Environmental

  • June 03, 2024

    Feds Oppose Fla.'s Plea For Rushed CWA Appeal

    The federal government on Monday told the D.C. Circuit it needs more time to decide whether it is going to appeal a lower court's decision to strip Florida of the power to administer a Clean Water Act permitting program.

  • June 03, 2024

    Eversource 'Shamelessly' Touts Dangerous Fuel, Suit Says

    Eversource Energy promotes natural gas as a safe, clean energy source when it knows otherwise and engages in "greenwashing" that minimizes its impact on the environment, according to a proposed class action filed in state court on behalf of Massachusetts residents serviced by the utility.

  • June 03, 2024

    Denver Oil Refinery Air Permit Is Valid, EPA Tells 10th Circ.

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defended its refusal to object to the renewal of a Denver oil refinery's air pollution permit, telling the Tenth Circuit that the Center for Biological Diversity failed to show the permit would allow the refinery to emit harmful amounts of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide.

  • June 03, 2024

    PPG Blames Enviro Groups For Pa. Site Cleanup Delay

    PPG Industries told a Pennsylvania federal judge Monday that the company shouldn't be fined for delaying its cleanup of an industrial waste site outside Pittsburgh because it was ready to start work in the 1990s but was slowed by infeasible demands from state regulators and environmental groups.

  • June 03, 2024

    FERC Tells Justices Not To Review Rule Passed By Deadlock

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to disturb a Third Circuit decision upholding an electricity market rule change that took effect despite a commissioner deadlock, arguing the lower court got it right and that any market upheaval concerns are unfounded.

  • June 03, 2024

    States Say Biden Admin's LNG Export Pause Is Actually A Ban

    A coalition of Republican-led states is urging a Louisiana federal court not to toss its lawsuit challenging the Biden administration's pause on reviewing applications to export liquefied natural gas to countries without free trade agreements, saying the pause effectively amounts to a ban because no timeline is provided.

  • June 03, 2024

    3 Firms Rep As Waste Management Inks $7.2B Stericycle Buy

    Waste Management Inc. has agreed to buy medical waste company Stericycle at an enterprise value of about $7.2 billion, inclusive of approximately $1.4 billion of debt, the companies said in a statement Monday. 

  • June 03, 2024

    DC White Collar Atty Leaves Baker Botts To Launch Solo Firm

    After a career that has so far spanned government service, BigLaw and academia, Washington, D.C.-based white collar attorney Steve Solow is setting up his own shop.

  • June 01, 2024

    Blockbuster Summer: 10 Big Issues Justices Still Must Decide

    As the calendar flips over to June, the U.S. Supreme Court still has heaps of cases to decide on issues ranging from trademark registration rules to judicial deference and presidential immunity. Here, Law360 looks at 10 of the most important topics the court has yet to decide.

  • May 31, 2024

    Texas Justices Won't Take On City Insurance Coverage Fight

    The Texas Supreme Court on Friday declined to review a trial court's decision rejecting a municipal insurance risk pool's attempt to evade the city of Hidalgo's lawsuit seeking to recover millions of dollars for damage sustained in Hurricane Hanna in July 2020. 

  • May 31, 2024

    Monsanto PCB Plaintiffs Want $185M Wash. Win Restored

    A group of public school teachers is urging the Washington State Supreme Court to review a state appellate court decision overturning their $185 million win in a PCB tort against Monsanto, contending the ruling stifles plaintiffs' rights in cases stemming from the same school site and other product liability litigation.

  • May 31, 2024

    'Alkaline Water' Blamed For Liver Failures In Latest Trial

    Eight Las Vegas residents on Friday became the latest group to try claims against an "alkaline water" company whose manufacturing process, their lawyer told a jury, introduced a chemical that caused their livers to fail.

  • May 31, 2024

    States, Energy Organizations Urge Demise Of EPA Water Rule

    Conservative-leaning states and energy industry groups have asked a Louisiana federal judge to strike down the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule broadening states' and tribes' power to veto projects like pipelines, export terminals and dams over water quality concerns.

  • May 31, 2024

    State Climate Superfund Laws Will Face Fossil Fuel Fightback

    A first-of-its-kind law in Vermont will impose Superfund-like liability and cleanup tabs on fossil fuel companies for climate change-related damages, though legal experts predict the industry will fight such laws as fiercely as it's fought climate tort lawsuits brought by state and local governments.

  • May 31, 2024

    Utah Sues To Throttle Federal Glenn Canyon ATV Limits

    The state of Utah is arguing that federal officials can't enforce a 2021 ban on ATVs and other off-road vehicles in sections of the Glenn Canyon National Recreational Area, in a federal lawsuit claiming immunity from rules that grew out of a 2005 lawsuit brought by environmental groups.

  • May 31, 2024

    4th Circ. Won't Revive NC Homeowners' Storm Coverage Suit

    The Fourth Circuit refused on Friday to revive a suit brought by the owners of a North Carolina beach house accusing certain underwriters at Lloyd's London of stalling a $1 million payout over hurricane damage.

  • May 31, 2024

    Animal Rehab Center Says Subpar Care Suit Must Be Tossed

    Noah's Ark Animal Rehabilitation Center and Sanctuary called on a Georgia federal judge to throw out an Ohio-based nonprofit's latest complaint alleging that the center failed to properly care for its wildlife, citing two substantially similar state court suits it previously filed and lost.

  • May 31, 2024

    Fuel Producers Should Apply ASAP For Tax Credit, IRS Says

    Fuel producers hoping to start claiming the clean fuel production credit as soon as January should register with the Internal Revenue Service by July 15, the agency said Friday, warning that registration applications made after that date are less likely to go through in time.

  • May 31, 2024

    In Rarity, 1 Party's Judges Gain 100% Control Of Circuit Bench

    At the First Circuit, the judges' robes are all black, but the judges are all blue. It's a new and unusual instance of one political party's judicial picks controlling each active seat on a federal appeals court, and the Democratic dominance could prove magnetic for ideologically charged litigation.

  • May 30, 2024

    Wash. Tribe Gets Partial Win Against Feds Over Wildfires

    A Court of Federal Claims judge partly denied Thursday the U.S. government's bid to toss claims by a tribe in Washington state over massive fires that destroyed forests on reservation land, saying a money-mandating source of law entitles the tribes to compensation.

  • May 30, 2024

    3 Things To Watch In SF's High Court Water Standards Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court has granted San Francisco's request that it review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to incorporate narrative pollution standards in a Clean Water Act permit, throwing into question the use of a common permitting feature.

  • May 30, 2024

    Okla. Tribes Say Bills Won't Deter Poultry Biz From Polluting

    The Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes says two bills working their way through the Oklahoma Legislature don't go far enough to deter the poultry industry from polluting and threaten to undo decades of progress toward improving water quality.

  • May 30, 2024

    USDA Should Redo $44M Software Order Again, GAO Says

    The Government Accountability Office publicly released a decision on Thursday in support of a company's protest of a $44.2 million Department of Agriculture task order for software support for conservation-related programs, concluding the order was not properly issued.

  • May 30, 2024

    Ill. Made 'Big Concession' In 3M PFAS Suit, 7th Circ. Judge Says

    A Seventh Circuit judge observed Thursday that the state of Illinois made a "big concession" in its suit accusing 3M of polluting local waters with toxic "forever chemicals" when the state said 3M could avoid liability if Illinois can't prove contamination came exclusively from a particular facility.

  • May 30, 2024

    Judge Finds US Owns Fla. Island In Long-Running Dispute

    A federal judge ruled that the government owns a vacant island off the harbor of Key West, Florida, in rejecting a developer's long-running claim to title, finding that the U.S. Navy has used the site as a buffer from forces such as hurricanes and private development.

Expert Analysis

  • How Echoing Techniques Can Derail Witnesses At Deposition

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    Before depositions, defense attorneys must prepare witnesses to recognize covert echoing techniques that may be used by opposing counsel to lower their defenses and elicit sensitive information — potentially leading to nuclear settlements and verdicts, say Bill Kanasky and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Proposed RCRA Regs For PFAS: What Cos. Must Know

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    Two rules recently proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would lead to more per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances being regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and would increase the frequency and scope of corrective action — so affected industries should prepare for more significant cleanup efforts, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • 7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves

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    As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.

  • Proposed Hydrogen Tax Credit Regs May Be Legally Flawed

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    While the recently proposed regulations for the new clean hydrogen production tax credit have been lauded by some in the environmental community, it is unclear whether they are sufficiently grounded in law, result from valid rulemaking processes, or accord with other administrative law principles, say Hunter Johnston and Steven Dixon at Steptoe.

  • Series

    Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Args In APA Case Amplify Justices' Focus On Agency Power

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    In arguments last week in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve, the U.S. Supreme Court justices paid particular importance to the possible ripple effects of their decision, which will address when a facial challenge to long-standing federal rules under the Administrative Procedure Act first accrues and could thus unleash a flood of new lawsuits, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • What Recent Setbacks In Court Mean For Enviro Justice

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    Two courts in Louisiana last month limited the federal government's ability to require consideration of Civil Rights Act disparate impacts when evaluating state-issued permits — likely providing a framework for opposition to environmental justice initiatives in other states, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • New Hydrogen Regulations Show The Need For IP Protections

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    The introduction of hydrogen regulations, such as the IRS' proposed tax credit for clean hydrogen under the Inflation Reduction Act, are reshaping the competitive landscape, with intellectual property rights an area of increased emphasis, say Evan Glass and James De Vellis at Foley & Lardner.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Gulf Cooperation Council

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    The Gulf Cooperation Council is in the early stages of ESG policy implementation, but recent commitments by both states and corporations — including increases in sustainable finance transactions, environmental commitments, female representation on boards and human rights enforcement — show continuing progress toward broader ESG goals, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • 6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media

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    In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.

  • Why Biz Groups Disagree On Ending Chevron Deference

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    Two amicus briefs filed in advance of last month's U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo highlight contrasting views on whether the doctrine of Chevron deference promotes or undermines the stable regulatory environment that businesses require, say Wyatt Kendall and Sydney Brogden at Morris Manning.

  • A Look Ahead For The Electric Vehicle Charging Industry

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    This will likely be an eventful year for the electric vehicle market as government efforts to accelerate their adoption inevitably clash with backlash from supporters of the petroleum industry, say Rue Phillips at SkillFusion and Enid Joffe at Green Paradigm Consulting.

  • A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise

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    After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.

  • Opinion

    Exxon Court Should Clarify Shareholder Proposal Exclusion

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    ExxonMobil last month took the unusual action of asking a Texas federal judge whether a proposal from climate activists seeking to limit oil and gas sales could be excluded from its 2024 proxy statement, and the court should use this opportunity to reevaluate SEC policy and set clear limits on when shareholder proposals can be included, says Stephen Bainbridge at UCLA School of Law.

  • Legislative And Litigation Trends In Environmental Advertising

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    Companies that tout their products' environmental benefits can significantly reduce the risk that they will face allegations of greenwashing by staying up to date on related Federal Trade Commission guidance, state requirements and litigation trends, say Raqiyyah Pippins and Kelsie Sicinski at Arnold & Porter.

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