brownsteinbak

bernhardt

xl pipeline NWP 12

ALEC

-=-=

COLO U 2025 BERNHARDT

into public service with the Department of the Interior? I'm curious about that. So, uh, absolutely no planning. Um, I, uh, I

11:06

went and worked at, um, a law firm called Brownstein Hyatt. It's at the time it was a pretty small law firm here

11:13

in DC, sorry, here in Denver.

---

an 8 25

Multiple people inside President Donald Trump's administration are already jumping ship after less than a year on the job and are securing highly lucrative jobs as lobbyists.

That's according to a Wednesday article by Politico's Caitlin Oprysko and Sophia Cai, who reported that high-profile lobbying firms are now scooping up several Trump administration staffers who have only been in the White House for a handful of months. Oprysko and Cai noted that the Washington D.C. "revolving door" between lobbying and government that Trump promised to bulldoze with his 2016 "drain the swamp" mantra remains alive and well given the announcement of the new hires.

"[B]arely a half-year into his second administration, a handful of senior White House aides are already heading for the exits — and right through the revolving door between the federal government and K Street, where they’re lining up cushy lobbying gigs," they wrote.

READ MORE:Trump 'in a tailspin': Answers demanded about 'remarkably close relationship' with Epstein

White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields is leaving the administration to join the Republican-run lobbying firm CGCN Group, after just seven months in his previous role. Fields was often quoted as a White House spokesperson in major media outlets, accusing NPR and PBS of "creating media to support a particular political party on the taxpayers' dime" in a May article for Axios and justifying Trump's attacks on large law firms for having allegedly "propelled one-sided justice by providing pro bono resources to those causes that make our nation more dangerous and less free" in a recent Wall Street Journal report.

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In addition to Fields' exit, Trent Morse — who is a deputy assistant to the president and the deputy director of the White House's Office of Presidential Personnel — is launching his own lobbying firm, while also teaming up with the powerhouse lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who worked alongside Morse at two other lobbying firms over the last decade, heaped praise on Morse as he made his exit, calling him "an important and integral part of the successes we’ve had."

Ivan Adler, who runs an executive hiring firm in Washington, told Politico that the early exits of senior Trump staffers was proof that so many lobbying clients are "looking for a sherpa for this administration, just because it’s so different," and that "people are taking advantage" of their knowledge by hiring them directly from the White House.

Federal law requires a year-long "cooling off" period from the time a former government worker leaves their position to when they can begin officially lobbying the West Wing and representing foreign entities, meaning that for Fields and Morse, their cooling off window will be longer than their actual time serving in the White House. However, they can begin lobbying Congress immediately.

READ MORE:'They said it's a felony': Police yank Dem lawmaker out of bathroom for speaking to media

Click here to read Politico's report in its entirety.

===

public citizen bern buddies

Key Bernhardt Clients and Employers

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck: Bernhardt was head of the natural resources practice at Brownstein Hyatt, a law and lobbying firm. The firm, founded in 1968 in Colorado, has deep ties to industry in the western U.S. and has become one of the largest lobbying firms in Washington. Founder Norman Brownstein is a major political donor and vice president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.  Bernhardt first worked as an associate at Brownstein Hyatt from 1998 to 2001 after leaving his first job in Congress. After ascending to the role of Interior Department’s solicitor, Bernhardt returned to Brownstein Hyatt as a shareholder in 2009. He has lobbied on development projects and environmental issues that involved the Bureau of Reclamation, the implementation of the Endangered Species Act, and energy and water regulations, all areas he has jurisdiction over as an official in the Interior Department. According to Bernhardt’s financial disclosure form, he earned $1.1 million working for Brownstein Hyatt in the 12 months prior to taking office.

Given the scale of Brownstein Hyatt’s work for clients with interests before the Interior Department, navigating conflicts has been a challenge. An analysis by the Western Values Project found that Brownstein Hyatt employees had at least 10 meetings with Interior Department officials after Bernhardt started at the agency as deputy secretary in 2017. In September 2018, Bernhardt canceled an appearance at a forum in Colorado on water issues due to potential conflict of interest concerns. The Washington Post reported that a water rights issue involving a Brownstein Hyatt client was to be on the agenda at the conference.

The Trump era has undeniably been a huge boon for Brownstein Hyatt,which for the first time was the top lobbying firm in D.C, as measured by revenue, in the second quarter of 2019, according to figures compiled by Politico. With second-quarter revenue of $10.1 million, Brownstein Hyatt edged out Akin Gump. (Akin Gump retook first place in the third quarter of 2019.) According to an analysis by the Center for Western Priorities,Brownstein’s lobbying revenues from the drilling, mining, water and gambling industries have risen more than 300 percent since Bernhardt’s nomination in April 2017. The analysis found that 36 Brownstein clients paid nearly $12 million to lobby Interior, and at least two dozen saw their projects or priorities advance.

One of Brownstein Hyatt’s clients , Rocky Mountain Resources , has proposed to expand a limestone mine  on federally owned land near Glenwood Springs, Colo. The former CEO of the mining company, Chad Brownstein, is the son of Norman Brownstein, chairman of Brownstein Hyatt. In January 2020, Chad Brownstein resigned from the mining firm, which is facing financial troubles, warning investors that an auditor found that the company might not be able to continue operations due to “limited liquidity and lack of revenues.” The Brownstein Hyatt lobbyists working for RMR, Jon Hrobsky and Luke Johnson, both worked at the Interior Department under President George W. Bush and worked as aides to Republicans on Capitol Hill. RMR paid Brownstein Hyatt $100,000 in lobbying fees for two quarters of work in 2019, according to lobbying records.

However, city leaders in Colorado oppose the project so strongly that the city has launched a public relations campaign to oppose the mine, saying it will harm tourism in the area. “Our concern is that there is going to be one of the largest mines in Colorado directly abutting our city,” Glenwood Springs Mayor Jonathan Godes told Politico. “And when you have a former lobbyist for one of the largest legal lobbying firms in the extractive industry running DOI … and Norm Brownstein the father of the CEO of Rocky Mountain Resources, it doesn’t take a huge leap of faith to say something ain’t right here.” Interior Department officials say Bernhardt is serious about compliance with ethics rules. An Interior Department spokesman told E&E News that “Secretary Bernhardt is and always has been committed to upholding his ethical responsibilities, and the allegation of undue influence or political favoritism is blatantly false and without merit.”...

In 2011 IER and AEA launched "Energy for America" as a joint initiative with a laser point in on fracking, with an aim to "educate" the public on the practice. In October 2011, AEA and IER, in partnership with Koch Industries' astroturf group Americans for Prosperity, started a "Energy for America" bus tour to encourage the expansion of domestic exploration of oil, gas and coal, targeting U.S. Senate battleground states for the upcoming 2012 elections.

Additionally, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck is one of the three chairs of the ALEC Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force. One of its clients is Freeport LNG,which owns and operates one of the first liquefied natural gas import terminals built in the United States. According to the law firm's website, "For the last nine years, Brownstein has been the lead counsel in the structuring, strategy and development of the $1.2 billion receiving and regasification facility with commercial output capacity of more than 2.0 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day."

https://www.citizen.org/article/third-conflict-of-interest-complaint-against-interior-secretary-david-bernhardt/

august 19, 2020

Heather Gottry

Designated Agency Ethics Official

U.S. Department of Interior

1849 C Street, NW, Mail Stop 7352

Washington, D.C.  20240

Dear Ms. Gottry:

On March 20, 2018, and again on February 12, 2019, Public Citizen wrote to your office expressing concern that David Bernhardt, now Secretary of Interior, worked on particular issues on behalf of specific parties as part of his previous occupation as an energy lobbyist that seem to pose serious conflicts of interest with his official duties. Public Citizen requested that your office investigate whether such conflicts of interest may present violations of paragraphs 6 and 7 of President Donald Trump’s ethics Executive Order No. 13770 and perhaps the conflict of interest code itself.

Both requests for an investigation went unanswered and so, presumably, were dismissed.

Last week, the independent Office of Inspector General for the Interior Department found that department staff deliberately withheld 253 pages of documents from the Senate and House Natural Resources Committees as well as the public that may have provided further insight into Bernhardt’s potential conflicts of interest.[[1]](https://www.citizen.org/article/third-conflict-of-interest-complaint-against-interior-secretary-david-bernhardt/#_ftn1)

 Following Bernhardt’s confirmation as Secretary of the Interior in April 2019, the department staff eventually released redacted versions of all but 38 pages of these documents. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, called for a criminal investigation as to whether Interior Department staff orchestrated a cover-up to protect Bernhardt during his confirmation hearing.[[2]](https://www.citizen.org/article/third-conflict-of-interest-complaint-against-interior-secretary-david-bernhardt/#_ftn2)

The withholding of these documents from congressional and public view may well have unduly influenced the confirmation of Bernhardt as Interior Secretary. In the same vein, if these documents were kept from your office, the withholding of pertinent information related to Bernhardt may also have unduly influenced the decision by the Interior Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO) notto carry through with an investigation of potential conflicts of interest.

In light of these recent revelations of withheld information regarding Bernhardt, Public Citizen requests that the ethics office of the Department of Interior scrutinize these recently-released documents and other relevant information and investigate whether David Bernhardt’s previous occupation as a lobbyist on energy affairs and other natural resources issues[[3]](https://www.citizen.org/article/third-conflict-of-interest-complaint-against-interior-secretary-david-bernhardt/#_ftn3) involves sufficient conflicts of interest to cause violations of paragraphs 6 and 7 of Trump’s ethics Executive Order or the conflict of interest code (18 U.S.C. §208).

Public Citizen’s previous complaints are attached on the .pdf.

Respectfully Submitted,

Craig Holman, Ph.D.

Government affairs lobbyist

Public Citizen

215 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE

Washington, D.C.  20003

(202) 454-5182

rev door 360?!

pension = rev dr lobby

two top environmental officials from the Trump administration are taking on new positions in Washington, it was announced Monday. 

Andrew Wheeler, the former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, is joining The Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank, as a visiting fellow.

David Bernhardt, the former Interior Secretary, is rejoining lobbying and law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, as senior counsel.

Spokesperson Lara Day said in an email that Bernhardt has “no intention” of lobbying the Interior Department or its agencies.

“David’s counsel, expertise and perspective will complement our teams and add immediate value to our clients,” Day said, adding that Monday was the Trump official’s first day on the job. “David will focus on big picture, strategic opportunities.”

Bernhardt’s page on the firm’s website says that he “assists client’s efforts to solve matters of federal administrative law,regulatory compliance, infrastructure siting, natural resources development, energy andgovernment investigations.”

The Heritage Foundation released a statement saying that Wheeler, in joining them as a visiting fellow, will advise on the economic and environmental impact of energy, climate change and environmental regulations.

“His service on Capitol Hill as well as in the private sector will help bolster our team’s expertise on a range of important policy issues. Andrew has proven in his career a commitment to protecting America’s natural resources while rejecting aggressive government regulation,” Heritage Foundation President Kay James said in a statement, referencing Wheeler’s prior employment, including his work for the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee.

While serving in the Trump administration, Wheeler :{spoke at some:(style="box-sizing:border-box"):}: Heritage Foundation events. 

“I am deeply honored to join this well-respected team as we work together to advance conservative values with policies that will benefit all Americans,” the former environment official said in a statement. 

Both Bernhardt and Wheeler are also among the Trump administration officials who have recently joined former Vice President Mike Pence’s conservative political group.

TAGS ANDREW WHEELERENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCYEPAHERITAGE FOUNDATIONINTERIOR DEPARTMENTMIKE PENCETRUMP OFFICIALS

note TC is name/branc change not typo in ct docs]

https://www.desmog.com/2020/05/03/keystone-xl-future-pipeline-permits/

no lnx doc FB

Big Oil Fears Keystone XL Ruling Means End of Easy Pipeline Permits

A ruling from a Montana judge could have far-reaching implications for a water-crossing permit frequently used by fossil fuel pipeline construction projects.

By Steve Horn on May 3, 2020

On April 15, Judge Brian Morris nullified water-crossing permits in Montana that were granted for the Keystone XL, a major setback for the long-embattled tar sands oil pipeline. The ruling came just days after Keystone XL owner TC Energy, formerly known as TransCanada, obtained billions of dollars in subsidies from the Alberta government as global oil prices plummeted.

The oil and gas industry has taken notice. Seemingly just a ruling on Keystone XL — the subject of opposition by the climate movement for the past decade — the ruling could have far broader implications for the future of building water-crossing pipelines and utility lines.

In his decision, Judge Morris cited a potential violation of the Endangered Species Act when he ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to do a deeper analysis of potential impacts to protected species. Morris required the Corps to demonstrate whether or not it could construct the pipeline without harming endangered species, such as the Pallid Sturgeon or the American burying beetle. Instead, the Army Corps “failed to consider relevant expert analysis and failed to articulate a rational connection between the facts it found and the choice it made,” Morris ruled, when the Corps gave Keystone XL the initial green light.

The original July 2019 complaint in that case — filed by Northern Plains Resource Council, Bold Alliance, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Center for Biological Diversity — also argued that the Army Corps had violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in using an obscure regulatory lever to fast-track the review process.

Known as Nationwide Permit 12, the permit only requires a short environmental analysis compared to the more robust environmental impact statement required under NEPA for other major infrastructure projects. But Morris also wrote that the decision applied not just to Keystone XL, but to all major federal projects aiming to utilize Nationwide Permit 12, calling for it to be “vacated pending completion of the consultation process and compliance with all environmental statutes and regulations.”

Just two days after this decision, Army Corps regulatory program Chief Jennifer Moyer wrote in an email obtained by the Associated Press that the agency should suspend the program indefinitely “out of an abundance of caution” until the issue is resolved legally.

The Trump administration has already requested a procedural halt on implementing Morris’ decision until its potential appeal weaves its way through the legal system.

“The Court has eliminated Nationwide Permit 12 for use by any utility line project anywhere in the country, which has extraordinary and immediate implications for numerous projects,” the U.S. Department of Justice attorneys wrote on behalf of the Army Corps.

The American Petroleum Institute (API), the lobbying and advocacy voice of the oil and gas industry, has also filed an affidavit in favor of putting a procedural halt to Morris’ ruling.

“The ability to provide reliable energy is even more important now during this sensitive and challenging time brought on by COVID-19,” Robin Rorick, Vice President of Midstream and Industry Operations for API, wrote in the affidavit. “The Court’s Order could threaten API’s members’ ability to continue numerous energy and infrastructure projects, affecting the health of numerous companies and job security in an already-strained economy.”

API also joined North America’s Building Trades Unions and Interstate Natural Gas Association of America in denouncing the ruling along similar lines.

‘Single and Complete’

Nationwide Permit 12 historically was used for small “single and complete” projects crossing water parcels half an acre in size or smaller.

But in the aftermath of protests and civil disobedience actions taken against Keystone XL, the Obama administration began using that permitting process to split pipelines into hundreds or thousands of half-acre pieces. The process was a way around the more robust and democratic National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulatory process, which involves both a public commenting and public hearing phase. Nationwide Permit 12 was also used to push through the Dakota Access pipeline, as well as the southern leg of the Keystone XL, both greenlighted by President Barack Obama.

During the Obama era, environmental groups decried this as a form of “segmentation” and a way out of complying with NEPA, which they routinely challenged in court with some success—though not enough to undo the legal lever. The bedrock environmental law is now under further attack by President Donald Trump, with the administration trying to remove climate change contribution as a factor analyzed under the law for major projects and aiming to narrow the scope of and time it takes to complete these environmental impact reviews.

Since March 2017, the Trump administration has utilized Nationwide Permit 12 over 37,000 times, the AP reported. As it stands today, the Army Corps’ decision to halt use of the Nationwide Permit 12 fast-track tool has put 360 permit applications on hold.

“The reason that matters is that the public and the communities and everybody that lives there has the chance to get involved in the process,” Eric Huber, Senior Managing Attorney with theSierra Club’s Environmental Law Program, told DeSmog. “Otherwise, these special permits just allow a pipeline company to go out and start construction without notice to anybody or to take private property and just proceed and blast this through regardless of how the local community thinks of it.”

External corporate attorneys, too, have taken notice and expressed their own concerns about the ruling.

“The decision puts in limbo thousands of infrastructure projects nationwide that rely on [Nationwide Permit] 12 for the construction, maintenance, or repair of utility lines and poses particularly acute problems for the oil and gas industry, which relies on the permit to facilitate projects ranging from large interstate pipelines to smaller gathering lines at exploration and production sites,” wrote attorneys from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, a firm with close ties to the Trump administration, in one such reaction to the ruling.

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck’s fossil fuel industry lobbying clients include the American Petroleum Institute, American Public Power Association, Freeport LNG, Talos Energy, Jordan Cove LNG, WPX Energy, and the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association.

Another firm heavily involved in fossil fuel industry litigation and lobbying, Steptoe & Johnson, also weighed in on the ruling and wrote that it could have the impact of “extending permitting time frames for these types of projects” going forward. The firm’s fossil fuel industry lobbying clients include American Gas Association, Gas Technology Institute, and Peabody Energy.

Permian Highway Pipeline in Texas

The legal precedent set in the Keystone XL case is already playing out in federal courts.

On April 30, the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas against the Army Corps of Engineers over another controversial pipeline. The complaint says the Army Corps did not comply with NEPA in issuing a Nationwide Permit 12 to the 428-mile Permian Highway gas pipeline. It also argues the agency is not currently in compliance with the order in the Keystone XL case because it has continued to allow pipeline construction under the contested Nationwide Permit 12 program.

“It is outrageous that the Corps approved this project without public notice or opportunity to comment on their permits,” Rebecca McCreary, a Sierra Club attorney, said of the Permian Highway pipeline in a press release.  “Nationwide Permit 12 allows for no public hearings or participation by the local communities before the Corps permits construction to start, nor is there public notice or comment on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permits allowing harm to the endangered species along the route. The Corps should stop this project immediately.”

Owned by Kinder Morgan, Permian Highway is a pipeline slated to carry gas obtained via hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in Texas’ Permian Basin east across the state. Kinder Morgan told DeSmog it was aware of the lawsuit, but declined to comment on it and the broader Nationwide Permit 12 issue.

:{

}:

Permian Highway has already seen issues with spills into water systems, with one late March incident spilling 36,000 gallons of drilling slurry — including a carcinogenic additive — into groundwater.

Responding, the Hays County Commissioners Court voted on April 22 to rescind road permits given by the Texas county to allow Kinder Morgan to drill underneath county roads as it builds the pipeline.And Kinder Morgan, too, has suspended construction on this portion of the pipeline as it “determines the best path forward” in the aftermath of the spill, the company told Houston Chronicle.

The City of Austin, City of San Marcos, Hays County, Travis County, and others also filed their own Endangered Species Act lawsuit in February, arguing that the pipeline could threaten protected Golden Cheeked Warblers, two salamander species, and their habitats.

Keystone XL Decision Looms

In the Keystone XL case in Montana, Morris recently denied the Army Corps a procedural stay in the case. TC Energy, for its part, wants the decision struck down as it applies both to its own pipeline and for the permitting program at large.

“If TC Energy does not receive authorization from the Army Corps by early July, its construction plans will be significantly impacted,” Gary Salsman, a TC Energy vice president for the Keystone XL project, wrote in his April 29 affidavit. “Currently, TC Energy is evaluating potential options that would be available to it in that circumstance, each of which have significant adverse consequences.”

Those “potential options,” Salsman wrote, include a potential construction delay across Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska; a change in construction plans this year to avoid the waters it is currently slated to cross that are impacted by the vacating of Nationwide Permit 12; or ending construction all together. He added that if construction does not begin in 2020, it could cost the company $750 million to $1.3 billion.

Morris could make a decision on how broadly his Nationwide Permit 12 decision applies as soon as May 8. Regardless of the outcome, Morris’ next move will likely face an appeal from either side.

https://www.desmogblog.com/2020/05/03/keystone-xl-future-pipeline-permits

On April 15, Judge Brian Morris nullified water-crossing permits in Montana that were granted for the Keystone XL, a major setback for the long-embattled tar sands oil pipeline. The ruling came just days after Keystone XL owner TC Energy, formerly known as TransCanada, obtained billions of dollars in subsidies from the Alberta government as global oil prices plummeted.

The oil and gas industry has taken notice. Seemingly just a ruling on Keystone XL — the subject of opposition by the climate movement for the past decade — the ruling could have far broader implications for the future of building water-crossing pipelines and utility lines.

In his decision, Judge Morris cited a potential violation of the Endangered Species Act when he ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to do a deeper analysis of potential impacts to protected species. Morris required the Corps to demonstrate whether or not it could construct the pipeline without harming endangered species, such as the Pallid Sturgeon or the American burying beetle. Instead, the Army Corps “failed to consider relevant expert analysis and failed to articulate a rational connection between the facts it found and the choice it made,” Morris ruled, when the Corps gave Keystone XL the initial green light.

The original July 2019 complaintin that case — filed by Northern Plains Resource Council, Bold Alliance, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Center for Biological Diversity — also argued that the Army Corps had violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in using an obscure regulatory lever to fast-track the review process.

Known as Nationwide Permit 12, the permit only requires a short environmental analysis compared to the more robust environmental impact statement required under NEPA for other major infrastructure projects. But Morris also wrote that the decision applied not just to Keystone XL, but to all major federal projects aiming to utilize Nationwide Permit 12, calling for it to be “vacated pending completion of the consultation process and compliance with all environmental statutes and regulations.”

Just two days after this decision, Army Corps regulatory program Chief Jennifer Moyer wrote in an email obtained by the Associated Press that the agency should suspend the program indefinitely “out of an abundance of caution” until the issue is resolved legally.

The Trump administration has already requested a procedural halt on implementing Morris’ decision until its potential appeal weaves its way through the legal system.

“The Court has eliminated Nationwide Permit 12 for use by any utility line project anywhere in the country, which has extraordinary and immediate implications for numerous projects,” the U.S. Department of Justice attorneys wrote on behalf of the Army Corps.

The American Petroleum Institute (API), the lobbying and advocacy voice of the oil and gas industry, has also filed an affidavit in favor of putting a procedural halt to Morris’ ruling.

“The ability to provide reliable energy is even more important now during this sensitive and challenging time brought on by COVID-19,” Robin Rorick, Vice President of Midstream and Industry Operations for API, wrote in the affidavit. “The Court’s Order could threaten API’s members’ ability to continue numerous energy and infrastructure projects, affecting the health of numerous companies and job security in an already-strained economy.”

API also joined North America’s Building Trades Unions and Interstate Natural Gas Association of America in denouncing the ruling along similar lines.

'Single and Complete'

Nationwide Permit 12 historically was used for small “single and complete” projects crossing water parcels half an acre in size or smaller.

But in the aftermath of protests and civil disobedience actions taken against Keystone XL, the Obama administration began using that permitting process to split pipelines into hundreds or thousands of half-acre pieces. The process was a way around the more robust and democratic National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulatory process, which involves both a public commenting and public hearing phase. Nationwide Permit 12 was also used to push through the Dakota Access pipeline, as well as the southern leg of the Keystone XL, both greenlighted by President Barack Obama.

During the Obama era, environmental groups decried this as a form of “segmentation” and a way out of complying with NEPA, which they routinely challeneged in court with some success—though not enough to undo the legal lever. The bedrock environmental law is now under further attack by President Donald Trump, with the administration trying to remove climate change contribution as a factor analyzed under the law for major projects and aiming to narrow the scope of and time it takes to complete these environmental impact reviews.

[vid]

Since March 2017, the Trump administration has utilized Nationwide Permit 12 over 37,000 times, the AP reported. As it stands today, the Army Corps’ decision to halt use of the Nationwide Permit 12 fast-track tool has put 360 permit applications on hold.

“The reason that matters is that the public and the communities and everybody that lives there has the chance to get involved in the process,” Eric Huber, Senior Managing Attorney with the Sierra Club's Environmental Law Program, told DeSmog. “Otherwise, these special permits just allow a pipeline company to go out and start construction without notice to anybody or to take private property and just proceed and blast this through regardless of how the local community thinks of it.”

External corporate attorneys, too, have taken notice and expressed their own concerns about the ruling.

“The decision puts in limbo thousands of infrastructure projects nationwide that rely on [Nationwide Permit] 12 for the construction, maintenance, or repair of utility lines and poses particularly acute problems for the oil and gas industry, which relies on the permit to facilitate projects ranging from large interstate pipelines to smaller gathering lines at exploration and production sites,” wrote attorneys fromBrownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, a firm with close ties to the Trump administration, in one such reaction to the ruling.

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck’s fossil fuel industry lobbying clients include the American Petroleum Institute, American Public Power Association, Freeport LNG, Talos Energy, Jordan Cove LNG, WPX Energy, and the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association.

Another firm heavily involved in fossil fuel industry litigation and lobbying,Steptoe & Johnson, also weighed in on the ruling and wrote that it could have the impact of “extending permitting time frames for these types of projects” going forward. The firm’s fossil fuel industry lobbying clients include American Gas Association, Gas Technology Institute, and Peabody Energy.

Permian Highway Pipeline in Texas

The legal precedent set in the Keystone XL case is already playing out in federal courts.

On April 30, the Sierra Club filed a lawsuitin the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas against the Army Corps of Engineers over another controversial pipeline. The complaint says the Army Corps did not comply with NEPA in issuing a Nationwide Permit 12 to the 428-mile Permian Highway gas pipeline. It also argues the agency is not currently in compliance with the order in the Keystone XL case because it has continued to allow pipeline construction under the contested Nationwide Permit 12 program.

“It is outrageous that the Corps approved this project without public notice or opportunity to comment on their permits,” Rebecca McCreary, a Sierra Club attorney, said of the Permian Highway pipeline in a press release.  “Nationwide Permit 12 allows for no public hearings or participation by the local communities before the Corps permits construction to start, nor is there public notice or comment on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permits allowing harm to the endangered species along the route. The Corps should stop this project immediately.”

Owned by Kinder Morgan, Permian Highway is a pipeline slated to carry gas obtained via hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in Texas’ Permian Basin east across the state. Kinder Morgan told DeSmog it was aware of the lawsuit, but declined to comment on it and the broader Nationwide Permit 12 issue.

Permian Highway has already seen issues with spills into water systems, with one late March incident spilling 36,000 gallons of drilling slurry — including a carcinogenic additive — into groundwater.

[twt]

Responding, the Hays County Commissioners Court voted on April 22 to rescind road permits given by the Texas county to allow Kinder Morgan to drill underneath county roads as it builds the pipeline. And Kinder Morgan, too, has suspended construction on this portion of the pipeline as it “determines the best path forward” in the aftermath of the spill, the company told Houston Chronicle.

The City of Austin, City of San Marcos, Hays County, Travis County, and others also filed their own Endangered Species Act lawsuit in February,arguing that the pipeline could threaten protected Golden Cheeked Warblers, two salamander species, and their habitats.

Keystone XL Decision Looms

In the Keystone XL case in Montana, Morris recently deniedthe Army Corps a procedural stay in the case. TC Energy, for its part, wants the decision struck down as it applies both to its own pipeline and for the permitting program at large.

“If TC Energy does not receive authorization from the Army Corps by early July, its construction plans will be significantly impacted,” Gary Salsman, a TC Energy vice president for the Keystone XL project, wrote in his April 29 affidavit. “Currently, TC Energy is evaluating potential options that would be available to it in that circumstance, each of which have significant adverse consequences.”

Those “potential options,” Salsman wrote, include a potential construction delay across Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska; a change in construction plans this year to avoid the waters it is currently slated to cross that are impacted by the vacating of Nationwide Permit 12; or ending construction all together. He added that if construction does not begin in 2020, it could cost the company $750 million to $1.3 billion.

Morris could make a decision on how broadly his Nationwide Permit 12 decision applies as soon as May 8. Regardless of the outcome, Morris' next move will likely face an appeal from either side.

TAGS:

Permian Highway Pipeline

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Kinder Morgan

Army Corps of Engineers

American Petroleum Institute

Sierra Club

Keystone XL

Permian Basin

oil sands

tar sands

Nationwide Permit 12

Brian Morris

TC Energy

TransCanada

Trump Administration

Obama administration

National Environmental Policy Act

Clean Water Act

endangered species act

https://yyy.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/20/david-bernhardt-interior-secretary-ethics-jordan-cove

no lnx many

Revealed: emails raise ethical questions over Trump official's role in gas project

This article is more than 5 months old

Documents obtained by the Guardian suggest interior secretary is promoting effort tied to his former firm

Will Parrish

@willparrishca

Wed 21 Aug 2019

David Bernhardt, seen in January, formerly worked for the lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt, which has promoted the project.

David Bernhardt, seen in January, formerly worked for the lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt, which has promoted the project. Photograph: Joshua Roberts/Reuters

The US interior secretary, David Bernhardt, is promoting a fossil fuel project for which his former employer, a lobbying firm, is a paid advocate, e-mails obtained by the Guardian suggest.

Experts say Bernhardt is probably violating ethics guidelines issued by the Trump administration with the stated goal of “draining the swamp”. Based on these rules, Bernhardt should be recused from specific issues involving a former client for at least two years.

The Jordan Cove Energy Project was proposed by the Canadian energy giant Pembina to transport fracked natural gas through Oregon to the international port at Coos Bay in the state. It would include a new 232-mile pipeline that passes through several dozen miles of interior department land.

Several county commissioners from Colorado, where much of the gas is fracked, met with Bernhardt in Washington DC to boost the project in March. They included Mike Samson, Bernhardt’s former high school teacher.

“Awesome time in DC he is totally behind the project and has people working on it towards completion,” Samson wrote concerning Bernhardt in a 7 March email to Ray Bucheger, a Jordan Cove lobbyist with the firm FBB Federal Relations. “He recognizes that time is of the essence and that meaningful progress needs to [be] made this year.”

A screenshot from the email.

A separate text message also shows that Bucheger had hosted the county commissioners at a dinner the night before the meeting and had asked Samson to report to him what Bernhardt said about Jordan Cove.

Bernhardt represented oil companies and agribusiness interests at the Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck lobbying firm before joining the Trump administration in August 2017. Brownstein Hyatt has worked to promote the Jordan Cove project since December 2018, federal records show.

[New records put Trump's interior chief under fresh scrutiny over casino row

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Delaney Marsco, legal council at the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center, says that if Samson’s e-mailed description of the meeting is accurate, Berhnardt probably violated the ethics commitment.

“The ethics pledge barred Bernhardt from participating in a particular matter where his former employer represents a party to the matter,” Marsco said. “Bernhardt therefore should not have participated in activities surrounding approvals or permits for this project, and he should have taken care to not even appear as though he was personally involved.”

In an emailed statement to the Guardian, an interior department spokesperson, Nick Goodwin, wrote: “Secretary Bernhardt is and always has been committed to upholding his ethical responsibilities. He takes his ethics pledge very seriously. He seeks advice from career ethics officials before taking any meeting involving external parties and strictly follows their advice and guidance. The meeting with officials from Garfield and Moffat Counties was approved by the Departmental Ethics Office.”

Samson, the Garfield county commissioner, did not immediately return requests for comment.

Bernhardt is already under fire for possible ethics violations during his prior stint as assistant interior secretary under Ryan Zinke. The interior department’s inspector general is conducting an ethics investigation of him, which focuses on his role in weakening protections for California’s delta smelt – a policy change that would directly benefit one of his former clients, Westlands Water District.

During his interior department tenure, Bernhardt has been an architect of some of the agency’s most controversial and consequential decisions, including stripping wildlife protections and leasing large swaths of public lands to oil and gas companies.

Jordan Cove is a major priority of western oil and gas interests, since it would probably lead to expanded drilling in three major gas fields: the Jonah Field in Wyoming, the Piceance Basin in Colorado, and the Uintah Basin in northern Utah. It has faced strident opposition from indigenous people, environmentalists, and landowners concerned about climate change, impacts on waterways, and the use of eminent domain to seize land.

An entry in a federal official’s calendar shows that Brownstein Hyatt has specifically lobbied the interior department in regard to the Jordan Cove project. In a telltale sign that industry pressure on the Bureau of Land Management may be working, a BLM web page touts the benefits of the pipeline, even though the agency has not officially ruled on it.

Spokespeople for the US House natural resources committee, which helps oversee the interior department, did not respond to requests for comment.

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https://yyy.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/20/david-bernhardt-interior-secretary-ethics-jordan-cove

revealed: emails raise ethical questions over Trump official's role in gas project

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Documents obtained by the Guardian suggest interior secretary is promoting effort tied to his former firm

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Wed 21 Aug 2019 01.00 EDTLast modified on Fri 1 Nov 2019 12.47 EDT

David Bernhardt, seen in January, formerly worked for the lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt, which has promoted the project.

The US interior secretary, David Bernhardt, is promoting a fossil fuel project for which his former employer, a lobbying firm, is a paid advocate, e-mails obtained by the Guardian suggest.

Experts say Bernhardt is probably violating ethics guidelines issued by the Trump administration with the stated goal of “draining the swamp”. Based on these rules, Bernhardt should be recused from specific issues involving a former client for at least two years.

The Jordan Cove Energy Project was proposed by the Canadian energy giant Pembinato transport fracked natural gas through Oregon to the international port at Coos Bay in the state. It would include a new 232-mile pipeline that passes through several dozen miles of interior department land.

Several county commissioners from Colorado, where much of the gas is fracked, met with Bernhardt in Washington DC to boost the project in March. They included Mike Samson, Bernhardt’s former high school teacher.

“Awesome time in DC he is totally behind the project and has people working on it towards completion,” Samson wrote concerning Bernhardt in a 7 March email to Ray Bucheger, a Jordan Cove lobbyist with the firm FBB Federal Relations. “He recognizes that time is of the essence and that meaningful progress needs to [be] made this year.”

A screenshot from the email.

A screenshot from the email.

A separate text message also shows that Bucheger had hosted the county commissioners at a dinner the night before the meeting and had asked Samson to report to him what Bernhardt said about Jordan Cove.

Bernhardt represented oil companies and agribusiness interests at the Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck lobbying firm before joining the Trump administration in August 2017. Brownstein Hyatt has worked to promote the Jordan Cove project since December 2018, federal records show.

New records put Trump's interior chief under fresh scrutiny over casino row

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Delaney Marsco, legal council at the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center, says that if Samson’s e-mailed description of the meeting is accurate, Berhnardt probably violated the ethics commitment.

“The ethics pledge barred Bernhardt from participating in a particular matter where his former employer represents a party to the matter,” Marsco said. “Bernhardt therefore should not have participated in activities surrounding approvals or permits for this project, and he should have taken care to not even appear as though he was personally involved.”

In an emailed statement to the Guardian, an interior department spokesperson, Nick Goodwin, wrote: “Secretary Bernhardt is and always has been committed to upholding his ethical responsibilities. He takes his ethics pledge very seriously. He seeks advice from career ethics officials before taking any meeting involving external parties and strictly follows their advice and guidance. The meeting with officials from Garfield and Moffat Counties was approved by the Departmental Ethics Office.”

Samson, the Garfield county commissioner, did not immediately return requests for comment.

Bernhardt is already under fire for possible ethics violations during his prior stint as assistant interior secretary under Ryan Zinke. The interior department’s inspector general is conducting an ethics investigation of him, which focuses on his role in weakening protections for California’s delta smelt – a policy change that would directly benefit one of his former clients, Westlands Water District.

During his interior department tenure, Bernhardt has been an architect of some of the agency’s most controversial and consequential decisions, including stripping wildlife protections and leasing large swaths of public lands to oil and gas companies.

Jordan Cove is a major priority of western oil and gas interests, since it would probably lead to expanded drilling in three major gas fields: the Jonah Field in Wyoming, the Piceance Basin in Colorado, and the Uintah Basin in northern Utah. It has faced strident opposition from indigenous people, environmentalists, and landowners concerned about climate change, impacts on waterways, and the use of eminent domain to seize land.

An entry in a federal official’s calendar shows that Brownstein Hyatt has specifically lobbied the interior department in regard to the Jordan Cove project.In a telltale sign that industry pressure on the Bureau of Land Management may be working, a BLM web page touts the benefits of the pipeline, even though the agency has not officially ruled on it.

Spokespeople for the US House natural resources committee, which helps oversee the interior department, did not respond to requests for comment.

==

https://www.outsideonline.com/2390596/david-bernhardt-scandal-tracker

The David Bernhardt Scandal Tracker

An official investigation into ethics violations by Trump's new Secretary of the Interior was opened just four days after his confirmation

Just when you thought Ryan Zinke’s resignation would be the end of rampant corruption scandals at the Department of the Interior, along comes his former deputy David Bernhardt. Just four days after the extraction and agriculture lobbyist was confirmed, the department's internal watchdog opened an investigation into his alleged ethics violations. By our count, he's already involved in at least 17 different scandals.

Justlike we did for his former boss, we plan to keep this scandal tracker up-to-date by adding, subtracting, or elaborating on each scandal as it develops.

The notecard Bernhardt has to carry around to remind him of all his ethics recusals, and their expiry dates.(Western Values Project)

Many of Bernhardt’s scandals are related in one way or another to his work lobbying for the extraction and agriculture industries, which he did up until he joined the DOI in 2017. Famously, Bernhardt carried around the note card pictured above to remind him of all the various conflicts of interest his former career created, as well as the dates when those conflicts legally expire. That he may have worked in the interest of his former clients before those dates is the central thrust of Bernhardt’s scandals, in addition to simple mismanagement and neglect of the 500 million acres of public land and 70,000 employees he’s responsible for.

The Senate voted to confirm Bernhardt's nomination on April 11. "Ryan Zinke left office in disgrace amid a self-generated ethical hurricane," said Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore) in a statement on the confirmation. "Rather than taking an opportunity to restore public trust and integrity to the office of the Secretary, the Senate just confirmed an Interior Secretary who could quite possibly face immediate investigations of his own. The ethical storm clouds are already gathering, and I fear a Bernhardt typhoon may be on its way."

The Fourth Day Investigation

On 15 April, the Department of the Interior's Inspector General initiated an investigation into matters including allegations that Bernhardt improperly worked in the interst of former lobbying clients, created policy to benefit those clients, and that he intervened on behalf of those former clients to block a scientific report. In a letter to the Senate,Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall wrote that her department was investigating seven different scandals, without detailing the specific nature of each.

One Tiny Fish

As a lobbyist, Bernhardt spent years fighting for the rollback of Endangered Species Act protections for the Delta Smelt on behalf of Westlands Water District, a large agricultural interest that holds water rights in California’s Central Valley. As Deputy Secretary of the Interior, Bernhardt "has been finishing the job,” the *New York Time*s reports.

Why you should care: What may sound like a trivial issue could actually have enormous repercussions. Reducing protections for the smelt would jeopardize the health of the entire San Francisco Bay Delta, imperiling dozens of species of fish and the birds and sea mammals that feed on them. Diverting the delta’s water to industrial agriculture could also lead to toxic algae blooms, compounding the environmental devastation and harming commercial fishing in the region.

The Western Values Project has begun a petition calling for Congress to investigate the issue.

On April 3, DOI's inspector general initiated a review of these allegations, which could lead to a full investigation.

On April 4, an investigation by The New York Times revealed documents that show Bernhardt continued lobbying for Westlands through March, 2017. He'd previously testified to Congress that he'd halted that lobbying in November, 2016. This exposes Bernhardt to both ethics violations, and a felony charge for lying to Congress under oath.

On April 5, the House Natural Resources Comittee initiated an "inquiry" seeking all documentation Westlands has related to Bernhardt's work for the water district.

On April 8, Senator Ron Wyden (D.-Ore) called forthe U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia to "Thoroughly investigate potential civil and criminal violations of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA) by Department of the Interior Secretary nominee David Bernhardt, as well as his former lobbying firmBrownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck."

A Calendar Without Names

More than 150 entries in Bernhardt’s official calendar fail to list the identities of persons or companies he was meeting with. Given Bernhardt’s numerous conflicts of interest, this is problematic for Congressional oversight, and the House Natural Resources Committee is demanding he fill in the gaps.

Why you should care: Intentionally omitting details of his work is illegal, and could have been an attempt to cover up illegal actions.

On March 27, The Washington Post reported that Bernhardt's staff were actively engaged in ongoing efforts to remove specifics on who he was meeting with from his official calendar as the meetings happened.

On April 8, the DOI released 439 pages of previously undisclosed entries from Bernhardt's calendar. CNN reports that new details in those entries reveal that Bernhard may have attempted to cover up multiple meetings with former lobbying clients.

Earning Money for His Former Lobbying Firm

A former client of Bernhardt's began paying his former lobbying firm a $10,000-a-month bonus shortly after he was appointed Deputy Secretary. Why? Allegedly they were just that impressed by Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP’s newfound access to the department.

Why you should care: This seems like a pretty cut-and-dried case of paying for access.

On April 3, a Washington Post investigation revealed that Bernhardt's former firm has quadrupled its business lobbying DOI since his appointment as Deputy Secretrary.

Lying About Lobbying

According to an investigation published by Global Witness on March 26, Bernhardt may have lied to Congress during testimony for his Deputy Secretary confirmation in 2017 about his work lobbying for Russian oligarch Leonard Blavatnik.

"In 2017, Bernhardt changed his lobbying records to remove his lobbying work for Access Industries – Blavatnik’s company – one week after Blavatnik’s $1 million Inaugural donation to Trump became public," states Global Witness. "This change came two days before Trump officially nominated Bernhardt to be Deputy Secretary of Interior."

Why you should care: Lying to Congress is a felony.

Suppressing Science

According to a March 26 report in the New York Times, Bernhardt "blocked the release," of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report that determined two widely used pesticides threaten the lives of more than 1,200 endangered species nationwide. Bernhardt then implemented a new, much narrower standard for determining the risks pesticides pose, which was heavily lobbied for by pesticide makers. The move came shortly after the maker of one of those pesticides donated $1 million to Trump's innauguration.

On March 29, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote the Interior's Inspector General, requesting that she investigatewhether or not Bernhardt improperly interfered with scientific process. This could lead to an assessment that Bernhardt lied to Congress under oath during his confirmation hearing, which is a felony.

Why you should care: According to the Times, this is, "A case study of how the Trump administration has been using its power to second-guess or push aside conclusions reached by career professionals, particularly in the area of public health and the environment."[cnn twt] On March 5, a bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote to Bernhardt expressing concern that alterations he's making to DOI's Freedom of Information Act procedures amount to an attempt to suppress the department's transparency.

Why you should care: FOIA is the public's mechanism for peering inside the federal government's decision making process.

A Dam California Doesn't Want

On March 5, news broke that Bernhardt is trying to push forward construction of the Shasta Dam project in northern California, despite opposition from the state government and a state law prohibitting its construction. The project doesn't seem to have a whole lot of purpose, beyond benefitting Bernhardt's former client Westlands Water District. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal have written to DOI ethics officials demanding investigation.

Why you should care: Dams cause massive harm up and down a river's ecosystem, and even carry far-away impacts like ocean beach errosion. Pushing the project forward against state law could be overreach for the federal agency, and if it's being done for corrupt purposes, then all this is just even more troubling.

A "Useless and Environmentally Damaging Water Project"

New to this list on March 5 are claims that Interior withdrew legal rulings preventing a former client of Bernhardt's old lobbying firm from developing a water storage facility in the Mojave Desert. The client,Cadiz Inc, paid Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP $2.75 million and granted it 200,000 shares of its stock while Bernhardt worked there.Now with one of his former Brownstein colleagues serving as Cadiz CEO, Interior ruled in the firm's favor shortly after Bernhardt's confirmation as deputy secretary. The project appears to be almost entirely a boondoggle, with no public benefit but potentially massive environmental repurcussions.

Why you should care: This appears to be a classic example of public funds being diverted to private profit, and at enormous cost to public resources (in this case, water).

Closed Government, Open Parks

During the 35-day government shutdown, the DOI ordered national parks to remain open, staffed by only a skeleton crew of law enforcement officers. This left many of our country’s most famous parks overrun by unsupervised visitors, who didn’t have access to essential services like toilets. The damage all that caused has not yet been calculated, but will likely add massively to the National Park Service’s already overwhelming $11.6-billion maintenance backlog. Some of the harm done to the fragile ecosystems in the parks could take generations to undo. No public explanation has been attempted for the decision, which occurred as management of DOI transferred from Zinke to Bernhardt.

March 5, 2019 update: According to materials obtained by The Hill, Bernhardt authorized funds in excess of $250 million to cover staffing during the shutdown, a move that potentially violated the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, The National Park Service Organic Act, and the Antideficiency Act.

Why you should care: Parks were closed during previous shutdowns; this decision appears to have been a misjudged attempt to manage public opinion around the shutdown. It added to the multi-billion maintenance backlog at a time when no solutions to that funding shortfall are even being proposed. The health of our parks should not be a political football.

Diverting Park Entry Fees to Cover Costs

As it became apparent how damaging the shutdown was turning out to be for the national parks, Bernhardt ordered them to divert fundsfrom previously-collected entry fees in order to pay for things like trash clearing and toilet maintenance. The order authorized parks to take these accounts down to $0, which, according to retired Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, would have left the department unable to pay its fee collectors when the shutdown ended. It also turns out that under federal law, the order was illegal, and it was soon reversed.

Why you should care: If you need an indication of where Bernhardt’s priorities lie, this is it. During the shutdown he devoted himself to serving the oil and gas industries (see below), while mismanaging and neglecting national parks.

Rushing ANWR Drilling Review Through During Shutdown

While everyone was up in arms about national parks remaining open during the shutdown, Bernhardt used the chaos as a smokescreen to rush through a public comment periodfrom local communities on drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. Notice of hearings was sent out only a day or two in advance, which effectively suppressed public comment in a state that’s both vast and currently in the dead of winter, where even local communities needed to travel in order to attend the hearings.

Why you should care: Drilling in one of our country’s last unspoiled wildernesses enjoys virtually no public support and is being pushed through solely to benefit the extraction industry. This continues a pattern of the Trump administration’s DOI suppressing or ignoring the public’s opinion.

Keeping Oil Permitting Staff Operating During Shutdown

While parks suffered, Bernhardt diverted department resources to the Bureau of Land Management, where 800 staff remained on duty, specifically tasked with processing new oil and gas permits.

Western Priorities reports that at least 73 of the 100 oil and gas permits processed during the shutdown were for companies with ties to Bernhardt.

Why you should care:Taxpayer funds were used in benefit of private industry while taxpayer services were neglected.

That Halliburton Real Estate Deal

One of the scandals that drove Ryan Zinke from office was a real estate deal with the chairman of Halliburton. As a lobbyist, Bernhardt represented Halliburton. It’s not clear if Bernhardt had knowledge of the deal or ofZinke’s meetings at DOI headquarters about it, but he likely did have knowledge of the department’s contemporaneous work rescinding fracking regulations to the benefit of the corporation.

Why you should care: It seems as if Zinke may have sought to profit from a relationship with a company he was tasked with regulating. This conflict of interest may be continuing with Bernhardt.

Vindictively Re-Assigning Employees

As deputy secretary, Bernhardt chaired the DOI board that allegedly re-assigned employees to roles outside their areas of expertise in an attempt to punish public servants Zinke didn’t consider “loyal.”

Why you should care: Career government employees work in your interest and are supposed to be able to do so free of hyper-partisan politics.

Corrupt Casinos

In 2017, DOI refused to rule on plans for a tribal casino in Connecticut, effectively preventing its construction. The move benefited corporate giant MGM Resorts International, which is a client of Bernhardt’s old lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP.

Why you should care: It’s the old story of little guy versus massive corporations with potentially illegal influence over our government.

Prioritizing Former Clients Over Sage Grouse

Shortly after he was appointed deputy secretary, Bernhardt was tasked with overseeing a review of sage grouse management plans. That’s a whole can of worms that I won’t explore here, but the short version is that plan provided environmental protections across vast swaths of the American West. Bernhardt issued instructional memorandums to six states that de-prioritized grouse habitat, work that earned him a thank you letterfrom former lobbying client.

On March 27, the Western Watersheds Project, Wildlife Guardians, Prairie Hills Audubon Society, and Center for Biological Diversity initiated a lawsuit against Bernhardt and the Bureau of Land Management over the revised management plan, arguing that it suppresses science and violates federal law in order to benefit extraction industries.

Why you should care: Well, you should care about the sage grouse management plan, which is a grand compromise between stake holders as diverse as oil companies and hunting groups that took years to hammer out and works in everyone’s interest. Or at least it did, before Bernhardt got to it. Failing that, this is yet another example of Bernhardt potentially working in the interest of former lobbying clients.

Eni Petroleum’s “Christmas Present”

Eni Petroluem is one of the companies on Bernhardt’s ethics recusal, yet soon after he was appointed deputy secretary, it also became the first company to be approved for a drilling permit in Arctic waters since 2015. If you think that’s bad, DOI then tasked two employees with working over the Christmas holiday to finish approvals of that permit. A DOI spokesperson then referred to that as “a Christmas present,” to Eni.

Why you should care:Oil companies probably shouldn’t mistake the Secretary of the Interior for Santa Claus.

#2 firm lobbyist?

https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=D000000724

Summary, 2018

Total Lobbying Income: $30,950,000

Groups That Have Retained Brownstein, Hyatt et al:| Client | Total | Subsidiary (Lobbied For) | Industry |

2016

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