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Environmental
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February 18, 2025
Limited FERC Pipeline Review Makes No Sense, DC Circ. Told
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had no evidence to support its finding that the pipeline it chose to review only a 1,000-foot section of would transport only Texas-produced gas, the environmentalists trying to force a review of the full pipeline project told the D.C. Circuit.
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February 18, 2025
County Opposes Wash. Tribe's Bid To Weigh In On River Fight
A county dike district has opposed a Washington state-based tribe's bid to file a friend of the court brief in the district's suit against a U.S. government biological opinion finding that a proposed tide-gate project endangers salmon, arguing that the tribe doesn't provide a unique perspective.
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February 18, 2025
EPA Gives Congress A Chance To Sink Calif. Auto Waivers
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has offered Congress a chance to revoke Biden-era authorizations that allow California to issue its own vehicle emissions standards, something the Golden State said hasn't been done before and has unclear chances of success.
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February 18, 2025
Exxon, Koch Lose Bid To End Minn. Climate Change Suit
A Minnesota state judge on Friday largely preserved the state's lawsuit alleging Exxon Mobil Corp., Koch Industries Inc. and the American Petroleum Institute concealed the climate change risks of fossil fuels, rejecting arguments that the case was a matter of federal, not state, law.
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February 18, 2025
Lawmakers Say FEMA Must Accept Tribal Fire Declarations
A pair of U.S. senators have reintroduced legislation that would require the Federal Emergency Management Agency to accept requests from tribal governments to receive Fire Management Assistant Grant declarations that would make them eligible for U.S. government resources.
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February 18, 2025
Torrent Of Eaton Fire Suits Call For Organization, Judge Says
A Los Angeles judge said Tuesday that discovery into the cause of last month's devastating Eaton Fire should wait until dozens of related suits against Southern California Edison have been organized and can "proceed efficiently and fairly."
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February 18, 2025
Telecoms Hope New Ag Secretary Pushes Permit Reform
Builders of cable systems and cell towers called for the new secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help remove what they perceive as unnecessary hurdles to broadband deployment projects.
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February 18, 2025
Houston Energy Co. Settles Claims Over Utah Plant Turbines
Houston clean energy company Fervo Energy Co. has settled its claims with a geothermal equipment supplier it accused of threatening to file a patent infringement lawsuit if it didn't win a bid to supply turbines for Fervo's Utah power plant.
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February 18, 2025
Ancora Says US Steel CEO May Have Made Insider Trades
Ancora Holdings Group LLC is claiming that U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt "may have engaged in insider trading" tied to the company's proposed $14.9 billion merger with Japan's Nippon Steel, and the investor said it could bring related litigation, according to documents released Tuesday.
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February 18, 2025
State AGs Can't Yet Block Musk From Accessing Agency Data
A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Tuesday denied a motion from 14 state attorneys general for an emergency order to stop Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency from accessing data systems at seven federal agencies or enacting mass firings of those agencies' employees.
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February 18, 2025
Calif. Insurance Chief Asks State Farm To Justify Rate Hikes
California's insurance commissioner asked State Farm General Insurance Co. to appear for an in-person "informal conference" later this month over its request for emergency rate hikes in the wake of the deadly Los Angeles wildfires in January, saying the insurer has not yet justified the move.
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February 18, 2025
Diamondback Buys Midland Assets For $3B Cash Plus Stock
Kirkland & Ellis LLP-advised oil and natural gas company Diamondback Energy Inc. on Tuesday announced plans to buy Midland Basin assets from Vinson & Elkins LLP-led Double Eagle IV Midco LLC. in a cash-and-stock deal that includes a $3 billion cash payment.
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February 14, 2025
Loper Bright Doesn't Sink ESG Rule, Texas Judge Says
A Texas federal judge again upheld a Biden-era rule allowing retirement fiduciaries to consider issues like climate change and social justice when choosing investments, ruling that the rule was still valid despite the U.S. Supreme Court doing away with a decades-long approach to interpreting statutes.
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February 14, 2025
Feds Seek Stay Of States' Methane Suit, Citing Trump Order
The federal government has requested a pause on North Dakota and other states' challenge to a Bureau of Land Management methane waste rule, saying a stay is appropriate because the rule is under review following President Donald Trump's "Unleashing American Energy" executive order.
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February 14, 2025
States Move To Block Musk From Taking Over Gov't Agencies
Fourteen state attorneys general Friday sought an emergency order in D.C. federal court to stop Elon Musk and his U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization from exercising "unprecedented" authority over federal agencies, arguing that as an unelected, unconfirmed official, Musk has "taken the helm" of the federal government in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
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February 14, 2025
Demise Of Humphrey's Executor Could Sow Chaos At FERC
The Trump administration's quest to expand the president's firing authority over members of independent agencies paints a target on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that would create instability within the energy industry if at-will removal of commissioners becomes a reality.
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February 14, 2025
Murkowski Urges Senate To Shield Tribes From Trump Orders
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, has urged lawmakers to join her in responding to possible negative effects of President Donald Trump's executive orders on federal funding that Indigenous tribes receive.
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February 14, 2025
9th Circ. Judge Pauses At Forest Service's Project Revision
The U.S. Forest Service pushed back on Friday against a Ninth Circuit judge's point that a restoration project being challenged by a conservation group evolved "quite a bit" after a fire ripped through the area, contending the final plan ultimately prescribed the same changes — just to fewer acres.
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February 14, 2025
Trump Aims To End Limits On President's Power To Fire
President Donald Trump has his sights set on taking down a 90-year-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling that protects certain government officials from being fired, a U.S. Department of Justice letter confirms, and he plans to leverage his prior legal victories to deliver the precedent's death knell and expand presidential power.
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February 14, 2025
Old Permits Irrelevant To Pollution Controls, Texas Justices Say
The Texas Supreme Court said that previous emissions permits have no bearing on the definition of the best available pollution control technology for new projects, weighing in on a Fifth Circuit dispute over a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal in Port Arthur, Texas.
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February 14, 2025
EPA Fires Hundreds Of Employees, Cuts Millions In Contracts
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday kept up the pace of cuts to staffing and spending, firing 388 probationary workers and canceling $60 million in contracts related to diversity, equity and inclusion and environmental justice programs.
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February 14, 2025
EPA, Energy Dept. Rush To Fulfill Trump's Appliance Order
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy said they're acting to comply with President Donald Trump's order — delivered via social media post — that they should undo Biden-era appliance efficiency standards.
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February 14, 2025
Houston Energy Co. Stiffed For Cleanup Costs, Court Told
A Houston energy company refused to decommission a toppled oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico and then failed to pay up when another party got stuck with the cleanup duty, an oil company has told a Texas federal court.
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February 14, 2025
Munger Tolles Gets $10M Retainer To Rep LA In Fire Litigation
Munger Tolles & Olson LLP has signed a $10 million retainer agreement to represent the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in a series of lawsuits alleging it irresponsibly left a local reservoir empty ahead of last month's devastating Palisades Fire.
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February 14, 2025
Enviro Groups Back EPA On Challenged PFAS Superfund Rule
Conservation groups are urging the D.C. Circuit to deny a string of industry challenges to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to designate two "forever chemicals" as hazardous substances under the federal government's Superfund law, arguing that they have no merit.
Expert Analysis
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State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape
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.
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Review Shipping Terms In Light Of These 3 Global Challenges
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.
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Cos. Face Increasing Risk From Environmental Citizen Suits
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.
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How BIS' Rule Seeks To Encourage More Voluntary Disclosure
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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8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney
A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.
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Navigating Complex Regulatory Terrain Amid State AG Races
This year's 10 attorney general elections could usher in a wave of new enforcement priorities and regulatory uncertainty, but companies can stay ahead of the shifts by building strong relationships with AG offices, participating in industry coalitions and more, say Ketan Bhirud and Dustin McDaniel at Cozen O’Connor.
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How The 2025 Tax Policy Debate Will Affect The Energy Sector
Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming U.S. election, 2025 will bring a major tax policy debate that could affect the energy sector more than any other part of the economy — so stakeholders who could be affected should be engaging now to make sure they understand the stakes, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Sublimit And Policy Interpretation Lessons From Amtrak Case
The recently settled dispute between Amtrak and its insurers over sublimit coverage illustrates that parties with unclear manuscript policies may wish to avoid litigation in favor of settlement — as the New York federal court declined to decide the case by applying prior term interpretations, says Laura Maletta at Chartwell Law.
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3rd Circ. Hertz Ruling Highlights Flawed Bankruptcy Theory
The Third Circuit, in its recent Hertz bankruptcy decision, became the latest appeals court to hold that noteholders were entitled to interest before shareholders under the absolute priority rule, but risked going astray by invoking the flawed theory of code impairment, say Matthew McGill and David Casazza at Gibson Dunn.
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Opinion
This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process
In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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The Complex Challenges Facing Sustainable Food Packaging
More and more states are requiring recycled content to be used in product packaging, creating complex technological and regulatory considerations for manufacturers who must also comply with federal food safety requirements, say Peter Coneski and Natalie Rainer at K&L Gates.
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Int'l Agreements Are Key For Safe Nuclear Waste Disposal
By replacing fossil fuels, nuclear energy has the potential to offer a major contribution to the global fight against climate change — but ensuring that nuclear power is safe and sustainable will require binding, multinational agreements for safe nuclear waste disposal, say Ryan Schermerhorn and Christopher Zahn at Marshall Gerstein.
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Series
Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers
Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.
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How Multifamily Property Owners Can Plan For The EV Future
As the electric vehicle market expands, and federal and state incentives and mandates intended to promote EV use come into effect, owners and operators of multifamily residential properties should be prepared to meet the growing demand for onsite EV charging infrastructure, say Sydney Tucker and Andreas Wokutch at Frost Brown.
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New Law May Move Calif. Toward Fashion Sustainability
California’s recently signed Responsible Textile Recovery Act seeks to increase sustainability innovation in the fashion industry, but it could also create compliance hurdles for brands, especially smaller fashion houses that do not have ample resources, say Warren Koshofer and Maggie Franz at Michelman & Robinson.