On June 30, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in the case of West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency. This Supreme Court opinion is one of the most important decisions dealing with air…
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News
Streamlining Design and Avoiding NEPA Conflicts
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and various similar state-level laws require an agency to anticipate and evaluate the environmental impacts of a project and alternatives to the project. To the extent possible, impacts should…
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Coastal Resiliency and Climate Change: Strategies and How Scout Can Help
Coastal areas are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climbing temperatures and climate change, including rising sea levels, amplified storm surges, and a greater frequency and intensity of storms. These can result in damaging erosion…
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What are federal government contractor indirect rates and why are they important?
As a government contractor, indirect cost pool rates may seem confusing or unnecessary. Nothing could be further from the truth! The rates are sometimes referred to as Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) rates because DCAA…
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Big NEPA Changes: 3 Basic Elements Restored and What It Means
On April 20, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) finalized a targeted regulation that restores three basic elements of its original NEPA regulations. The specific changes made by the “Phase 1” rule restore…
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Executive Order 14057 – the New Federal Sustainability Order: What It Means and Opportunities!
On December 8, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 14057, Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability (“EO 14057”). In this article, I’ll summarize EO 14057 and identify what to watch for and what…
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Emergency NEPA: When and How To Do It!
As NEPA planners know all too well, NEPA is a process that takes time – though it should take less than one year for an EA and less than two years for an EIS! In…
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President Biden’s First Year and Environmental Updates In a Nutshell
When President Biden took office in January of last year, Scout wrote an article about Biden’s first environmental Executive Order hours within taking office. Here’s what’s happened since then in a nutshell. 1. Paris Climate…
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USACE and EPA Propose Rule to Revise the Definition of Waters of the U.S. – What’s the Bottom Line?
The hits just keep on coming for the Waters of the United States (WOTUS). So many, in fact, maybe we should start a blog just for WOTUS: ‘What’s Up with WOTUS?’ In today’s blog, we’re…
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When does the NEPA Environmental Assessment one-year clock start and what are the pros and cons of different approaches?
When the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations were overhauled in September 2020, one of the game-changing requirements was to define time limits to complete NEPA documents: one year to complete Environmental Assessments (EAs), and…
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