Great Lakes Legal Foundation staff are currently working on a friend of the court brief in support of the petitioners in the Rock-Koshkonong Lake Dist. et al. v. DNR (2008AP1523) case on behalf of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and the Midwest Food Processors Association.

A popular internet video modeled after Paul Harvey's classic essay, "If I Were the Devil," asks “What would you do if you wanted America to fail?” The answer, according to the video’s creators, is continue on America’s current energy and environmental policy path.

Al Armendariz, the EPA’s Regional Administrator for Region 6, has resigned amidst Congressional outcry over remarks that Armendariz made at a 2010 town hall comparing his enforcement strategy to the Roman practice of crucifixion.

Recent news articles focusing on the DNR’s enforcement numbers and policies have drawn attention to the agency’s enforcement practices and brought it into the political storm of the recall elections.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, President Obama highlighted his intention to make climate change and environmental issues a centerpiece of his 2012 reelection campaign.

The EPA has determined that 45 areas across the country, including Sheboygan County, are not meeting the 2008 8-hour ozone standards based on the most recent certified air quality data. It is possible the number of Wisconsin counties with nonattainment status will increase by the end of the month as the EPA has yet to designate Kenosha County.

The EPA continues to drag its feet in issuing the final coal ash residuals rules, but some groups have filed lawsuits to speed the process. The EPA has said it would finalize the rule in 2012, and the lawsuits seek to hold EPA to that promise with a court-ordered deadline.

The EPA has released to the public a web-based mapping tool developed for Federal agencies to facilitate more efficient and effective environmental reviews and project planning. The tool, NEPAssist, draws information from publicly available federal, state, and local datasets, allowing NEPA practitioners, stakeholders and the public to view information about environmental conditions within the area of a proposed project quickly and easily at early stages of project development.

The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management has released its long-awaited proposed rule to require companies to publicly disclose the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations on public and Indian lands.

The Foundation has been posting a lot of articles recently about the EPA’s regulation of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and frac sand mining in Wisconsin. It has come to our attention that reads could use a bit more background on what fracking actually is and why Wisconsinites are interested in the topic.

The United States Department of Energy has released a set of maps on its Wind Powering America website illustrating the growth of wind energy across the United States.

According to the Dept. of Energy, which relies on data from the American Wind Energy Association, Wisconsin’s wind production has increased from 23 to 631 megawatts (MW) over the past thirteen years.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Agency are both accepting comments on a multitude of issues impacting Wisconsin businesses. The agencies are accepting comments on various air, water, and waste rules; and in addition, the DNR is also asking for help identifying burdensome and outdated rules.

The EPA has released the 17th annual U.S. greenhouse gas inventory. After dropping for two years during the recession, the latest report shows overall emissions in 2010 increased by 3.2 percent from the previous year.

2011 Wisconsin Act 167 made major changes to the state’s navigable water permitting process. The Legislative Council has produced a helpful memo outlining the existing law, which remains in effect until August 2012, and explaining the new law.

The Energy Department recently released a renewable energy resource assessment detailing the potential to develop electric power generation at existing dams across the United States that aren't currently equipped to produce power. The report estimates that without building a single new dam, these available hydropower resources, if fully developed, could provide an electrical generating capacity of more than 12 gigawatts (GW).

In response to a court deadline, the EPA has finalized its long-awaited rules regulating air pollution from hydraulic fracturing. According to the EPA, the standards rely on technologies already in use at about half of the nation’s natural-gas wells, and these technologies will trap 95 percent of the harmful emissions from these wells.

Most existing piers and wharves are exempt from needing DNR approval and can be placed in lakes and rivers the same as they have always been under a new law signed April 2.

On April 13, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard oral argument on EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). Court watchers who attended the arguments think the case could go either way based on the judges’ questioning.

President Obama signed an executive order Friday establishing the Interagency Working Group to Support Safe and Responsible Development of Unconventional Domestic Natural Gas Resources. The group includes representation from many federal agencies, some of which are already studying, and in some cases proposing to regulate, natural gas drilling, including fracking.

An agreement signed by 10 federal agencies and the governors of Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and Pennsylvania, is designed to speed review of proposed offshore wind projects in the Great Lakes by increasing collaboration between federal and state agencies.