Environmental

  • March 26, 2024

    8th Circ. Urged To Freeze SEC Climate Rules Once More

    An energy company suing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its recently finalized climate disclosure rules urged the Eighth Circuit on Tuesday to stay the implementation of the rules, after a stay granted by the Fifth Circuit was recently lifted following the consolidation of various related lawsuits.

  • March 26, 2024

    Pennsylvania, Crypto Miner Sued Over Enviro Contamination

    A Pennsylvania environmental group sued the Keystone State and a crypto-mining company Tuesday in Philadelphia County Court accusing the state of failing to protect its residents from the company's purported six million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

  • March 26, 2024

    Enviro Orgs Sue To Block Expansion Of NY's Biggest Landfill

    Environmental groups, businesses and residents are asking a New York state judge to order regulators to address noxious odors coming from a landfill near Seneca Falls and prevent regulators from approving a proposed expansion that would allow the state's largest landfill to operate beyond 2025.

  • March 26, 2024

    SPAC Investors Misled In $1.35B Stem Deal, Del. Suit Says

    A former stockholder of a blank-check company that merged with intelligent energy storage business Stem Inc. filed a proposed class action in Delaware's Court of Chancery Tuesday, alleging breaches of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment in connection with the April 2021 merger.

  • March 26, 2024

    Conagra Can't Sink Sustainable Fishing False Ad Suit

    An Illinois federal judge trimmed but refused to toss a proposed class action claiming Conagra Brands Inc. deceptively labels its seafood products as sustainable when the fish is sourced with methods harmful to oceans, saying the customers have sufficiently alleged the phrase "Good for the Environment" is deceptive.

  • March 26, 2024

    Ski Resort Corp. Says Sheep Used As Pretext To Ruin Project

    Ski resort corporation The Vail Corp. told the Colorado Court of Appeals Monday to revive its workforce housing project after the town of Vail allegedly gave into local opposition against the project and used a local bighorn sheep herd as pretext to condemn the 23.3 acres of land that the ski resort corporation planned to use for the project.

  • March 26, 2024

    NY Urges 2nd Circ. To Deny Tribe's Eel Fishing Challenge

    The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation called on the Second Circuit to uphold a lower court's rejection of the Unkechaug Indian Nation's challenge to the agency's regulations on eel harvests, saying contrary to the tribe's arguments, they're not preempted by any federal treaty or statute.

  • March 26, 2024

    Fishers Say Tire Cos. Can't Escape Salmon ESA Suit

    Fishing groups are fighting tire companies' attempt to dismiss an Endangered Species Act suit over the use of a rubber additive known as 6PPD, which harms salmon, telling a California federal judge the companies are trying to delay accountability.

  • March 26, 2024

    BP, Chevron And Others Hit With Climate Change Suit In Pa.

    Bucks County in Pennsylvania has sued BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil and other major oil companies for allegedly deceiving the public about the dangers of fossil fuel pollution, claiming that climate change has caused increasingly severe weather leading to property damage in the county.

  • March 26, 2024

    Boeing Can't Exit Wash. Worker's Birth Defect Suit

    A Washington state judge has declined to throw out a lawsuit accusing Boeing of exposing a factory worker to chemicals that caused birth defects in his child, after casting doubt last month on the company's assertion it had no legal duty to protect employees' future children from foreseeable harm.

  • March 26, 2024

    Biden Admin Greenlights 2nd Orsted NY Offshore Wind Farm

    The U.S. Department of the Interior on Tuesday approved the construction of Orsted-Eversource's Sunrise Wind project off the New York coast, the seventh offshore wind project given the go-ahead by the Biden administration.

  • March 26, 2024

    Greens Sue NRC Over Delayed Diablo Canyon Inspections

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission violated federal law when it rejected community and environmental groups' request for a public hearing over allegedly outdated inspections at Diablo Canyon, California's last remaining nuclear power plant, the groups told the Ninth Circuit on Monday.

  • March 26, 2024

    Air Force Says Flight Training Isn't Affecting Enviros' Mission

    The U.S. Air Force told an Oregon federal court that environmental groups' challenge to expanded warfighter training is based on how the plan would impact local noise levels and animal habitats, and not how the plan was affecting them personally.

  • March 26, 2024

    US EV Subsidies Discriminatory, China Tells WTO

    Domestic production rules for U.S. electric vehicles to qualify for subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act are discriminatory, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday, announcing it had filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization.

  • March 26, 2024

    K&L Gates Adds Ex-Suncor Atty To Energy Team In Seattle

    K&L Gates LLP has announced it is expanding its environment, land and natural resources practice capabilities in Seattle with the addition of a seasoned partner with two decades of diverse environmental policy experience including private practice, in-house and government work.

  • March 25, 2024

    4th Circ. Sides With Trump Jr. In Ex-Coal CEO's Libel Suit

    A Fourth Circuit panel on Monday upheld Donald Trump Jr.'s win against former coal company CEO and U.S. Senate candidate Don Blankenship's defamation suit, saying there's no evidence Trump Jr. acted with actual malice when he called Blankenship a "felon" — instead of a person convicted of a federal misdemeanor — on social media.

  • March 25, 2024

    Full 10th Circ. Stands By Revival Of Valero Pipeline Leak Suit

    The full Tenth Circuit refused to budge from a panel's February decision that partly revived an Oklahoma cattle ranch's lawsuit seeking to hold Valero Energy Corp. liable for a pipeline leak that allegedly contaminated the ranch property.

  • March 25, 2024

    Wild Horses Can't Drag Ga., Feds Into Enviro Suit, Judge Told

    U.S. and Georgia government officials have again asked a Peach State federal court to throw out claims they illegally neglected feral horses on Cumberland Island, arguing a revised lawsuit from conservation groups still can't show they are responsible for damage committed by the animals.

  • March 25, 2024

    NOAA Allots $60M To Help Columbia River Salmon

    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it plans to allocate $60 million of Inflation Reduction Act funding to pay for overdue maintenance and repairs at hatchery facilities in the Columbia River Basin, which will further tribal priorities and help address climate change impacts facing salmon and steelhead populations.

  • March 25, 2024

    BLM Adhered To Law In Granting Oil Lease Sales, Judge Rules

    A D.C. federal judge has ruled in favor of the Bureau of Land Management in litigation brought by environmental groups seeking to challenge six oil and gas leases in the western United States, saying the agency did all that it was required to under the National Environmental Policy Act when it approved the lease sales.

  • March 25, 2024

    EPA Takes Heat Over Latest Renewable Fuel Regs

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's latest renewable fuel blending requirements took a legal beating from all sides Friday, with refiners, biofuel producers and environmentalists urging the D.C. Circuit to send the agency back to the drawing board.

  • March 25, 2024

    High Court Won't Review Texas Oil Spill Liability Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider if a mixture of petroleum and chemicals is considered "oil" under federal oil spill law and rejected companies' attempt to revive their suit against a storage terminal operator for polluting the Houston Ship Channel.

  • March 25, 2024

    Plaintiffs' Attys Found Not Violating Soliciting Rules In OT Suit

    Current and former employees of a Pennsylvania coal company earned conditional certification and did not violate soliciting rules for a collective action accusing management of violating overtime rules by not compensating time spent attending to gear before and after shifts, a federal judge ruled.

  • March 25, 2024

    Black La. Residents Ask 5th Circ. To Revive Pollution Suit

    Black Louisianans are asking the Fifth Circuit to revive their lawsuit that alleges St. James Parish's government and the state Legislature intentionally approved harmful petrochemical facilities in predominantly Black districts and protected predominantly white districts from those facilities.

  • March 25, 2024

    'Bridgegate' Atty Among Pair Of New Arnold & Porter Partners

    Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP has expanded its partner ranks with a former prosecutor in the "Bridgegate" case and a onetime environmental law practice leader at another firm moving to its New Jersey, New York and Boston offices, the firm announced Monday.

Expert Analysis

  • What NJ's Green Remediation Guidance Means For Cleanups

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    Recent guidance from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection promoting greener approaches to restoring contaminated sites demonstrates the state's commitment to sustainability and environmental justice — but could also entail more complexity, higher costs and longer remediation timelines, say J. Michael Showalter and Bradley Rochlen at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Mo. Solar Projects Need Clarity On Enterprise Zone Tax Relief

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    In Missouri, enhanced enterprise zones offer tax abatements that could offset the cost of solar project infrastructure, but developers must be willing to navigate uncertainty about whether the project is classified as real property, say Lizzy McEntire and Anna Kimbrell at Husch Blackwell.

  • AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier

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    Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.

  • What To Expect After Colo. Nixes Special Standing Rules

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    Two recent Colorado Supreme Court decisions have abandoned a test to preclude standing in lawsuits challenging government decisions brought by subordinate government entities, which will likely lead to an admixture of results, including opening the door to additional legal challenges between government entities, says John Crisham at Crisham & Holman.

  • Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World

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    As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: South Korea

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    Numerous ESG trends have materialized in South Korea in the past three years, with impacts ranging from greenwashing prevention and carbon neutrality measures to workplace harassment and board diversity initiatives, say Chang Wook Min and Hyun Chan Jung at Jipyong.

  • How Social Media Can Affect Trial Outcomes

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    With social media’s ability to seize upon an issue and spin it into a specifically designed narrative, it is more critical than ever that a litigation communications strategy be part of trial planning to manage the impact of legal action on a company's reputation, say Sean Murphy and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.

  • General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI

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    With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.

  • Illinois Trump Tower Ruling Illuminates Insurance 'Occurrence'

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    In Continental Casualty v. 401 North Wabash Venture, an Illinois appellate court found that Trump Tower was not entitled to insurance coverage for operating its HVAC system without a permit, helping to further define a widely litigated general liability insurance issue — what constitutes an "occurrence," say Robert Tugander and Greg Mann at Rivkin Radler.

  • A Look At Successful Bid Protests In FY 2023

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    Attorneys at Sheppard Mullin look beyond the statistics in the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s recent annual report on bid protests, sharing their insights about nine categories of sustained protests, gained from reading every fiscal year 2023 decision in which the protester had a positive result.

  • Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information

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    As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.

  • Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD

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    Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • Biden Climate Push Expands With Contractor GHG Focus

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    President Joe Biden's recent announcement that federal agencies will consider contractors' greenhouse gas emissions when making procurement decisions demonstrates his administration's continued interest in using government contracting as a vehicle for reducing climate-related impacts — a theme first established in the early months of his term, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • Key Shifts In EU, UK Emissions Credits: Challenges For Cos.

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    An upcoming deadline to apply for free carbon dioxide emissions allowances in the European Union, and a reduction in the supply of similar allowances in the U.K., are likely to increase competition for allowances, and cause production, supply chain and contract issues for companies, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • How Shareholder Activists Are Targeting Insurers

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    As shareholder activists take a closer look at the insurance industry, they are pushing insurers to take value-enhancing and climate-related measures — but insurers can prepare by anticipating activist concerns, maintaining robust shareholder engagement, and considering changes in response to the universal proxy rules, say attorneys at Debevoise.

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