, and policy raised by those rules, and consider pending petitions for reconsideration involving such rules. Where necessary to continue to review these questions of fact, law, and policy, agencies should consider further delaying, o
On Friday, U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division withdrew nine memoranda and policy documents issued by the previous administration related to.
The Biden administration hit the ground running on its initiative to "confront the climate crisis." On January 20, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 13,990 (EO), which.
TGIF! Welcome to Overnight Energy, The Hill's roundup of the latest energy and environment news. Please send tips and comments to Rebecca Beitsch at rbeitsch@thehill.com.
By Rachel Frazin - 02/05/21 12:35 PM EST
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has eliminated nine Trump-era directives on environmental law enforcement, including one that ended polluters’ ability to reduce fines by paying for environmental projects.
In a memo, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jean Williams, a career official, wrote that the policies were “inconsistent with longstanding Division policy and practice and may impede the full exercise of enforcement discretion in the Division’s cases.”
Through its action Thursday, the department restored the use of Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) in agency settlements, which are popular with both industry and environmentalists.
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SEPs, which have been used for roughly three decades in environmental cases, allow companies to take actions like cleaning up streams to lessen any fines they may have to pay for environmental violations.