Environmental

Expert Analysis

• Okla.'s New Facility Audit Law Offers Limited Protections

  

  Oklahoma's new Environmental, Health and Safety Audit Privilege Act is designed to encourage voluntary compliance with environmental and occupational health and safety laws, but businesses should understand the limited scope of the immunity and privilege it offers, say Ashlyn Smith and Jake Krattiger of GableGotwals.

• Removing Reopeners May Speed Up Superfund Settlements

  

  Reopener provisions in natural resource damages settlements under the federal Superfund law are meant to protect the public from post-settlement discoveries, but by undermining the corporate desire for finality in managing liabilities, they make settlements harder to reach, say Amanda Halter and Ashleigh Acevedo of Pillsbury.

• The Force (Majeure) May Be With ND Oil And Gas Lessees

  

  The North Dakota Supreme Court's recent ruling in Pennington v. Continental Resources, applying force majeure to both primary and secondary oil and gas lease terms, is good news for lessees, as courts in other states have disagreed on this issue in recent years, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

• How To Hire Lateral Partners More Effectively

  

  Although lateral partner hiring is the preferred method of inorganic growth among law firms, the traditional approach to vetting does not employ sufficient due diligence by the hiring firm, says Michael Ellenhorn at executive search firm Decipher Competitive Intelligence.

• France Pollution Verdict Increases Business Litigation Risk

  

  The European Court of Justice's recent ruling against France for excessive carbon dioxide pollution shows that European authorities will strictly interpret environmental legislation, which could invite increased litigation against businesses, says Sylvie Gallage-Alwis of Signature Litigation.

• State Net

  Wildfire Responses Resonate Beyond California

  

  Firefighting practices are often shared between states, so what California does, or doesn't do, to prevent and combat wildfires has impacts beyond its borders. One lesson learned this year is that power shutoffs to prevent fires cause more problems than they solve, says Lou Cannon of State Net Capitol Journal.

• Justices' Maui Ruling Could Change Groundwater Permitting

  

  Oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund raise the possibility that the national permitting system for discharging wastewater into the ground will need to be retrofitted, says Marcia Greenblatt of Integral Consulting.

• Engaging With International Carcinogen Evaluations

  

  Defense-oriented attorneys and corporations should be aware of the International Agency for Research on Cancer's list of chemicals, pharmaceuticals and other exposures slated for review over the next five years, and begin preparing for eventual hazard evaluations by IARC working groups, say Eric Lasker and John Kalas of Hollingsworth.

• 4 Months After Kisor V. Wilkie, Auer Deference Survives

  

  Recent federal appellate and district court rulings suggest that the predicted radical curtailing of Auer deference in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Kisor v. Wilkie has not come to fruition, say Jeffrey Karp and Edward Mahaffey at Sullivan & Worcester.

• Wis. PFAS Proposals Present Challenges For Businesses

  

  Businesses with a presence in Wisconsin should be aware of the state's proposals for regulating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — in particular, its plans to set extremely low allowable levels of PFAS in drinking water, say George Marek and Lauren Harpke of Quarles & Brady.

• FERC Orders Advance Grid Operators' Energy Storage Plans

  

  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently approved two regional transmission organizations' energy storage proposals. But full integration of storage resources into the wholesale market will be complex — and ongoing litigation could force FERC to change its approach, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

• Texas Could Take Page From Mass.'s Judicial Selection Book

  

  As Texas and other states review their judicial election processes, they would be well served by taking guidance from Massachusetts' Governor’s Council system, which protects the judiciary from the hazards of campaigning, says Richard Baker of New England Intellectual Property.

• Series

  Judging A Book: McKeown Reviews 'Conversations With RBG'

  

  Reading Jeffrey Rosen’s "Conversations With RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law" is like eavesdropping on the author and his subject while they discuss how the restrained judicial minimalist became the fiery leader of the opposition, says Ninth Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown.

• Justices Seek Balance In Clean Water Act Case Arguments

  

  In last week’s U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, justices searched for a standard for controlling indirect discharges to navigable waters that could prevent evasion of water quality protections without significantly expanding federal permitting requirements, say Ashley Peck and Alison Hunter of Holland & Hart.

• How Pipeline Cos. Should Respond To EPA Pigging Alert

  

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently took aim at air emissions from "pigging," a natural gas pipeline maintenance procedure. Midstream oil and gas operators must balance the need for internal emissions reviews and the legal and compliance issues they can produce, says David McSweeney of Hunton.