Environmental and Natural Resources

About this Blog

Welcome to the S&W Environmental, Natural Resources, Oil and Gas Law Blog. This blog is a resource for the regulated community to stay current on new developments impacting the environmental, natural resources and energy sectors. It provides timely updates on a broad range of federal, state and local environmental topics — including proposed legislation and government rulemakings — that impact regulated industries throughout the southwest and the nation as a whole.

The Law of the Colorado River:  An Opportunity for Change

The Department of Interior announced on Monday, May 22, 2023 an agreement with the Lower Basin states to conserve 3 million acre-feet (“MAF”) of water in Lake Mead for the next four years, with 2.3 MAF paid for with funding from the Inflation Reduction Act.  The balance of 700,000 acre-feet will need to be conserved […]

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Controversial BLM 3.0 Proposal Released for Public Comment

On April 3, 2023, the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) published a proposed rule to promote the conservation of the 245 million acres of public lands it manages.  The proposal purports to advance “BLM’s mission to manage the public lands for multiple use and sustained yield by prioritizing the health and resilience of ecosystems across […]

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Arizona’s In-State Surface Water Resources:  Appropriable Water, Used Appropriately, Fosters Economic Development

This article is Part 3 of a series providing information about the resilience of Arizona’s water supplies during a time in which the news is dominated by stories about drought and scarcity.  As we noted in Part 1, Arizona has a very diverse water portfolio to draw on, including Colorado River water, in-state surface water, […]

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More than Just a Drop in the Bucket, Arizona Groundwater Supplies Pose Problems and Potential Solutions for Policy Makers

While the local and national press inundate us with articles about the dire nature of Arizona’s water supplies and questions about why people are even allowed to live in a desert, careful planning by water leaders over decades has created resilient responses to these challenges that are unmatched in the Southwest and perhaps the nation.  […]

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As an Excellent Winter Transitions to an Uncertain Spring, How Secure are Arizona’s Water Supplies?

Arizona’s water supplies have been front page news for months.  Both local and national media have reported on increasingly serious shortages on the Colorado River and the inability of the states that rely on the River to reach consensus on how to share those shortages.  Other outlets have reported on issues relating to Arizona’s groundwater […]

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Biden Administration Considers Interrupting the “Law of the River” Status Quo

by Fred Breedlove The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has released its Near-term Colorado River Operations Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, analyzing three paths forward for managing the Colorado River in light of the potentially dire consequences if they fail to act.  The Draft SEIS describes three potential choices without making a specific recommendation: (1) do […]

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EPA Proposes Limits on PFAS in Drinking Water

by Patrick J. Paul On March 14, 2023, EPA announced the  first ever national drinking water standard for PFAS via its proposed National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) for six specific PFAS including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA, commonly known as GenX Chemicals), perfluorohexane sulfonic […]

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EPA Orders Derailment Clean Up

by Patrick J. Paul On February 21, 2023, less than three weeks after a Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, less than a mile from the Pennsylvania border, EPA issued a 77 page Unilateral Order to the company requiring it to remediate the chemicals spilled.  EPA had previously sent the railroad a letter […]

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EPA Announces $42 Million PFAS Aid to Arizona

by  Patrick J. Paul According to EPA’s press release, $5 billion is scheduled for investment over five years to help communities that are on the frontlines of PFAS contamination reduce PFAS in drinking water.  The initial allotment of $42 million to Arizona can be used to prioritize infrastructure and source water treatment for pollutants, like […]

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Environmental Justice Grants Available for Qualifying Air-Related Projects

By: Luke Narducci and Amanda Reeve The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) issued a Request For Applications (RFA) on January 10, 2023, for projects “supporting community-based nonprofit organizations (CBO’s) in their efforts to collaborate and partner with other stakeholders…to develop solutions that significantly address environmental or public health issue(s) in communities disproportionately burdened by environmental […]

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Environmental & Regulatory Policy Advisor