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Environmental
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May 15, 2024
Chinese Art Marketplace, EV Co. Ink SPAC Deals Worth $834M
Two Chinese companies, art marketplace Tyfon Culture Holdings and electric-vehicle maker Aiways Europe have announced plans to go public in the U.S. via mergers with special-purpose acquisition companies in deals that are together valued at around $834 million.
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May 15, 2024
DC Judge Urged To Halt Offshore Wind Project Construction
Advocacy groups and a cohort of Rhode Island residents want a D.C. federal judge to halt construction on a wind farm off the coast of the Ocean State while they press claims that the federal government violated myriad environmental laws in approving the project.
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May 15, 2024
TPG, Hassana Craft $1.5B Partnership For Climate Fund
Private equity giant TPG and Saudi Arabia's Hassana Investment Company on Wednesday unveiled a $1.5 billion strategic partnership in TPG's Rise Climate platform that includes a "substantial" anchor commitment to the firm's new Transition Infrastructure fund.
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May 15, 2024
Quikrete Unit Settles With Mass. AG Over Runoff At Paver Site
A Quikrete Holdings Inc. subsidiary that makes concrete pavers is settling claims that runoff from its southeastern Massachusetts facility is polluting a river and neighboring wetlands in violation of the federal Clean Water Act, according to a proposed consent decree.
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May 14, 2024
Dems Dig Into Trump's Alleged Quid Pro Quo With Oil CEOs
Rep. Jamie Raskin on Tuesday sent letters to the executives of ExxonMobil Corp., Chevron and seven other oil and gas companies requesting information about allegations that former President Donald Trump offered to demolish fossil fuel regulations in exchange for $1 billion in campaign donations.
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May 14, 2024
5 Takeaways From FERC's Grid Planning Policy Overhaul
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's sweeping revision of its regional transmission planning policies will completely transform how U.S. grid projects are planned and paid for, but the agency's muscular approach will invite plenty of compliance and legal challenges. Here are five key takeaways from the rule finalized by FERC on Monday.
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May 14, 2024
Apache Investors Get First OK On $65M Deal In Drilling Suit
A U.S. magistrate judge has given the first green light to a $65 million settlement resolving a lawsuit against oil and gas company Apache Corp. filed by investors alleging they were deceived by promises of a potentially lucrative drilling project that ultimately led to a $3 billion write-down when it went bust.
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May 14, 2024
9th Circ. Denies Tribes, Enviro Groups' Power Line Stay Bid
The Ninth Circuit has denied an emergency request by two Native American tribes and a couple of conservation groups to stay an Arizona federal judge's order that allows work to continue on a $10 billion power line.
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May 14, 2024
Calif. City Sues Dow, Shell Over TCP-Tainted Water
Dow Chemical and Shell USA are facing a negligence suit in California federal court by the city of Pomona, alleging the companies are responsible for manufacturing commercial products containing the toxic 1,2,3-trichloropropane that has migrated into the city's water supply and seeking to recoup costs over response efforts.
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May 14, 2024
Wash. Biz Groups Say EPA Water Regs Impossible To Follow
Washington state industry groups are urging a D.C. federal judge to strike down the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's water quality standards for the state, claiming the federal agency based its calculations on historic tribal fish consumption rates and landed on pollution limits "so stringent that compliance cannot even be measured, much less achieved."
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May 14, 2024
Texas Think Tank Tells 5th Circ. It's Owed Climate Pledge Info
The Texas Public Policy Foundation told the Fifth Circuit that it should be allowed access to the names of federal officials involved in creating the Biden administration's climate pledge, arguing the federal government cannot rely on a disclosure exemption designed to protect personal privacy to withhold such information.
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May 14, 2024
Tesla Sued By Enviro Group Over Air Pollution At Calif. Plant
An environmental justice organization filed a citizen action against Tesla on Monday in California federal court alleging that the electric-car maker's plant in Northern California has spewed dangerous pollutants into the air for years and has failed to take sufficient precautions to prevent the emissions.
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May 14, 2024
Ga. Appeals Court Weighs Validity Of 190-Year-Old Land Grant
A company seeking to "restore and conserve" approximately 1,000 acres of coastal marshland told Georgia Court of Appeals on Tuesday that the state is attempting to renege on a 190-year-old property grant and take back the land simply because it may soon be worth more than $100 million.
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May 14, 2024
Tort Report: Mass Tort Settlements Beset By Crooked Claims
Fraud attempts during the settlement claims process for class actions and mass torts highlighted by a new report and an $82 million verdict in a drunk driving crash suit lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.
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May 14, 2024
Feds Dodge Salt Lake City's Suit Over $1B Gondola Plan
A Utah federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the federal government from a Salt Lake City lawsuit challenging federal approvals of a $1 billion plan to address traffic congestion by building the world's longest gondola.
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May 14, 2024
States, Elec. Co-Op Seek To Block EPA Power Plant GHG Rule
A group of 25 red states and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association asked the D.C. Circuit to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from implementing its new power plant greenhouse gas emissions rule while they challenge its legality.
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May 14, 2024
DC Circ. Upholds EPA's Renewable Fuel Standards
A divided D.C. Circuit panel upheld on Tuesday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's renewable fuel standards for 2020, 2021 and 2022, rejecting renewable fuel producers' claims the standards are too low, and petroleum refiners' contentions that they are too high.
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May 14, 2024
Plant Gas Emissions Suit Tossed For Lack Of Injury Standing
A West Virginia federal judge has thrown out a proposed class action alleging a plant operated by Union Carbide Corp. and Covestro LLC emitted carcinogenic gas and increased the likelihood of cancer in nearby residents, finding the claim of injury too speculative to support the case.
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May 14, 2024
Firms Escape Malpractice Suit Over Chicken Plant Pollution
Baird Mandalas Brockstedt & Federico LLC and Schochor Staton Goldberg and Cardea PA have escaped a malpractice suit filed in Delaware Superior Court by parents who hired the firms to pursue claims alleging contamination from a Mountaire Corp. chicken plant caused "catastrophic injuries" to their child.
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May 14, 2024
Carbon Capture Co.'s $1.8B SPAC Deal Sparks Chancery Suit
Stockholders who lost big after a blank-check company took carbon-capture venture LanzaTech NZ Inc. public in a purportedly $1.8 billion reverse-merger in February 2023 have sued for damages in Delaware's Court of Chancery, alleging disclosure failures and other defects prior to closing.
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May 14, 2024
9th Circ. Rejects Bid For Full Rehearing In Oak Flat Dispute
The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday rejected a bid by an Apache nonprofit for a full judge en banc rehearing in an effort to block a copper mining company from destroying an Indigenous religious site in central Arizona known as Oak Flat, setting up the case for a U.S. Supreme Court appeal.
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May 14, 2024
Biden More Than Doubles Tariffs On Chinese EVs, Solar Cells
The U.S. will more than double tariffs on a range of Chinese goods, including electric vehicles and their batteries, steel, semiconductors and solar cells, in response to allegedly unfair trade practices and overproduction, the White House announced Monday.
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May 13, 2024
16 States Sue To Block Calif.'s 'Clean Fleets' Rule For Trucks
Over a dozen U.S. states filed a constitutional challenge in California federal court Monday against a Golden State regulation requiring commercial truck operators to move to zero-emission electric-vehicle fleets, arguing it would disrupt the global supply chain, raise costs, and illegally enforce emission control standards, in violation of federal laws.
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May 13, 2024
Hunting Groups Want In On Gray Wolf Protections' Lawsuit
Several hunting groups have asked a Montana federal court to let them intervene in a gray wolf protection lawsuit brought by environmentalists against the U.S. Department of the Interior, saying they should get involved because their interests aren't adequately represented by the government.
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May 13, 2024
Enviro. Group Sues Feds To Stop Wash. Logging Project
The Alliance for the Wild Rockies sued the U.S. Forest Service in Washington federal court on Monday in an effort to upend the agency's final decisions to proceed with the Sxwuytn-Kaniksu Connections Trail Project for failing to take a "hard look" at the project's impacts.
Expert Analysis
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For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill
A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.
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Illinois EV Charging Act Sparks Developer Concerns
A recent state law in Illinois requiring multifamily housing to provide facilities for electric vehicle charging raises significant concerns for developers over existing infrastructure that isn't up to the task, says Max Kanter at Much Shelist.
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5th Circ. Clarifies What Is And Isn't A 'New Use' Of PFAS
The Fifth Circuit's March 21 decision in Inhance Technologies v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, preventing the EPA from regulating existing uses of PFAS under "significant new use" provisions of the Toxic Substances Control Act, provides industry with much-needed clarity, say Joseph Schaeffer and Sloane Wildman at Babst Calland.
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Opinion
New Mexico Fire Victims Deserve Justice From Federal Gov't
Two years after the largest fire in New Mexico's history — a disaster caused by the U.S. government's mismanagement of prescribed burns — the Federal Emergency Management Agency must remedy its grossly inadequate relief efforts and flawed legal interpretations that have left victims of the fire still waiting for justice, says former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas.
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Opinion
Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea
A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.
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Opinion
Streamlined Mine Regulation Is Key For The Energy Transition
Mining is essential for obtaining the critical minerals required for a transition to greener energy and transportation technologies, but inefficient permitting processes are making it harder to mine these essential materials that will enable a more environmentally sound future, says Scot Anderson at Womble Bond.
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4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best
As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.
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How 3 Unfolding Cases Could Affect The Energy Industry
Three judicial decisions now in the pipeline — Texas' challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's methane regulations, Delaware's climate suit against big energy companies, and a case before the Supreme Court of Texas on royalty lease interpretation — could have important implications for the energy industry, say Michelle Scheffler and Rachael Cox at Skadden.
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How IRA Unlocks Green Energy Investments For Tribes
An Inflation Reduction Act provision going into effect May 10 represents a critical juncture for Native American tribes, offering promising economic opportunity in green energy investment, but requiring a proactive and informed approach when taking advantage of newly available tax incentives, say attorneys at Lewis Brisbois.
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What Nevada 'Superbasin' Ruling Means For Water Users
The Nevada Supreme Court's recent decision in Sullivan v. Lincoln County Water District, affirming that the state can manage multiple predesignated water basins as one "superbasin," significantly broadens the scope of water constraints that project developers in Nevada and throughout the West may need to consider, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Tipsters May Be Key To Financial Regulators' ESG Efforts
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are looking to whistleblowers to assist their climate and ESG task forces, suggesting insider information could be central to the agencies' enforcement efforts against corporate greenwashing, false investment claims and climate disclosure violations, says John Crutchlow at Youman & Caputo.
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Series
Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer
Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.
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Fears About The End Of Chevron Deference Are Overblown
While some are concerned about repercussions if the U.S. Supreme Court brings an end to Chevron deference in the Loper and Relentless cases this term, agencies and attorneys would survive just fine under the doctrines that have already begun to replace it, say Daniel Wolff and Henry Leung at Crowell & Moring.
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Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs
Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.
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California Shows A Viable Way Forward For PFAS Testing
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has no good way of testing for the presence of specific per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances in food packaging — but a widely available test for a range of fluorine compounds that's now being used in California may offer a good solution, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.