News & Ideas

December 16, 2024

A New Beginning: Petaluma River Mitigation Bank Would be a First for California’s Tribes

A vast expanse of tidal sloughs, salt marshes, ephemeral streams, and oak woodlands once covered the lands surrounding the Petaluma River in southeastern Sonoma County. This landscape supported massive populations of elk, deer, fish, and birds, and Native people lived here as stewards of the land since time immemorial. However, like many tidal areas surrounding […]

December 11, 2024

U.S. Supreme Court Tackles Evaluation of Effects in NEPA

On December 10, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado. In this case, the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition and the Uinta Basin Railway sought to overturn the District of Columbia Circuit Court’s decision that the Surface Transportation Board improperly approved an 88-mile new rail line […]

December 4, 2024

Anticipating Changes to Cultural Resources Review Procedures for Major Infrastructure Projects

After the presidential election, our cultural resources experts are watching for significant adjustments to cultural resources review for permitting procedures under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. NEPA regulations, in 40 CFR Part 1500-1508, were most recently revised earlier in 2024, but Section 106 of the […]