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Environmental
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June 11, 2024
Watchdog Says EPA's Lead Exposure Notice Program Lagging
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is not on track to roll out a public warning system for exposure to lead in drinking water by an October deadline, the EPA's internal watchdog said in a new report.
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June 11, 2024
DOE Urges DC Circ. To Extinguish Furnace Rule Fight
The U.S. Department of Energy on Monday defended its tighter energy efficiency standards for furnaces and water heaters, telling the D.C. Circuit that arguments that the new regulations unlawfully force a costly switch to new appliances are meritless.
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June 11, 2024
Enviro Suit Says BLM Well Policy Leaves Drilling Unchecked
An environmental group is suing the Bureau of Land Management to invalidate drilling permits in and around Colorado's Pawnee National Grassland, claiming the agency has given up authority to regulate the surface impacts of certain wells in violation of its federal mandates.
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June 11, 2024
Restaurant Owner Seeks $414K For Deductible Overpayment
The owner of two Florida restaurants is seeking reimbursement of over $400,000, telling a federal district court Tuesday that it overpaid a claim deductible for damage stemming from Hurricane Ian after its insurer misapplied the appropriate endorsement.
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June 11, 2024
Greenberg Traurig Adds Environmental Team From Steptoe
Greenberg Traurig LLP has bolstered its environmental practice with the addition of a shareholder and two assistant directors from Steptoe LLP at its Washington, D.C., office.
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June 11, 2024
Singleton Schreiber Adds Tribal And Environmental Law Pro
Robert O. Saunooke, a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and previously a solo practitioner, has spent the past 30 years representing the underdog, working pro bono in almost every area of tribal law to protect the rights of Native American tribes across the country.
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June 11, 2024
Pepsi Bottling Partner Hit With Pollutant Lawsuit In Mass.
A Massachusetts environmental advocacy group has followed through on plans to sue a bottler of Pepsi products over alleged violations of the Clean Water Act, but a lawyer for the Conservation Law Foundation says the organization is "optimistic" it will be able to resolve the issue.
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June 10, 2024
Calif. Targets Oil Giants' Profits In Amended Climate Suit
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday tweaked the state's climate deception suit against Exxon Mobil Corp., Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and BP to also target the oil and gas companies' "illegally obtained" profits under a recently enacted state law.
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June 10, 2024
9th Circ. Partially Revives Puget Sound Pollution Row
The Ninth Circuit sided with an environmental group Monday in a regulation enforcement case against the Port of Tacoma, Washington, partially overturning a lower court to find previous iterations of state stormwater permitting rules do extend across marine cargo terminals and other transportation facilities.
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June 10, 2024
Coca-Cola Beats False Ad Claims Of PFAS In Juice, For Now
Coca-Cola defeated, for now, a proposed false advertising class action alleging its line of Simply Tropical fruit juice contains "forever chemicals," when a New York federal judge said Monday the customer lacks standing because his complaint relies on a single allegation of testing without linking the test result to his purchase.
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June 10, 2024
Home Flooding Was Unavoidable, Agency Tells Appeals Court
A Texas river management agency has told a state appeals court that a group of Houston residents' properties would have flooded regardless of its actions to mitigate Hurricane Harvey's effects, urging the appellate court to overturn a trial court order denying its bid for release from the residents' suit.
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June 10, 2024
Judge Sides With Tenants In Legionnaires' Coverage Dispute
A Kentucky federal court declined to exercise jurisdiction in an insurer's attempt to secure a ruling that coverage isn't available to its landlord-insureds in a $4.5 million underlying state court action in which a tenant alleged that the landlords' negligence caused her to contract Legionnaires' disease.
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June 10, 2024
Fishermen Challenge Feds' Gulf Of Mexico Fishing Quotas
The owners of a family fishing business are fighting the National Marine Fisheries Service's 80% cut to fishing quotas for gag grouper fish in the Gulf of Mexico, claiming the agency doesn't have the ability to lawfully approve the new rule.
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June 10, 2024
Colo. Justices Say Toxic Tort Plaintiffs Didn't Waive Privilege
Colorado's justices on Monday said plaintiffs suing a medical sterilization plant over exposure to a carcinogen cannot be forced to turn over communications with their lawyers related to an expert report, rejecting the plant's argument that the disclosure of a spreadsheet to an expert waived attorney-client privilege.
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June 10, 2024
Exxon Says Activist Investor Could Still Target Core Business
Exxon Mobil Corp. sought Monday to keep alive its lawsuit against Arjuna Capital LLC in Texas federal court, arguing that the activist investor could still work behind the scenes to submit climate-related shareholder proposals despite promises in court that it will not.
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June 10, 2024
Split 4th Circ. Tosses Suit Over 'Forever Chemicals' In NC
The Fourth Circuit ruled Monday that environmental groups couldn't challenge in district court the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's selection of particular so-called forever chemicals for testing after the agency agreed, at the groups' request, to research the chemicals' effects in North Carolina.
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June 10, 2024
Judge Orders Site Worker To Film Drone Video In Cancer MDL
A state judge said Monday that additional drone video of cleanup efforts at a contaminated rail yard sought by Houston residents living near the site must be taken by a Union Pacific Railroad Co. employee following a dispute over allegedly improper drone videos filmed over the site last month.
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June 10, 2024
EPA Air Compliance Rule Trumps State Powers, DC Circ. Told
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency usurped state authority when it issued a final rule changing the deadline for states to submit Clean Air Act compliance plans for power plants and other existing facilities within their borders, 25 Republican-led states told the D.C. Circuit.
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June 10, 2024
Supreme Court Rejects WWII Oil Refinery Cleanup Appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court left intact on Monday a Sixth Circuit decision that the federal government can't be held liable for environmental contamination left behind by oil refineries during World War II, rejecting a petition for certiorari filed by Valero Energy Corp.
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June 10, 2024
Goldberg Segalla Adds Toxic Torts, Workers' Comp Attys
Goldberg Segalla LLP has added two attorneys working in practice areas such as toxic torts and workers' compensation as partners in its offices in Manhattan and Garden City, New York, the firm announced Monday.
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June 10, 2024
Co. Says 16 Intervenors Will Drag Out Alaska Mine Dispute
A company seeking relief from a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decision to block a mining proposal for a stretch of pristine salmon habitat on Alaska's Bristol Bay asked a federal judge to exclude more than a dozen environmental groups from joining the case.
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June 10, 2024
Justices Seek Solicitor General View On Climate Change Torts
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked the U.S. solicitor general to weigh in on a bid to end a suit brought by Honolulu seeking to put fossil fuel companies on the hook for climate change-related damages.
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June 07, 2024
Tetra Tech Says Gov't On 'Fishing Expedition' In FCA Suit
Tetra Tech and a subsidiary accused the federal government and a housing developer of a "fishing expedition" after they sought access to electronic media long after discovery closed in cases accusing the subsidiary of fraud under Navy environmental contracts.
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June 07, 2024
Texas Farmers Sue EPA For 'Forever Chemical' Contamination
Five Texas farmers have told a D.C. federal court that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should have done more to stop "forever chemicals" from contaminating their farmland, claiming that they've suffered medical problems from the exposure.
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June 07, 2024
Trade Commission Votes To Advance Solar Cell Investigations
The four heads of the U.S. International Trade Commission voted unanimously Friday to continue anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations into solar cell imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, finding evidence that the imports harmed domestic solar manufacturers.
Expert Analysis
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5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow
The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.
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What's Extraordinary About Challenges To SEC Climate Rule
A set of ideologically diverse legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure rule have been consolidated in the Eighth Circuit via a seldom-used lottery system, and the unpredictability of this process may drive agencies toward a more cautious future approach to rulemaking, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.
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Series
Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.
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Opinion
SEC Doesn't Have Legal Authority For Climate Disclosure Rule
Instead of making the required legal argument to establish its authority, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosure rule hides behind more than 1,000 references to materiality to give the appearance that its rule is legally defensible, says Bernard Sharfman at RealClearFoundation.
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What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron
With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.
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Opinion
SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.
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Microplastics At The Crossroads Of Regulation And Litigation
Though there are currently not many federal regulations specifically addressing microplastics as pollutants, regulatory scrutiny and lawsuits asserting consumer protection claims are both on the rise, and manufacturers should take proactive steps to implement preventive measures accordingly, say Aliza Karetnick and Franco Corrado at Morgan Lewis.
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How Cos. Can Comply With New PFAS Superfund Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule designating two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as "hazardous substances" under the Superfund law will likely trigger additional enforcement and litigation at sites across the country — so companies should evaluate any associated reporting obligations and liability risks, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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Understanding The IRC's Excessive Refund Claim Penalty
Taxpayers considering protective refund claims pending resolution of major questions in tax cases like Moore v. U.S., which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, should understand how doing so may also leave them vulnerable to an excessive refund claim penalty under Internal Revenue Code Section 6676, say attorneys at McDermott.
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Recent Wave Of SEC No-Action Denials May Be Slowing
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in March granted no-action relief to Verizon and others on the grounds that a director resignation bylaw proposal would mean violating Delaware law, bucking recent SEC hesitation toward such relief and showing that articulating a basis in state law is a viable path to exclude a proposal, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
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Why RWI Insurers Should Consider Excluding PFAS
As regulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances escalates, carriers providing representations and warranties insurance should reconsider providing PFAS coverage on a case-by-case basis, say Dave Bartoletti and Ina Avalon at Taft Stettinius.
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Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert
As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.
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10b-5 Litigation Questions Follow Justices' Macquarie Ruling
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Macquarie v. Moab that pure omissions are not actionable under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b–5(b), creating a slightly higher bar for plaintiffs and setting the stage for further litigation over several issues, say Steve Quinlivan and Sean Colligan at Stinson.
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Series
Walking With My Dog Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Thanks to my dog Birdie, I've learned that carving out an activity different from the practice of law — like daily outdoor walks that allow you to interact with new people — can contribute to professional success by boosting creativity and mental acuity, as well as expanding your social network, says Sarah Petrie at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.
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Could 'General Average' Apply To The Key Bridge Crash?
While the owner and operator of the vessel that struck Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge have sought legal protection under the Limitation of Liability Act, they could choose to invoke the long-standing principle of general average, if supported by the facts of the crash and the terms of their contracts with cargo owners, says Julie Maurer at Husch Blackwell.