Thursday, May 20, 2021
PHMSA terminates Stay of Enforcement and Notice of Enforcement Discretion related to COVID-19. PHMSA convenes public meeting on natural gas pipeline leak detection and repair. DOT increases maximum civil penalties for pipeline safety violations. DOT removes guidance and enforcement procedures and streamlines rulemaking procedures. DOT initiates review of regulations. PHMSA revises proposed information collections for the Gas Transmission and Gathering Annual Report and Incident Report Forms and the Annual Report Form for underground natural gas storage facilities. Status of PHMSA Rulemakings. PHMSA publishes correction to Gas Pipeline Regulatory Reform final rule. TSA seeks comments on proposal to continue collecting of critical pipeline facility security information. Pipeline Association for Public Awareness issues 2021 Excavation Safety Guide.
Extension of Applications of Permit to Drill (APDs)
Lease suspension
Applications for royalty relief
Notably, the March Memo specifically states that the above list is not exhaustive. And, to the extent approval is discretionary (i.e., extensions of APDs), we suspect an oil and gas lessee or operator will have difficultly receiving approval for those above-listed actions.
Although the March Memo is not addressed to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) serves as a technical advisor to the BIA and is required to approve certain actions that impact Indian tribal and individual trust and restricted lands. The March Memo fails to make this distinction, thus raising the question whether the March Memo also excludes actions taken with respect to Indian tribal and individual trust and restricted lands.
Greenpeace USA
by Charlie Jiang
Email
Has President Biden met the bar for real climate leadership in his first 100 days? We graded the Administration’s progress toward phasing out fossil fuels and enacting a Green New Deal, based on our #Climate2020 Scorecard.
Numerical metrics are based on the following “progress bar” that represents steps toward full implementation, with weightings derived from the #Climate2020 Scorecard.
Phasing Out Fossil Fuels
1. Lead a Managed Fossil Fuel Phase Out
Has President Biden initiated a managed phase out of domestic fossil fuel production, both federal and non-federal, before 2050?
The U.S. must phase out fossil fuel production as quickly as possible to meet global climate targets. During the campaign, Joe Biden offered some rhetoric in support of a phase out of fossil fuel production. Kamala Harris went even further, proposing an international agreement to address fossil fuel production. However, so far the Biden-Harris Administration