Author: Wells Parker
Wells is a Partner and co-chair of Dorsey’s Energy and Natural Resources Industry Group. Wells focuses primarily on natural resources and renewable energy development. He represents a wide range of mining, oil & gas and renewable energy clients in acquisition, financing, development, permitting, infrastructure and economic development projects.
View Full Bio on Dorsey
For many mining and infrastructure projects in the United States, a primary cause of permitting uncertainty, expense, and delay is compliance with the environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). On January 10, 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) proposed comprehensive revisions to the regulations implementing the NEPA. 85 Fed. Reg....
One of the principal sources of uncertainty, expense, and delay in the permitting process for many mining and infrastructure projects in the United States, especially those generating public controversy, is compliance with the environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). On June 20, 2018, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued an...
Financial assurance and reclamation bond requirements can be a significant cost and regulatory burden for Canadian issuers with mining projects in the United States. Over the last several years, companies with U.S. mining projects have waited while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has considered expanding the financial responsibility requirements applicable to the hardrock mining...
One of the most difficult and costly aspects of developing mining projects in the United States is the permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Trump administration is currently undertaking a rulemaking process to examine and redefine the scope of the CWA. Companies with mining projects in the United States should consider participating...
Citing concerns over economic harm, President Trump has targeted his predecessor’s climate change agenda. He has sought reversal of a number of key Obama regulations, directives, and other actions, including the Clean Power Plan and the U.S. participation in the Paris accords. The overall blueprint for these actions is found in his March 2017 Executive...
The Trump administration recently issued a presidential permit to TransCanada to operate and construct the Keystone XL pipeline. The presidential permit grants permission to construct, connect, operate, and maintain the pipeline facilities at the international border between the United States and Canada, covering approximately 1.2 miles of pipeline. The remaining 1,200 miles of Keystone XL...
Anyone who has owned or operated a project involving public lands in the United States knows of the complex jigsaw puzzle of land ownership that defines the landscape of the United States. Jurisdictional governance is divided among Federal, state, Indian, and private ownership, resulting in regulatory tides to which natural resources, energy, and mining projects...
