Environmental

  • November 12, 2024

    Split DC Circ. Says White House Can't Issue NEPA Regs

    A divided D.C. Circuit determined Tuesday that the White House Council on Environmental Quality lacks the authority to issue legally binding regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act, finding there is no statutory language showing Congress empowered it to do so.

  • November 12, 2024

    Mich. High Court Snapshot: 3M's PFAS Fight, Detroit Fire Fees

    The Michigan Supreme Court returns to the bench Wednesday in a packed oral argument sitting, including a major case on the viability of state PFAS regulations in a challenge brought by 3M Co.

  • November 12, 2024

    Kentucky Plunges Into 2nd Challenge To Waters Of US Rule

    Kentucky has refiled its lawsuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule defining the scope of the federal government's jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act, after the Sixth Circuit found that a federal district judge improperly dismissed the case.

  • November 12, 2024

    Wash. Labor Dept. Wants Out Of Union's Farm Wage Claims

    The Washington Employment Security Department wants to escape a farmworker union's Administrative Procedure Act challenge to the U.S. Department of Labor's prevailing wage rules in federal court, saying that the law isn't applicable to state agencies.

  • November 12, 2024

    Feds Want Pasadena Claims Tossed In Caltech Pollution Suit

    The U.S. government is urging a California federal court to throw out cross-claims from the city of Pasadena in a suit over groundwater contamination from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's work in the mid-20th century, saying the city is wrongly conflating claims against the California Institute of Technology and the government.

  • November 12, 2024

    EPA Finalizes Waste Emissions Charge For Oil, Gas Facilities

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday issued a final rule implementing a waste emissions charge aimed at slashing methane emissions from high-emitting oil and gas facilities by 1.2 million metric tons through 2035.

  • November 12, 2024

    Trump's 'Pro-Business' Agenda Could Be A Boon For M&A

    President-elect Donald Trump's "pro-business" priorities and an anticipated relaxation of antitrust scrutiny are expected to boost mergers and acquisitions activity, but his tariff plan may have mixed results across sectors — and select deals could be subject to his "unpredictability," attorneys told Law360.

  • November 12, 2024

    Nuke Discharge Law Doesn't Usurp Feds, NY Says

    A New York state law banning discharges of radioactive material into the Hudson River is aimed at protecting the local economy as the Indian Point nuclear power plant is decommissioned and therefore isn't federally preempted, the Empire State told a federal judge Friday.

  • November 12, 2024

    Skadden Adds Former Solar Company General Counsel In DC

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP has hired the former general counsel of solar company Summit Ridge Energy to beef up its energy and infrastructure practice in Washington, D.C., the firm announced on Tuesday.

  • November 12, 2024

    Supreme Court Won't Revive Youth Climate Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will not undo the Ninth Circuit's order allowing the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by youth plaintiffs who accuse the federal government of endangering their futures with policies that exacerbate climate change.

  • November 12, 2024

    Shell Gets Dutch Climate Emissions Ruling Overturned

    A Dutch appeals court has overturned a landmark ruling that ordered Shell to reduce its carbon emissions, finding on Tuesday that there was no "social standard of care" requiring the oil and gas producer to meet legally imposed climate targets.

  • November 08, 2024

    LA Waterkeeper Claims BNSF Polluted Waters For Years

    BNSF Railway Co. has been discharging polluted stormwater into the waters of Los Angeles County for more than four years, the Los Angeles Waterkeeper has alleged in a new suit.

  • November 08, 2024

    Trump's Election Swings The Energy Policy Pendulum Again

    The reelection of former President Donald Trump means the energy industry faces yet another drastic shift in U.S. policy, continuing a decadelong pattern of regulatory pendulum swings. Here's a rundown of what the energy industry is in for when Trump reenters the White House.

  • November 08, 2024

    Invesco To Pay SEC $17.5M Over Misleading ESG Statements

    Invesco Advisers Inc. agreed to pay $17.5 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges that the investment adviser made misleading statements about the percentage of its assets that incorporated so-called ESG factors into investment decisions.

  • November 08, 2024

    Water Utility Hits PVC Pipe Makers With Price-Fixing Suit

    A public water utility on Friday hit some of the nation's largest PVC pipe manufacturers with a class action accusing them of using a commodity pricing service to exchange information and illegally fix prices, claiming the companies reaped "historic profits" at the expense of public utilities.

  • November 08, 2024

    Monsanto Judge Pushes Sanction 'Distraction' To After Trial

    A Washington state judge is pausing an order for eight of Monsanto's attorneys to personally pay a total of $20,000 for late disclosure of expert reports in a toxic tort lawsuit, saying he believes the issue will distract from the upcoming trial and the court can revisit the defense lawyers' reconsideration request after the jury returns a verdict.

  • November 08, 2024

    Atlanta's 'Cop City' Nears Completion, Outrunning The Courts

    A series of legal challenges and a protest movement that thrust Atlanta into the international spotlight appear unlikely to halt construction of the city's controversial public safety training center known as "Cop City," which is headed for completion in the coming months.

  • November 08, 2024

    Ga. Judge Sets 2nd Trial Plan For Solar Farm Damages Fight

    A Georgia federal judge said he's moving ahead with plans for a second jury to decide how much in damages the owner and developers of Lumpkin Solar Farm owe a neighboring property owner for harms stemming from runoff and some 1,000 cubic yards of sediment that have washed off the site.

  • November 08, 2024

    NYC Water Worker Alleges Retaliation For Off-Duty Pot Use

    A municipal water treatment worker has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the New York City Department of Environmental Protection claiming he was wrongly punished for his legal off-duty use of cannabis and wrongly terminated for refusing to take a drug test when he was actually suffering a medical emergency.

  • November 08, 2024

    NH Defends Feds' White Mountain Logging Projects

    The state of New Hampshire is asking a federal judge to reject a conservation group's bid to block two logging projects the U.S. Forest Service approved for the White Mountain National Forest, arguing that they will deliver needed forest and wildlife habitat improvements.

  • November 08, 2024

    NC Forest Service Workers Defend OT Wage Suit Win

    A group of state foresters urged the North Carolina Court of Appeals to affirm a trial court order requiring they be paid overtime for work combating forest fires, saying state agencies clearly agreed to compensate them at a rate of time-and-a-half of their regular pay under a reimbursement deal with the federal government.

  • November 08, 2024

    ND Wants To Back Feds In Dakota Access Pipeline Row

    North Dakota wants to back the federal government in a challenge by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe seeking to block a Texas-based energy company from continuing to operate the Dakota Access Pipeline, arguing a shutdown would undermine the state's interests in oil and gas regulation activity.

  • November 08, 2024

    Kentucky Utility Asks High Court To Stay EPA Coal Ash Rule

    A Kentucky electric utility called on the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule strengthening federal regulations requiring safe management of coal ash dumped at operating and retired power plants, while it appeals the D.C. Circuit's refusal to block the rule.

  • November 08, 2024

    Special Master Recommends $7.8M For Flint Plaintiffs' Attys

    A Special Master has recommended that attorneys representing plaintiffs in the Flint Water Crisis litigation receive $7.8 million in fees for their role in securing a $25 million settlement with Veolia North America finalized last month.

  • November 08, 2024

    Landowners Ink $6.5M Deal To Cap Inactive Gas Wells

    A group of landowners is asking a West Virginia federal court to approve a proposed settlement that would have Diversified Energy Co. more than quadruple its commitment to plugging inactive gas wells that it obtained from EQT Corp., meaning that it will cap off at least 2,600 wells in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Tennessee by 2035.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • What NYC's Green Fast Track Means For Affordable Housing

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    New York City's Green Fast Track for Housing initiative, which went into effect last month, aims to speed up the environmental review process for modest residential developments and could potentially pave the way for similar initiatives in other cities, say Vivien Krieger and Rachel Scall at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • After Chevron

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 37 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Expect Few Changes In ITC Rulemaking

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion overruling the Chevron doctrine will have less impact on the U.S. International Trade Commission than other agencies administering trade statutes, given that the commission exercises its congressionally granted authority in a manner that allows for consistent decision making at both agency and judicial levels, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • Opinion

    Reform NEPA To Speed Mining Permits, Clean Energy Shift

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    It is essential to balance responsible regulatory oversight with permit approvals for mining projects that are needed for the transition to renewable energy — and with the National Environmental Policy Act being one of the leading causes of permit delays, reform is urgently needed, say Ana Maria Gutierrez and Michael Miller at Womble Bond.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • Calif. Long-Tail Ruling Continues Policyholder-Friendly Trend

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    The California Supreme Court's recent ruling in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Cement & Gypsum, rejecting horizontal policy exhaustion, was the latest in a string of its decisions involving insurance coverage for continuous or progressive injury claims that favor policyholders, say Billie Mandelbaum and David Goodwin at Covington.

  • A Case Study For Calif. Cities In Water Utility Takeovers

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    With growing water scarcity and drier weather looming, some local governments in California have sought to acquire investor-owned water utilities by eminent domain — but the 2016 case of Claremont v. Golden State Water is a reminder that such municipalization attempts must meet certain statutory requirements, say attorneys at Nossaman.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The second quarter of 2024 saw less enforcement activity in the realm of New York financial services, but brought substantial regulatory and legislative developments, including state regulators' guidance on cybersecurity compliance and customer service processes for virtual currency entities, say James Vivenzio and Andrew Lucas at Perkins Coie.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

  • Tracking Implementation Of IRA Programs As Election Nears

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    As the Biden administration races to cement key regulations implementing the Inflation Reduction Act, a number of the law's programs and incentives are at risk of delay or repeal if Republicans retake control of Congress, the White House or both — so stakeholders should closely watch ongoing IRA implementation and guidance, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

  • 4 Steps To Repair Defense Credibility In Opening Statements

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    Given the continued rise of record-breaking verdicts, defense counsel need to consider fresh approaches to counteract the factors coloring juror attitudes — starting with a formula for rebuilding credibility at the very beginning of opening statements, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

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