Environmental

  • April 16, 2024

    DOE Aims To Wrap LNG Review By Year-End, Granholm Says

    U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm on Tuesday said her agency hoped to complete the review of its liquefied natural gas export policy by year's end and pushed back on accusations that the current pause of export reviews is permanent.

  • April 16, 2024

    Feds, PPG Reach $22.8M Deal To Clean Up NJ Superfund Site

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unveiled a settlement with PPG Industries Inc. on Tuesday under which the company has agreed to cough up more than $22.8 million to cover the estimated future cleanup costs and maintenance at the Riverside Industrial Park Superfund Site in Newark, New Jersey.

  • April 16, 2024

    Absent Proof Of Direct Effect, Pa. Sen. Loses Wastewater Row

    A Pennsylvania state senator lacks individual standing to stop the state Department of Environmental Protection from allowing wastewater discharges into a tributary of the Susquehanna River because she hasn't given enough evidence that potential pollution would directly affect her, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday.

  • April 16, 2024

    EPA Urges 5th Circ. To Back Win In Texas Air Quality Suit

    U.S. regulators and the Sierra Club urged the Fifth Circuit not to upset a panel's ruling finding the government legally accepted pollution data from the conservation group to apply a poor air quality designation in two Texas counties surrounding a coal-fired power plant.

  • April 16, 2024

    9th Circ. Upholds $64M Award In Water Contamination Suit

    The Ninth Circuit upheld a $64 million award against a Parker Hannifin unit for cleanup costs tied to groundwater contamination in California's Santa Clarita Valley, and further held the district court erred in denying a finding of liability against the company.

  • April 16, 2024

    Florida Lost Its CWA Permitting Power. Now What?

    A federal judge's decision to snatch away Florida's right to administer a Clean Water Act permitting program, which had been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, serves as a warning to other states that might be considering taking over those powers and responsibilities.

  • April 16, 2024

    W&T Offshore Accuses Pipeline Co. Of $3M Per Month Losses

    A Gulf of Mexico oil producer claims it is losing millions of dollars a month from regulators' forced shut-in of a pipeline network it depends on in a lawsuit filed in Texas federal court alleging the pipeline company violated their contract to follow U.S. law and keep the line operating.

  • April 16, 2024

    Activist Axes $3.6B SilverBow Merger Plan Amid Proxy Fight

    New York-based asset manager Kimmeridge said Tuesday it has scrapped its March offer to create a $3.6 billion Eagle Ford shale operator by combining the assets of Kimmeridge Texas Gas with those of shale driller SilverBow Resources, stating it will now focus on getting its three nominees elected to SilverBow's board. 

  • April 16, 2024

    AIG Unit Must Cover $20M Botched Tunnel Project, Court Told

    A Michigan county's water resources commissioner and sewage disposal system accused an AIG unit of failing to arbitrate their coverage claims over a design contractor's faulty work on a tunnel project, claiming they've suffered more than $20 million in damages.

  • April 16, 2024

    High Court Sides With Texas Landowners In Takings Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in favor of landowners in a dispute with Texas, finding the owners can pursue their takings claim pursuant to state law but leaving open a larger Fifth Amendment takings question.

  • April 16, 2024

    DOL Finalizes Rule To Curb Miners' Exposure To Silica Dust

    A U.S. Department of Labor agency released final regulations Tuesday that tighten limits on miners' exposure to workplace silica dust, a toxic substance that increases the risk of death and chronic health conditions.

  • April 15, 2024

    Ocean Agency Requires Cos. To Cover Well Razing Costs

    The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Monday unveiled a final rule aimed at ensuring oil and gas companies, and not taxpayers, are the ones footing the bill for decommissioning offshore wells and infrastructure.

  • April 15, 2024

    Colo. Ski Resort's Snowmaking Suit More Than A Decade Late

    A Colorado federal judge on Monday tossed a lawsuit over a ski resort's permit to make snow using a nearby watershed that is a habitat for an imperiled trout species, siding with the U.S. Forest Service in concluding the resort's owner and operator should've filed the claim more than a decade earlier.

  • April 15, 2024

    Justices Leave Lower Courts To Parse Corporate 'Half-Truths'

    A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that corporate silence isn't enough to form the basis of a securities fraud suit pointedly declined to wade into the question of what counts as a "half-truth," leaving it to lower courts to wrestle with which corporate statements are blurry enough to sustain a shareholder class action.

  • April 15, 2024

    EPA Says Legacy Asbestos Poses Unreasonable Risk

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released on Monday its long-awaited draft for the second part of its asbestos risk evaluation, which determined handling asbestos associated with legacy uses presents undue human health risks.

  • April 15, 2024

    EPA Asks High Court To Preserve SF Water Pollution Regs

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to preserve its water quality standards for San Francisco, which the city has challenged as vague, generic, and "virtually impossible" to comply with.

  • April 15, 2024

    Solar Power Co. Accuses Ex-Insider Of Building, Selling Rival

    Delaware-chartered solar energy venture Volt Energy Utility LLC has sued a former top officer in Chancery Court, alleging that while employed by Volt, she secretly launched a competing company, contacted Volt's lenders and customers and then sold the new business to a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. for $216 million.

  • April 15, 2024

    Green Groups Defend Suit To Expel Ga. Island's Wild Horses

    Conservation groups told a Georgia federal court on Monday that Peach State officials are not shielded from their lawsuit to make state and federal authorities remove feral horses they say are threatening endangered wildlife on Cumberland Island.

  • April 15, 2024

    Enviro Groups Urge 9th Circ. To Uphold Ax Of DOI Land Swap

    Environmental groups and the National Congress of American Indians have thrown their support behind the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in calling on the Ninth Circuit to uphold a lower court ruling that the federal government's land exchange with agribusiness J.R. Simplot Co. was unlawful.

  • April 15, 2024

    Oil Co. Warns NC Justices Of 'Unfair' Results In Taking Case

    An oil company and two other former plaintiffs from a settled state government land-taking proposed class action have warned the North Carolina Supreme Court that if the justices affirm an intermediate appellate ruling in a similar case, they would be reinforcing "unfair, unequal, disparate and divergent" treatment of property owners.

  • April 15, 2024

    Biden Approves Disaster Declarations For States, Tribe

    The states of Oregon and California, along with one of their tribal communities, will receive federal emergency aid to help recover from severe winter storms that caused widespread damage and killed several people in January and February.

  • April 15, 2024

    Vermont's 3M PFAS Suit Remanded To State Court

    A Vermont federal judge has sent the state's "forever chemicals" suit against 3M Co., E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Co. and others back to state court, finding that 3M filed its notice of removal too late after learning that the claims concerned a facility that made products for the military.

  • April 15, 2024

    NH Power Plant Co. Can Send Dual-Path Ch. 11 Plan To A Vote

    The operator of a New Hampshire power plant fueled by scrap wood can seek creditors' approval of its Chapter 11 proposal, through which the debtor would either sell its assets or hand ownership of the reorganized business to lenders, a Delaware bankruptcy judge ruled Monday.

  • April 15, 2024

    Food Supplier Sues Ga. City Over $1.5M Wastewater Penalties

    The city of Dawsonville, Georgia, and seven city officials have been sued in Georgia federal court by a food supplier that alleges the city threatened to shut off water and sewage service to its poultry processing plant based on more than $1.5 million in "illegally assessed" wastewater discharge penalties.

  • April 15, 2024

    4th Circ. Upholds W.Va.'s Win In Coal Mine Cleanup Suit

    The Fourth Circuit on Monday affirmed a West Virginia federal court's order ending developers' allegations that the state's environmental regulators' reclamation efforts at an old coal mining site constituted illegal dumping, finding the lower court correctly concluded the efforts are exempt from regulations prohibiting open dumps.

Expert Analysis

  • What To Expect From High Court In Corp. Disclosure Case

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    Oral argument in Macquarie v. Moab Partners — a case with the potential to significantly alter corporate disclosures and private securities litigation liability — suggests that the U.S. Supreme Court is focused on answering the narrow question presented, say Elizabeth Gingold Clark and Madeleine Juszynski Davidson at Alston & Bird.

  • After Watershed Year, Clean Hydrogen Faces New Challenges

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    Clean hydrogen is on the verge of taking off — but over the course of 2023, it became clear that the regulatory landscape will be more stringent than expected, and the cost and timing of major projects will depend on a number of key developments anticipated in 2024, say attorneys at Weil.

  • Series

    Baking Bread Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    After many years practicing law, and a few years baking bread, I have learned that there are a few keys to success in both endeavors, including the assembly of a nourishing and resilient culture, and the ability to learn from failure and exercise patience, says Rick Robinson at Reed Smith.

  • Federal Courts And AI Standing Orders: Safety Or Overkill?

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    Several district court judges have issued standing orders regulating the use of artificial intelligence in their courts, but courts should consider following ordinary notice and comment procedures before implementing sweeping mandates that could be unnecessarily burdensome and counterproductive, say attorneys at Curtis.

  • Time To Step Up PFAS Due Diligence In Cross-Border M&A

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    Regulations in the U.S. and EU governing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances will likely evolve to become global standards out of necessity and scale, so PFAS due diligence — particularly for buyers, sellers, and lenders and investors involved in multijurisdictional mergers and acquisitions — will be essential in 2024, say attorneys at Shipman & Goodwin.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

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    New York's banking and financial sector saw a number of notable regulatory and legislative changes in the final quarter of 2023, including guidance on climate risks and heightened cybersecurity protocols issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services, as well as final revisions to virtual currency listings in the state, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • 3 Significant Ohio Insurance Updates From 2023

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    The past year saw some significant changes and developments in Ohio's insurance coverage landscape, from new bad faith discovery mechanisms relating to out-of-state property to the Ohio Supreme Court's interpretation of what constitutes an assault or battery for coverage purposes, say Jenna Pletcher and William Peseski at Brouse McDowell. 

  • 7 E-Discovery Predictions For 2024 And Beyond

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    The legal and technical issues of e-discovery now affect virtually every lawsuit, and in the year to come, practitioners can expect practices and policies to evolve in a number of ways, from the expanded use of relevancy redactions to mandated information security provisions in protective orders, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Securities Class Actions Show No Signs of Slowing In 2024

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    Plaintiffs asserted securities class actions at elevated levels in 2023 — a sign that filings will remain high in the year ahead — as they switched gears to target companies that allegedly have failed to anticipate supply chain disruptions, persistent inflation, rising interest rates and other macroeconomic headwinds, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Consider A Key Insurance Tool For Environmental M&A Deals

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    Transactional liability insurance can be a useful risk allocation tool for completing mergers and acquisitions in the renewable energy and climate and clean technology sectors, though policies must be structured carefully to achieve maximum coverage, say Joseph Castelluccio and Paul de Bernier at Mayer Brown.

  • ESG Concerns Can No Longer Be Ignored In 2024

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    While the long wait for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ESG rule continues, government attention to regulations, increased litigation efforts and shareholder resolutions seeking transparency highlight the importance of placing an emphasis on ESG considerations, say attorneys at Wollmuth Maher.

  • How DOI Aims To Modernize Resource Damage Assessments

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    The U.S. Department of the Interior's recent proposal to redesign its Type A rule for conducting natural resource damage assessment and restoration activities could lead to a more streamlined, flexible assessment process that would benefit both natural resource trustees and potentially responsible parties, says Brian Ferrasci-O'Malley at Nossaman.

  • 5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2024

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    Over the next year and beyond, litigation funding will continue to evolve in ways that affect attorneys and the larger litigation landscape, from the growth of a secondary market for funded claims, to rising interest rates restricting the availability of capital, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.

  • 5 Securities Litigation Issues To Watch In 2024

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    There is yet another exciting year ahead for securities litigation, starting with the U.S. Supreme Court hearing argument next week in a case presenting a key securities class action question that has eluded review for the last eight years, say attorneys at Willkie.

  • Antitrust And ESG: Maximizing Targets, Ensuring Compliance

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    Jennifer McAlpin at Verizon and Michaela Spero at Amadeus consider the convergence of antitrust and environmental, social and corporate governance factors, providing an executive overview of areas to watch, including mergers and acquisitions, as well as practical implementation tips for general counsel.

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