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Environmental
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November 20, 2024
GM Can't Get Full 6th Circ. Redo Of Duramax Emissions Case
The full Sixth Circuit on Wednesday left untouched a divided panel's recent decision partly reviving drivers' claims alleging General Motors deceptively marketed Chevrolet Silverado and Sierra vehicles as being more environmentally friendly than they actually were, but two dissenting judges said the case warranted en banc review.
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November 20, 2024
Tribe Fights Ore. Irrigation District At 9th Circ. Over Water Use
The Yurok Tribe has joined with fishing and conservation groups in asking the Ninth Circuit to deny an irrigation district's bid to certify questions to the Oregon Supreme Court over the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's authority to control water use under state law.
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November 20, 2024
Va. Gov. Can't Exit Carbon Trading Program, Judge Says
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration can't withdraw from a regional carbon emissions-trading program the Legislature ordered the state to join three years ago without first securing legislative approval, a Virginia circuit court judge ruled Wednesday.
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November 20, 2024
FERC Says There's No Need To Ref Mich. Grid Upgrade Fight
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission defended its decision that Michigan Electric Transmission Co. failed to establish that shared ownership of new grid updates needed to serve a Michigan solar farm was necessarily precluded, telling the D.C. Circuit the electric utility hasn't shown how it's harmed.
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November 20, 2024
Split Ohio Supreme Court OKs Power Co.'s Herbicide Use
The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed an early win for landowners in a case against Ohio Edison Co. that had sought to stop the company from using herbicide on their property to clear space for power lines.
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November 20, 2024
11th Circ. Told Everglades Project Will Reduce Water Supplies
Several Florida sugar growers urged the Eleventh Circuit Wednesday to reverse a decision allowing an Everglades flood control project to proceed, saying a lower court wrongly accepted a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impact analysis that will result in water supply loss to the surrounding area.
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November 20, 2024
Texas Offers Up Land To Help Trump's Mass Deportation Plan
The Texas General Land Office is offering up 1,400 acres of ranch land near the U.S.-Mexico border to the incoming Trump administration to construct deportation facilities to support the president-elect's plan for mass removals.
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November 20, 2024
FERC Made Climate Case For Tennessee Pipeline, DC Circ. Told
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission properly considered the climate change benefits of a Tennessee pipeline project that will serve a Tennessee Valley Authority gas-fired power plant set to replace a coal-fired plant, the project's developers and customers told the D.C. Circuit.
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November 20, 2024
3 Law Firms Can't Dodge TCPA Suit Over Camp Lejeune Claims
A trio of law firms accused of calling a veteran dozens of times promising they could represent him in claims over toxic drinking water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, despite his never having been stationed there, cannot evade the former soldier's lawsuit, a North Carolina federal judge ruled Tuesday.
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November 20, 2024
Bill Aimed At Creating Ga.'s First National Park Moves Ahead
The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources voted Tuesday to advance a bill that would establish Georgia's first national park, upgrading the ancestral home of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma from its national monument status while also offering protections for Native American burial mounds.
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November 19, 2024
Monsanto's Bid To Pause PCB Trial Again Shot Down
A Washington state appellate commissioner on Friday again refused to undo a trial court's decision not to pause a chemical poisoning tort trial playing out in Seattle, rejecting Monsanto's contention that the court committed "obvious error" in letting the trial proceed while the state's highest court decides a similar case.
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November 19, 2024
11th Circ. Urged To Revive Fla. Cancer Cluster Suit
Several Florida individuals diagnosed with cancer after exposure to soil that defense contractor Pratt & Whitney allegedly contaminated with radiation told the Eleventh Circuit Tuesday their claims shouldn't be barred by statute of limitations, saying a jury should determine what caused their illnesses.
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November 19, 2024
Wash. Tribe Looks To Ax Wildlife Refuge Protection Suit
A Washington state tribe is looking to dismiss a challenge by three environmental groups to the federal government for failing to protect a national wildlife refuge from an industrial aquaculture operation, arguing that the true purpose of the case is to restrict its members from farming in their historic homeland.
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November 19, 2024
Trump DOT Pick Puts Highway, Road Rebuilds Back In Focus
President-elect Donald Trump's selection of former Wisconsin congressman Sean Duffy to serve as his secretary of transportation would send a savvy communicator to liaise with Capitol Hill and refocus the federal government's infrastructure investment priorities more on highways, roads and bridges and less on renewables and clean-energy initiatives, experts say.
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November 19, 2024
Neb. AG Expands Electric Trucks Fight To Volvo, Daimler
However a federal court challenge to California's phaseout of gasoline and diesel trucks plays out, Nebraska's attorney general wants to make sure that Volvo, Daimler and other semitruck giants don't eliminate traditional fossil fuel-powered vehicles, filing a Nebraska state court antitrust suit Tuesday describing phaseout commitments as anticompetitive collusion.
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November 19, 2024
Feds Defend BLM Authority In States' Methane Rule Challenge
The Biden administration has urged a North Dakota federal court to grant it a summary judgment win in five states' lawsuit challenging a new rule aimed at cracking down on natural gas waste, defending the rule's creation as being well within the Bureau of Land Management's statutory authority.
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November 19, 2024
Fish & Wildlife Settles Claims It Polluted Property
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has settled a lawsuit alleging its disposal of large quantities of a chemical pesticide contaminated a property near Lake Michigan, the federal government has said, months after the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals ruled the government was liable for the property's diminished value.
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November 19, 2024
After Biden-Era Rebuild, EPA Staff Brace For Trump Term 2
Many U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employees are gearing up for President-elect Donald Trump's second term with a promise to fight any efforts to dramatically reduce staffing levels and pointing to new union contract protections to bolster claims that they're prepared.
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November 19, 2024
Condo Says Insurer Underpaid By $19M After Hurricane Ian
A Florida condo association said its insurer underpaid it by nearly $19 million after Hurricane Ian destroyed its property in 2022, according to a suit that was removed to federal court.
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November 19, 2024
LA Waterkeeper Sues Union Pacific Over Pollution Controls
The Los Angeles Waterkeeper slapped Union Pacific Railroad Co. with a complaint in California federal court, alleging the company's failure to implement pollution controls at four industrial facilities has led to hazardous discharges of heavy metals and oils into the San Jose Creek, San Gabriel River and other bodies of water.
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November 19, 2024
Ga. Panel Says 190-Year-Old Marshland Grant Is Valid
A Georgia appellate court has sided with a company seeking to retain ownership of 1,000 acres of Georgia coastal marshland by using an 1834 document in which the state granted the land to the company's predecessor-in-title.
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November 19, 2024
Utah Counties, Feds Ask Justices To Restore Rail Oil Project
Utah counties and the federal government fired back at a Colorado county's attempt to affirm a D.C. Circuit ruling that overturned federal approval of a rail project intended to haul crude oil out of Utah's Uinta Basin, telling the U.S. Supreme Court in separate briefs the county's understanding of the National Environmental Policy Act is incorrect.
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November 19, 2024
Unjust PJM Power Auction Rules Must Be Redone, FERC Told
State consumer advocates want the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to rewrite the electricity capacity auction rules for the nation's largest regional grid operator, saying PJM Interconnection's existing rules unjustly saddle consumers with billions of dollars of extra costs.
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November 19, 2024
Treasury Finalizes Partnership Tax Credit 'Direct Pay' Regs
The U.S. Treasury Department finalized regulations Tuesday to make it easier for tax-exempt entities that co-own development projects to qualify for a direct cash payment of clean energy tax credits by electing out of their partnership tax status.
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November 18, 2024
Trump Taps Fox Host Sean Duffy For Transportation Secretary
President-elect Donald Trump announced Monday he will nominate former Wisconsin congressman and Fox Business host Sean Duffy to serve as head of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Expert Analysis
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What Chevron's End Means For How Congress Does Business
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision, overturning the Chevron doctrine, will have a far-reaching impact across the entire public policy life cycle, beginning with how Congress writes its laws and extending through agency implantation and judicial review, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step
From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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What Cos. Should Know About New Global Plastics Regs
As the global regulatory landscape for plastics and recycling changes rapidly — with new policies coming into effect in California, at the federal level, in the European Union and at the United Nations — businesses that operate across jurisdictions must stay informed to remain compliant, mitigate legal risk and achieve stewardship goals, say attorneys at O'Melveny.
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The Rise Of State And Local Environmental Leadership
While Congress is deadlocked, and a U.S. Supreme Court with a hostility toward the administrative state aggressively dismantles federal environmental oversight, state and local governments are stepping up with policies to shape a more sustainable future for all species, says Jonathan Rosenbloom at Albany Law School.
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5 Tips For Solar Cos. Navigating Big Shifts In US Trade Policy
Renewable energy developers can best mitigate new compliance risks from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s increased tariffs on imported solar cells, and simultaneously capitalize on Treasury Department incentives for domestic solar manufacturers, by following five best practices in the changing solar trade landscape, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Series
Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer
When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.
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Half-Truths Vs. Omissions: Slicing Justices' Macquarie Cake
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Macquarie v. Moab provides a road map for determining whether corporate reports that omit information should be considered misleading — and the court baked it into a dessert analogy that is key to understanding the guidelines, say Daniel Levy and Pavithra Kumar at Advanced Analytical Consulting Group.
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Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity
The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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3 Areas Of Enforcement Risk Facing The EV Industry
Companies in the EV manufacturing ecosystem are experiencing a boom in business, but with this boom comes increased regulatory and enforcement risks, from the corruption issues that have historically pervaded the extractive sector to newer risks posed by artificial intelligence, say attorneys at MoFo.
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How Cos. Should Handle Research Org.'s Carcinogen Evals
In light of the International Agency of Research for Cancer's list of substances slated for review over the next five years, manufacturers of chemicals, pharmaceuticals and consumer products should monitor for potentially unbalanced determinations, which could stimulate litigation regarding potential exposure from products, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.
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Keeping Up With Carbon Capture Policy In The US And EU
Recent regulatory moves from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the European Commission in the carbon capture, sequestration and storage space are likely to further encourage the owners and operators of fossil fuel-fired power plants to make decisions on shutdowns or reconfiguration to meet the expanding requirements, say Inosi Nyatta and Silvia Brünjes at Sullivan & Cromwell.
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New State Climate Liability Laws: What Companies Must Know
New legislation in Vermont and New York creating liability and compliance obligations for businesses deemed responsible for climate change — as well as similar bills proposed in California, Massachusetts and Maryland — have far-reaching implications for companies, so it is vital to remain vigilant as these initiatives progress, say Gregory Berlin and Jeffrey Dintzer at Alston & Bird.
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EU Investor-State Dispute Transparency Rules: Key Points
The European Union's recent vote to embrace greater transparency for investor-state arbitration will make managing newly public information more complex for all parties in a dispute — so it is important for stakeholders to understand the risks and opportunities involved, say Philip Hall, Tara Flores and Charles McKeon at Thorndon Partners.
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Despite Calif. Delays, Climate Disclosure Rules Are Coming
Progress continues on state, federal and international climate disclosure regimes, making compliance a key concern for companies — but the timeline for implementation of California's disclosure laws remains unclear due to funding and timing disputes, says David Smith at Manatt Phelps.
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Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Intra-EU Enforcement Trends
Hungary recently declared a distinct stance on the European Court of Justice's 2021 ruling in Moldavia v. Komstroy on intra-EU arbitration under the Energy Charter Treaty, highlighting a critical divergence in the bloc on enforcing investment awards and the complexities of balancing regional uniformity with international obligations, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.