Environmental

  • November 05, 2024

    Mich. Judge Won't Delay Benton Harbor Lead Pollution Suit

    A federal magistrate judge in Michigan rejected a request to push back a scheduling conference in litigation over lead contamination in a Michigan city's drinking water, ordering the parties on Monday to press forward with resolving the significantly narrowed case.

  • November 05, 2024

    Groups Lose Early Bid To Undo Calif. Climate Disclosure Laws

    A California federal judge rejected the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups' attempt to block California's corporate climate disclosure rules before discovery, ruling Tuesday that discovery is needed for the court to answer whether the laws facially violate the First Amendment.

  • November 05, 2024

    States Say EPA 'Wants To Drive The Car' In CWA Row

    Idaho and a coalition of states are asking a North Dakota federal judge to strike down a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule requiring states to consider tribal treaty rights when they set their water quality standards, arguing the agency has no such power under the Clean Water Act.

  • November 05, 2024

    EPA's Superfund 'Blank Check' Dooms PFAS Rule, Groups Say

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wrote itself a legal "blank check" to increase the number of chemicals subject to required cleanups under federal Superfund law, industry advocates told the D.C. Circuit.

  • November 05, 2024

    Conagra Settles False Ad Suit Over 'Sustainable' Fish

    Conagra and a proposed class of consumers have settled a suit accusing the food giant of deceptively labeling its seafood products as sustainable despite using ocean-harming methods to source them, according to a minute order entered Tuesday.

  • November 05, 2024

    FERC Skimped On Pipeline Review, Environmental Groups Say

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission wrongly limited its review of a methane gas pipeline that crosses the U.S.-Mexico border to a 1,000-foot border facility, ignoring the 157-mile U.S.-based pipeline segment that cuts across Western Texas, environmental groups told the D.C. Circuit.

  • November 05, 2024

    Holland & Knight Gains Latham Project Finance Atty In DC

    Holland & Knight LLP has hired a former Latham & Watkins LLP attorney, who has joined the firm as a partner in Washington, D.C., to represent equity investors, developers, lenders and other clients in a range of project finance matters, the firm announced Tuesday.

  • November 05, 2024

    On The Ground: How Attorneys Safeguarded The Election

    Attorneys worked tirelessly Tuesday to support citizens and election workers on the final day of voting in one of history's most contentious presidential contests.

  • November 04, 2024

    Couple Avoids Prison For $500K Emission-Tampering Scheme

    A Washington federal judge on Monday sentenced a married couple who owned an auto repair shop to four months of GPS monitor and four years of probation for raking in more than $500,000 by illegally altering pollution-control devices on hundreds of diesel trucks.

  • November 04, 2024

    NC Commission Signs Off On Duke Energy Resource Plan

    The North Carolina Utilities Commission has signed off on Duke Energy's latest resource plan, with one nonprofit lamenting that the order gives the utility giant "essentially everything it wanted."

  • November 04, 2024

    Post-Chevron, DC Circ. Wrestles With At-Sea Monitoring Rule

    A D.C. Circuit panel on Monday revisited a challenge to federal regulations requiring fishermen to fund the cost of compliance monitors aboard their ships, grappling with how to interpret the federal statute underlying the regulations following the demise of the Chevron deference.

  • November 04, 2024

    Monsanto Can't Keep Expert PCB Estimates From Seattle Jury

    A Washington state judge has slapped down Monsanto's bid to stop a plaintiffs' expert from sharing chemical exposure opinions with jurors in a Seattle PCB poisoning tort, saying on Monday that the company's stance that the testimony is "junk science" relies on an outdated record in a related Court of Appeals case.

  • November 04, 2024

    FERC, NJ Conservation Orgs Battle Over Pipeline Rehearing

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is clashing with a host of conservation groups and the New Jersey Division of the Rate Counsel over whether the D.C. Circuit should reconsider a panel decision that vacated the agency's approval for a natural gas pipeline expansion on the East Coast.

  • November 04, 2024

    Hurricane Zeta MDL Judge Orders Mediation Amid DQ Battle

    A Houston judge overseeing a multidistrict litigation created to handle claims from crew members who say they were injured while weathering Hurricane Zeta on a Transocean drilling rig ordered the parties to mediation Friday in the midst of a bitter disqualification battle between their feuding firms.

  • November 04, 2024

    Shell Slips Negligence Claim In Pa. Nuisance Lawsuit

    Neighbors of Shell Chemical Appalachia's Western Pennsylvania ethylene cracker plant will need to be more specific about dust and pollution affecting their homes if they want to revive a negligence claim that a federal court struck from a proposed class action Monday.

  • November 04, 2024

    DC Circ. Won't Block Coal Ash Rule During Challenge

    The D.C. Circuit has denied East Kentucky Power Cooperative Inc.'s effort to block the implementation of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule that strengthened the federal regulations requiring safe management of coal ash dumped at operating and retired power plants.

  • November 04, 2024

    Class Cert. Sought In Ga. Man's 'Forever Chemicals' Suit

    A Georgia man who lives near a Mount Vernon Mills textile plant asked a federal judge on Friday to certify two classes of neighbors who want to hold the manufacturers of so-called "forever chemicals" responsible for the alleged pollution of city drinking water.

  • November 04, 2024

    Michigan County Fights To Keep Radioactive Waste Out

    Wayne County urged a Michigan federal judge to keep in place an order barring a local landfill from accepting deliveries of radioactive waste from the Manhattan Project, arguing the surrounding communities' and environmental health could suffer for "billions of years."  

  • November 04, 2024

    Texas Border Buoy Trial Delayed After En Banc Ruling

    An Austin federal judge paused an impending bench trial between the Biden administration and the state of Texas over a 1,000-foot buoy barrier in the Rio Grande, reopening discovery Monday in the wake of an en banc circuit court opinion that slammed the judge for ordering the removal of the buoys.

  • November 04, 2024

    UAE Grocery Giant Lulu Seeks $1.7B IPO As Demand Grows

    United Arab Emirates grocery chain Lulu Retail Holdings PLC on Monday unveiled additional investment in an upsized initial public offering that could net $1.7 billion, potentially making it the largest UAE listing this year, guided by three law firms.

  • November 04, 2024

    Texas Rips Feds' 5th Circ. Bid To Revive Highway GHG Rule

    Texas is telling the Fifth Circuit there's no reason to disturb a district court's decision to vacate a Federal Highway Administration rule that called on states to set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from federally funded highway projects.

  • November 04, 2024

    US IPO Activity Hits Standstill As Election Takes Center Stage

    U.S. initial public offerings have screeched to a halt amid peak election season, and dealmakers expect new listings to largely remain iced until next year as market participants sort out ramifications of Tuesday's presidential and congressional contests.

  • November 04, 2024

    Supreme Court Won't Hear Apache's Mining Regs Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court will let stand a ruling that sides with a state environmental agency's decision to let a copper mining company discharge untreated wastewater into a creek that's considered sacred to an Arizona Indigenous community.

  • November 01, 2024

    DC Circ. Urged To Uphold Veto Of Fla. Dredge Program

    A coalition of environmental groups urged the D.C. Circuit on Friday to uphold a lower court ruling depriving Florida of its authority to issue wetland dredge and fill permits under the Clean Water Act, saying regulators must follow the rigorous laws protecting endangered species.

  • November 01, 2024

    Texas Justice Says Amici Should Get Say In Religion Case

    A Texas Supreme Court justice released a statement Friday saying the court should have granted First Liberty Institute's request for five minutes to argue its position in a case about religious freedom under the Lone Star State's constitution, saying help from an amici would be "sensible and advisable."

Expert Analysis

  • A Narrow Window Of Opportunity To Fix Energy Transmission

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    A post-election effort of the coming lame-duck congressional session may be the only possibility to pass bipartisan legislation to solve the national grid's capacity deficiencies, which present the greatest impediment to realizing state and federal energy transition and emissions reduction goals, says David Smith at Manatt.

  • How Project 2025 Could Upend Federal ESG Policies

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    If implemented, Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's policy playbook for a Republican presidential administration, would likely seek to deploy antitrust law to target ESG initiatives, limit pension fund managers' focus to pecuniary factors and spell doom for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate rule, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Navigating FEMA Grant Program For Slope Fixes After Storms

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    In the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, it is critical for governments, businesses and individuals to understand the legal requirements of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's grant programs to obtain funding for crucial repairs — including restoration of damaged infrastructure caused by landslides and slope failures, says Charles Schexnaildre at Baker Donelson.

  • Key Insurance Implications Of Hawaii's Historic GHG Ruling

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    In Aloha Petroleum v. National Union Fire Insurance, the Hawaii Supreme Court became the first state court to classify greenhouse gasses as pollutants barred from insurance coverage, a ruling likely to be afforded great weight by courts across the country, say Scott Seaman and Gar Lauerman at Hinshaw & Culbertson.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

  • Opinion

    Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

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    As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.

  • Perspectives

    Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

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    Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.

  • To Report Or Not To Report Others' Export Control Violations

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    A recent Bureau of Industry and Security enforcement policy change grants cooperation credit to those that report violations of the Export Administration Regulations committed by others, but the benefits of doing so must be weighed against significant drawbacks, including the costs of preparing and submitting a report, says Megan Lew at Cravath.

  • With Esmark Case, SEC Returns Focus To Tender Offer Rules

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent enforcement action against Esmark in connection with its failed bid to acquire U.S. Steel indicates the SEC's renewed attention under Rule 14e‑8 of the Exchange Act on offerors' financial resources as a measure of the veracity of their tender offer communications, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Deadline Extension Highlights PFAS Reporting Complexities

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent extension of reporting and recordkeeping timelines for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act offers relief to the regulated community, but the unprecedented volume of data required means that businesses must remain diligent in their data collection efforts, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • 6th Circ. Preemption Ruling Adds Uncertainty For Car Cos.

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    Automakers and their suppliers need uniformity under the law to create sufficient scale and viable markets — but the Sixth Circuit's recent decision in Fenner v. General Motors creates more uncertainty around the question of when state law consumer claims related to violations of federal vehicle emissions and fuel economy standards are preempted, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • Review Shipping Terms In Light Of These 3 Global Challenges

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    Given tensions in the Middle East, labor unrest at U.S. ports and the ongoing consequences of climate change, parties involved in maritime shipping must understand the relevant contract provisions and laws that may be implicated during supply chain disruptions in order to mitigate risks, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Cos. Face Increasing Risk From Environmental Citizen Suits

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    Environmental citizen suits stepping in to fill the regulatory vacuum concerning consumer goods waste may soon become more common, and the evolving procedural landscape and changes to environmental law may contribute to companies' increased exposure, say J. Michael Showalter and Bradley Rochlen at ArentFox Schiff.

  • How BIS' Rule Seeks To Encourage More Voluntary Disclosure

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    Updated incentives, penalties and enforcement resources in the Bureau of Industry and Security's recently published final rule revising the Export Administration Regulations should help companies decide how to implement export control compliance programs and whether to disclose possible violations, say attorneys at Freshfields.

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