Endangered Species Law & Policy

AWEA’s 2018 Wind Project Siting & Environmental Compliance Conference will be held from March 20-21, in Memphis, Tennessee.  Nossaman Environment and Land Use Partner Brooke Wahlberg and Senior Policy Advisor John Anderson will both be participating in the conference, where leaders from the wind industry, environmental permitting and compliance sector, the scientific community and regulatory officials come together for a robust discussion about the current state of siting and environmental compliance.  Discussions will provide key insights about wind energy development, operations, evolving trends, and strategies for improving the project permitting process and maximizing the output of operating assets, while increasing regulatory and legal certainty.

On Tuesday, March 20, at 9:45 AM CT, Mr. Anderson will participate in the opening session of the conference where the speakers will engage in a panel discussion focused on how the Trump Administration views renewables, regulatory reform, state-wide development moratoria, interactions with military assets, and wildlife population dynamics, among other siting and operational challenges that will affect the wind industry in the near- and long-term.

Then, on Wednesday, March 21, at 8:30 AM CT, Ms. Wahlberg will begin the second day of the conference with a robust panel discussion on the current state of play with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s eagle permit program. It has been nearly a decade since the implementation of the Service’s initial rule creating the eagle permitting program, and it continues to  be a source of frustration and uncertainty for wind project development and operations.  To compound this frustration, it has been more than a  year since the rule was amended last and developers are still struggling to navigate the process and understand the implications for project development.  This panel will offer discussion on the implementation of the 2016 Eagle Rule and efforts to define a streamlined permit pathway for lower risk projects that can be secured at a cost and timeframe that is more in line with relative impacts.

We hope you can join Nossaman at this premiere wind energy conference that is sure to be covering critical regulatory aspects of wind energy siting and operations. To register, visit AWEA’s website.  We look forward to seeing you in Memphis for Wind Project Siting, and maybe some Elvis sitings as well!