VNF Articles
Listed below are articles by Van Ness Feldman's professionals that have appeared in outside publications.
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An Overview of the International Regime Addressing Climate Change
Sustainable Development Law and Policy Vol. VII, Issue 2Kyle Danish
American University Washington College of Law
2007
The current international climate change regime comprises a network of agreements and mechanisms. A high water mark in the evolution of this regime was the entry into force in February 2005 of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. However, the Kyoto Protocol will not be the final word on the issue. Its emission limits cover only a fraction of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and those limits expire in 2012. Kyle Danish contributed a chapter in the American University Washington College of Law, Sustainable Development Law and Policy Journal (Kelly Rain, Maria Vanko, eds.)
An inconvenient state?
This article first appeared in the October 2006 issue of Environmental Finance magazine.Doug Smith
October 1, 2006
California's Climate Change legislation marks a dramatic step forward in U.S. to tackle greenhouse gas emissions. Doug Smith considers its implications.
Wetlands & The Clean Water Act
Howard Bleichfeld, Sam Collinson, Chris MillsThe Water Report
February 15, 2006
The limits of federal jurisdiction are important to developers, irrigation districts, state and local governments, utilities and any other entity seeking to plan and build a project affecting wetlands. The wetlands permitting process under section 404 of the CWA is time consuming, expensive, and controversial. Once jurisdiction under the program is claimed, it is all too easy for the sponsor of a project to lose control over its timing and design. Moreover, application for a CWA section 404 permit often triggers extensive consultation with the US Fish and Wildlife Service under section 7 of the federal Endangered Species Act. In addition, because the Court’s decision will apply to the entire CWA, the jurisdiction of other programs also could be affected, including the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program under CWA section 402, and the Oil Pollution Act.
FERC's Authority to Impose Monetary Remedies for Federal Power Act and Natural Gas Act Violations: An Analysis
Brian ZimmetAdministrative Law Review
May 12, 2005
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the Commission) finds itself today exercising a role that is quite different from the one envisioned by Congress when the Commission was first established. Its predecessor, the Federal Power Commission (FPC), was established in the 1920s to license hydroelectric projects,1 and later given substantial authority under the Federal Power Act (FPA) and Natural Gas Act (NGA) to regulate rates, a role that it continues to play today.
LNG: FERC Asserts Control
CPUC Questioned Historic Oversight AuthorityJohn Burnes, Julie Richardson
Public Utilities Fortnightly
June 1, 2004
To guarantee the continued growth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) importation and use in the United States, the energy industry needs to pay close attention to govern the regulation, siting, and operation of LNG import terminals—issues traditionally overseen by the federal government. States may have a number of reasons for wanting to establish oversight authority over LNG import terminals, but these efforts, no matter how well intentioned, would have the impact of curtailing the development of LNG facilities at a time when the United States is in urgent need of new sources of natural gas.
Creating a New FERC Licensing Process
Mike Swiger, Megan GrantHydro Review
May 1, 2004
Using a stakeholder-based effort to reform the approach to hydropower licensing, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission created a new licensing process known as the ILP. Whether the new ILP process will, in fact, produce more expeditious and balanced relicensing outcomes is a story that will unfold over the next several years as many of the U.S.’s hydropower projects come up for relicensing.
Climate Change: The Heat Is On
Douglas W. Smith, Kyle W. DanishPublic Utilities Fortnightly
January 1, 2004
On the issue of global climate change, most utilities have devoted their attention to tracking developments in Washington, D.C., following the rising and falling fortunes of legislation that could result in federal greenhouse gas reporting or regulatory requirements. More and more, utilities are finding their inside-the-Beltway focus shaken by an array of outside-the-Beltway activities, ranging from state climate legislation to shareholder proxy actions and the threat of climate change tort suits.
Designing a Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reduction Program for the U.S.
Robert Nordhaus, Kyle DanishPew Center for Global Climate Change Report
May 1, 2003
The Pew Center asked report authors Robert Nordhaus of Van Ness Feldman, P.C., and George Washington University Law School, and Kyle Danish of Van Ness Feldman to examine options for designing a mandatory U.S. greenhouse gas reduction program. Three options are specifically evaluated: (1) cap-andtrade programs, (2) greenhouse gas taxes, and (3) a “sectoral hybrid” program that combines efficiency standards for automobiles and consumer products with a cap-and-trade program applicable to large sources of greenhouse gases. In addition to identifying design issues unique to each type of program, the authors evaluate the options according to the following criteria: environmental effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, administrative feasibility, distributional equity, and political acceptability.
Hydro Licensing Reform: A Comprehensive Look at the Proposals
Mike Swiger, Megan GrantHydro Review
March 1, 2003
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has begun a stakeholder-wide effort to reform the hydropower licensing process, incorporating proposals from government and industry groups, regulatory agencies, non-governmental organizations, and the public. This article outlines the various proposals FERC is considering, and offers insight about when action might be taken.
Buying and Selling Electric Power in the West
A Review of Key Elements of FERC's Standard Market Design ProposalDoug Smith
January 16, 2003
On July 31, 2002, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) on Standard Market Design (SMD). This ambitious rulemaking builds on FERC’s earlier open access transmission requirements adopted in Order No. 888, and its policy of promoting Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) adopted in Order No. 2000. In this NOPR, FERC proposes to (1) expand and significantly change its system of transmission service regulation; (2) provide a nationwide standard for the structure of electricity spot markets and for regulation of prices in those spot markets; and (3) extend its regulatory role into new areas, such as minimum reserve margins.
FERC Standard Market Design Implications for Public Power Generation
David YaffePresentation to APPA Legal Seminar
October 28, 2002
For those public power utilities not located in the Northeast or, to a lesser extent, in California, the focus of scrutiny concerning the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“FERC”) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) on Standard Market Design (“SMD”)1 has been on the change in the nature of a load serving entity’s transmission rights and the accompanying cost of service. SMD would institutionalize the disaggregation of vertically- integrated utilities by completely separating control and service over the transmission grid from the generation and distribution functions. This paper highlights some of the more important issues concerning the way in which a public power utility’s ownership and operation of its generation will change.
Designing a Climate-Friendly Energy Policy
Van Ness Feldman AttorneysPew Center for Global Climate Change Report
July 1, 2002
Energy use and climate change are inextricably linked. In the current national energy policy debate, choices made today will directly impact U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions far into the future. In addition, near-term energy policy decisions will affect the costs of implementing any future climate policy. This report contributes to the debate by examining a number of “climate-friendly” energy policy options for the near term—that is, policies that would advance U.S. energy policy goals during the next few decades while at the same time contributing to efforts to curb global warming.
Electricity regulation: How is federal policy changing?
Doug SmithTrends
July 1, 2002
Prior to the summer of 2000, the public paid scant attention to the often-arcane world of federal electric utility regulation. Over the past two years, however, the California electricity crisis, followed by the Enron bankruptcy, have made electricity regulation front page news. This article explores how these recent high-profile problems have affected the electricity policy agendas at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and in Congress.
A Five Point Plan for Expanding the Nation's Wetlands Base and Improving the Section 404 Program
Bob Szabo, Howard BleichffeldStone, Sand & Gravel Review
June 1, 2002
Among the many environmental issues faced by aggregate producers, the wetlands regulatory program under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act continues to be a difficult regulatory hurdle. NSSGA is a key member of The National Wetlands Coalition, which is a broad cross-section of state and national trade associations, business and agricultural interests, local governmental entities, Native American groups and others that have joined together to advocate a balanced federal policy for conserving and regulating the nation’s wetlands. The following is an outline of a proposed plan developed by the coalition.