NEPA

66 posts

Article Describes NEPA Requirements for Disclosing Upstream and Downstream Emissions from Fossil Fuel Projects

The Harvard Environmental Law Review has published an article by Michael Burger and Jessica Wentz, “Downstream and Upstream Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The Proper Scope of NEPA Review.” Recently, legal controversies have arisen regarding the scope of greenhouse gas emissions that should be considered in environmental reviews of fossil fuel extraction […]

How Impact Assessment Can Lead to “Climate Smart” Projects

by Jessica Wentz Last week, I traveled to Montreal to attend the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) annual conference. The theme of this year’s conference was “Impact Assessment’s Contribution to the Global Efforts in Addressing Climate Change” – a topic that we have explored in great depth at the […]

New: Adaptation Resource Database

The Sabin Center has introduced a new item to our collection of legal resources – a compilation of Legal Resources for Climate Change Adaptation. The new page includes information about specific legal provisions that could be interpreted as requiring consideration of climate change-related risks, articles discussing the nature of legal […]

How Have Federal Agencies Implemented the CEQ Guidance on Climate Change and Environmental Reviews?

The Sabin Center has just published a new survey examining how federal agencies have been implementing the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)’s guidance on climate change and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews. The survey, which was conducted by a team of Columbia undergraduate students as their capstone project for […]

Climate Litigation Chart Updates – November 2016

Each month, Arnold & Porter and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law collect and summarize developments in climate-related litigation, which we also add to our U.S. and non-U.S. climate litigation charts.  If you know of any cases we have missed, please email us at columbiaclimate at gmail dot com. Here are the additions […]

Upstream and Downstream Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fossil Fuel Production and Transportation: New Working Paper Examines Scope of Federal Analysis Required under NEPA

The Sabin Center has recently posted a working paper, Downstream and Upstream Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The Proper Scope of NEPA Review.  The paper was co-authored by Executive Director Michael Burger and Associate Director and Fellow Jessica Wentz and will be published in the Fall 2016 edition of the Harvard Environmental […]

BOEM Ignores Downstream Emissions and Social Cost of Carbon in EIS for Outer Continental Shelf Leasing Program

Jessica Wentz Associate Director and Fellow Yesterday, the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) released the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (DPEIS) for the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program. The DPEIS accounts for the impacts of climate change on program activities. It does not, […]

Accounting for Climate Change in Federal Environmental Impact Statements – New Report and Database

The Sabin Center has just published a new report on the consideration of climate change in federal Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The report describes the results from a survey of 238 federal EISs published from July 2012 through December 2014. The survey […]