Environmental

Expert Analysis

• 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.

• Digitalizing The Mining And Metals Global Supply Chain

  

  More businesses in the mining and metals sector are considering blockchain to address challenges associated with mineral provenance and supply chain transparency, but it remains to be seen whether the technology can be harnessed to track performance standards related to human rights, labor practices and other factors, say attorneys at White & Case.

• Teaching Witnesses To Avoid Cross-Examination Traps

  

  It’s common for inexperienced witnesses to become ensnared in their own responses during cross-examination, so they should be coached in advance on how to break down each question-and-answer scenario into three distinct phases, says Jeff Dougherty of Litigation IQ.

• Pipeline Projects Face New Questions On Landowner Rights

  

  The tension between the rights of landowners and pipeline developers has come to a head in two federal appellate courts and a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announcement, muddling the historical clarity of Natural Gas Act eminent domain authority, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

• FERC Aims For A Better Tribal Consultation Process

  

  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's recent amendments to its Policy Statement on Consultation with Indian Tribes in Commission Proceedings show the agency's commitment to consideration of tribal input in its decision-making, including on hydroelectric licensing, say Jody Cummings and Monique Watson of Steptoe & Johnson.

• An Inside Look At PFAS Regulatory Action: Part 2

  

  In the final part of this video series, Charles Knauss and Daniel Grucza of Hunton outline approaches companies can take to deal with litigation over per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, as federal and state regulations and laws around PFAS are in flux.