An article co-authored by Rachel Jacobson and Matthew Ferraro, published by Law360.
Excerpt: On May 24, 2018, the House passed—and now the Senate is considering—the most important piece of energy and environmental legislation it will consider all year. It isn’t a revision to the Endangered Species Act or the Clean Water Act: It is the defense authorization bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act.
The U.S. Department of Defense is a major environmental player and, unbeknownst to many, the defense authorization bills are significant pieces of environmental policymaking. Moreover, in terms of sheer dollars, DOD appropriations for environmental, energy and natural resource activities dwarf those of other federal agencies that are typically associated with these issues.