422 research outputs found
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December 2016 Newsletter
Letter from the Executive Director -- Distinguished Lectures & Conferences -- Research & Publications -- Faculty & Student News.Newsletter of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law & Business, an interdisciplinary joint venture of the UT School of Law & the McCombs School of Business.The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines
Protecting Species or Endangering Development? How Consultation Under the Endangered Species Act Affects Energy Projects on Public Lands
Executive Summary
Throughout its forty-three-year history, the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) has been one of the most celebrated environmental laws but also one of the most reviled. After passing with strong bi-partisan support in 1973, the ESA has recently faced growing opposition, amid concerns that it has failed to adequately protect species, while unreasonably impeding economic development. Much of the criticism has been directed towards section 7 of the ESA, which requires federal agencies to ensure that actions they undertake or authorize do not jeopardize threatened or endangered species, by consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”). Industry groups have argued that the consultation requirement frequently stops or delays much needed energy, transportation, water supply, and other projects.
This study seeks to assess the impact of consultation, under section 7 of the ESA, on energy development on public land. To this end, the study analyzes 179 consultations undertaken between FY2010 and FY2014 with respect to oil, gas, solar, and wind energy projects on public land managed by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”). Basic information about each consultation, including a brief description of the project involved and a list of species affected, was obtained from FWS’s Tracking and Integrated Logging System. We also reviewed the biological opinions and concurrence letters issued by FWS and, for a subset of consultations, interviewed agency staff and industry representatives involved.
Key findings from the analysis include:
A relatively small number of energy projects authorized on federal lands between FY2010 and FY2014 went through the consultation process. The majority (eighty percent) of consultations that were carried out involved oil and gas drilling projects. Fifteen percent of consultations related to solar energy projects and five percent to wind energy projects.
Only a small proportion (ten percent) of all oil and gas drilling projects approved by BLM from FY2010 to FY2014 were subject to consultation. In contrast, eighty-two percent of BLM approved solar energy projects and seventy-one percent of BLM approved wind energy projects underwent consultation.
Most of the energy project consultations undertaken between FY2010 and FY2014 were completed within the 135 day time limit set in the ESA. There was, however, often significant back-and-forth between FWS, BLM, and the project proponent prior to the official start of consultation. This is a concern for industry, as pre-consultation discussions can add significant time to the review process and thereby lead to project delays.
The need to consult can also give rise to significant uncertainty for industry. The assessment of project effects and the measures required to mitigate those effects often differs markedly between, and even within, FWS offices. Similar projects may, therefore, be assessed differently depending on the FWS staff handling the consultation.
FWS has recently taken steps to address industry concerns regarding the potential for project delays and inconsistencies in the review process. To this end, FWS has issued a number of programmatic biological opinions, which cover multiple similar actions.
Where a project is covered by a programmatic biological opinion, consultation tends to proceed more quickly, and there is less need for pre-consultation discussions. The existence of a programmatic biological opinion can also greatly reduce the complexity of consultation and generally leads to increased certainty for project developers.The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines
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Using the Market to Conserve Endangered Species: Promising Approach or a Pipe Dream?
The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines
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Endangered Species and Texas Water: Will the Whooping Crane and the Sharpnose Shiner Change the Course of State Law?
The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines
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Water for Wildlife: The Fate of the Whooping Crane Depends on It
The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines
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Protecting Species or Hindering Energy Development? How the Endangered Species Act Impacts Energy Projects on Western Public Lands
Since it was enacted in 1973, the ESA has been one of the most celebrated environmental laws, but also one of the most reviled. Industry groups argue that the consultation process frequently delays and sometimes halts much needed energy, transportation, water supply, and other projects and often dramatically increases project costs. Environmentalists disagree with this view, contending that the process actually rarely stops anything and that the FWS lacks the backbone to impose meaningful conservation requirements that would be costly or inconvenient for the project developer. In 2015, the authors decided to delve deeply into ESA §7 to analyze how it actually works in practice and to assess the validity of various parties’ claims about the consultation process. They focused on the impact of §7 consultation on energy development on public land. This Comment is an overview of that study and key findings. In a nutshell, the authors learned that only a small fraction of energy projects developed on public land are reviewed at all under §7. When it applies, the consultation process appears to go quickly and smoothly for the vast majority of oil and gas projects, for a variety of reasons. On the other hand, consultation on solar energy and wind energy projects tends to be lengthy and complicated.The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines
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How Green is Wind Energy?
The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines
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April 2016 Newsletter
Letter from the Executive Director -- Distinguished Lectures & Conferences -- Research & Publications -- Faculty & Student News URL: http://kbhenergycenter.utexas.edu/news/kbh-center-releases-november-2015-newsletter/Newsletter of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law & Business, an interdisciplinary joint venture of the UT School of Law & the McCombs School of Business.The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines
MENTAL HEALTH Examination, Treatment, etc., for Mental Illness: Provide for Treatment Team to Concur on Decision to Discharge Mental Patients and for Period of Conditional Release of Mentally Ill Defendants
HB 889 amends Title 37 of the Georgia Code by changing several provisions relating to administration of mental health laws. The most significant changes include providing the Department of Human Resources with access to patient records, changing the duties of the chief medical officer, allowing chief medical officers to appoint designees, changing the provision regarding patient discharge, and allowing psychologists to perform functions traditionally performed by physicians. Other minor changes include providing for confidentiality of records and providing patients with the ability to seek treatment from private psychologists. HB 469 provides the court with authority to authorize a period of conditional release for mental patients who plead insanity or mental incompetency. During this period of conditional release, the court monitors the defendant\u27s progress in society and has the authority to revoke the conditional release period if warranted
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Regional Conservation for Endangered Species: Success in Texas
The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines
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