Environmental

  • September 19, 2024

    Wash. Justices Strike Down County's Rural Winery Regs

    The Washington State Supreme Court has struck down an Evergreen State county's regulations for wineries and tasting rooms on rural land near Seattle, saying Thursday the local government violated long-term planning and land use law by downplaying potential environmental consequences of the rules before passing them.

  • September 19, 2024

    GM Asks Full 6th Circ. To Rehear Truck Emissions Fraud Suit

    General Motors LLC is asking the full Sixth Circuit for an en banc rehearing of a split decision that revived state law claims from four plaintiffs who alleged that GM misleadingly marked Chevrolet Silverado and Sierra vehicles as being more environmentally friendly than they were.

  • September 19, 2024

    Union Pacific Contractors Again Escape Texas Enviro Claims

    A Texas appeals court on Thursday affirmed a trial court's decision to dismiss without prejudice the claims scores of people lodged against two Union Pacific Railroad Co. contractors in their litigation over cancer-causing contamination related to a Houston rail yard.

  • September 19, 2024

    Gold Mine Operator Agrees To Pay $3M In Water Pollution Row

    The operator of the controversial Buckhorn Mountain Gold Mine has agreed to pay more than $3.1 million and take a variety of steps to investigate and remediate water pollution, under a proposed consent decree filed in Washington federal court on Thursday.

  • September 19, 2024

    Food Safety Org Says EPA Stalling On Sharing Pesticide Info

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is illegally failing to provide important records about how it assesses pesticides' ecological impact and human health risks, the Center for Food Safety said in a new lawsuit.

  • September 19, 2024

    Tyson Foods Hit With Greenwashing Suit For 'Net-Zero' Claim

    Tyson Foods Inc. has been slapped with a complaint by the Environmental Working Group in D.C. Superior Court, accusing the country's second-largest meat company of falsely claiming it will be net-zero by 2050 and misrepresenting its industrial beef products as "climate-smart."

  • September 19, 2024

    EPA Urges DC Circ. Not To Block Coal Ash Rule Implementation

    A Kentucky electric utility is "misleading" the D.C. Circuit about how clean former coal ash pits are once the material is removed, and should not be allowed to block implementation of a new coal ash rule, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday.

  • September 19, 2024

    Calif. Port's Approval Of Hydrogen Project Challenged

    Two conservation groups filed a California state court lawsuit challenging the Port of Stockton's review and approval of a hydrogen production and distribution facility, arguing it conducted an inadequate environmental review and failed to ensure project impacts are mitigated.

  • September 19, 2024

    Consultant Ducks Contempt In Fight Over Packaging Patent

    An inventor facing allegations of abusive patent behavior by the packaging company for which he previously consulted has dodged a civil contempt finding after a North Carolina federal judge found he was not in violation of an injunction barring him from making false infringement claims.

  • September 19, 2024

    FERC Must Heed DC Circ. 'Shift' On Gas Reviews, Chair Says

    Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Willie Phillips said Thursday that the D.C. Circuit wrongly wiped out the agency's approval of a Northeast pipeline expansion project, but acknowledged that recent court decisions will force FERC to rethink how it reviews gas infrastructure projects.

  • September 19, 2024

    Judge Blocks Manhattan Project Waste From Mich. Landfill

    A state judge barred a southeast Michigan landfill from accepting shipments of radiological material Wednesday, issuing a temporary restraining order days after surrounding communities sued over planned deliveries of contaminated soil and debris left over from the development of the first atomic bomb.

  • September 19, 2024

    BakerHostetler Adds Ex-Baker Botts Accident Response Duo

    Months after hiring former Baker Botts attorney Greg Dillard to lead its catastrophic accident response team, BakerHostetler has announced the hire of two more attorneys from the firm as counsel in Washington, D.C., and Houston.

  • September 19, 2024

    Feds Defend At-Sea Monitoring Rule Despite Chevron Demise

    The federal government is defending its power to require fishermen to partially fund the cost of compliance monitors aboard their ships, arguing to the D.C. Circuit that the demise of the so-called Chevron deference doesn't change the fact that federal law authorizes the at-sea monitoring rules.

  • September 19, 2024

    AT&T To Pay For Removal Of Hazardous Lake Tahoe Cables

    A California sportfishing nonprofit on Wednesday told a federal court that an AT&T subsidiary has agreed to pay an estimated $1.5 million to remove its lead-clad telecom cables in Lake Tahoe to end litigation that the cables pose a health threat.

  • September 18, 2024

    Waste Mgmt. Sued For $3.8M Over Renewable Energy Credits

    A Constellation Energy Corp. unit slapped Waste Management Inc. with a complaint in Texas federal court on Tuesday, saying the company has refused to cough up more than $3.8 million for renewable energy credits Constellation paid for but never received.

  • September 18, 2024

    PureCycle Investors Seek Final OK Of $12M Settlement

    Investors in plastic recycling company PureCycle have asked a Florida federal judge to grant final approval to a $12 million deal to end a proposed class action alleging the company misled shareholders about its technology, financial projections and access to raw materials, roughly two years after the court temporarily tossed it for being imprecise.

  • September 18, 2024

    EPA Retaliated Against Three Scientists, Watchdog Says

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's internal watchdog said Wednesday that agency officials pushing for faster progress on a backlog of chemical reviews retaliated against several scientists for raising differing scientific opinions on chemical assessments.

  • September 18, 2024

    Wash. Court Won't Ax Testimony In Tribes' River Pollution Suit

    A Washington federal judge issued a slew of orders Tuesday refusing to limit expert testimony in the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation's lawsuit against a smelter operator over pollution in the Upper Columbia River, saying the testimony will help the jury make a decision at trial.

  • September 18, 2024

    Loper Bright Undercuts SEC Climate Rule, Fracking Cos. Say

    Two fracking companies suing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its climate disclosure rules have again urged the Eighth Circuit to vacate the measures, offering a diverging interpretation of how the U.S. Supreme Court's decision axing Chevron deference should apply.

  • September 18, 2024

    Insurers Demand Arbitration Of La. Storm Damage At 2nd Circ.

    A Second Circuit panel puzzled over whether to uphold a New York federal court's ruling denying surplus insurers arbitration in a Louisiana hurricane damage case, during oral arguments over whether the court should follow Bayou State law prohibiting arbitration or reverse the lower court's decision.

  • September 18, 2024

    5th Circ. Favors Excess Insurer In Marina Coverage Dispute

    The Fifth Circuit upheld a ruling in an inter-insurer dispute over coverage responsibilities of a $13.7 million judgment entered against their mutual client, holding Wednesday that while the excess insurer breached its duties, the primary insurer bears the larger financial burden because it failed to properly settle the underlying dispute.

  • September 18, 2024

    Gov't Lifeline Gives Nippon A Fighting Chance On US Steel

    The Biden administration has indicated it's poised to block Nippon Steel from proceeding with a controversial $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel, but the government is reportedly giving the Japanese steelmaker an additional 90 days to prove its case, a development that should give Nippon hope it can get the deal done, attorneys say.

  • September 18, 2024

    Feds Oppose Bid To Block EPA Mercury Rule At High Court

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, several blue states and a coalition of green groups on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reject an effort to reverse the D.C. Circuit's decision allowing the EPA to implement a mercury air pollution rule.

  • September 18, 2024

    NC Panel Won't Undo Energy Rates In Solar Incentives Row

    The North Carolina state appeals court has declined to unravel the state's revised energy rates for residents with rooftop solar power, saying that while the North Carolina Utilities Commission erred by concluding it was not required to conduct a cost-benefit investigation, it de facto carried out such an inquiry anyway.

  • September 18, 2024

    Fla. Judge Keeps Tribe's CWA Permitting Power Row On Hold

    A Florida federal judge on Wednesday further extended his pause of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians' lawsuit claiming the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency improperly granted Florida authority over a Clean Water Act permitting program, while the D.C. Circuit considers an appeal in a similar case.

Expert Analysis

  • What's Extraordinary About Challenges To SEC Climate Rule

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    A set of ideologically diverse legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure rule have been consolidated in the Eighth Circuit via a seldom-used lottery system, and the unpredictability of this process may drive agencies toward a more cautious future approach to rulemaking, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

  • Opinion

    SEC Doesn't Have Legal Authority For Climate Disclosure Rule

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    Instead of making the required legal argument to establish its authority, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosure rule hides behind more than 1,000 references to materiality to give the appearance that its rule is legally defensible, says Bernard Sharfman at RealClearFoundation.

  • What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.

  • Opinion

    SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.

  • Microplastics At The Crossroads Of Regulation And Litigation

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    Though there are currently not many federal regulations specifically addressing microplastics as pollutants, regulatory scrutiny and lawsuits asserting consumer protection claims are both on the rise, and manufacturers should take proactive steps to implement preventive measures accordingly, say Aliza Karetnick and Franco Corrado at Morgan Lewis.

  • How Cos. Can Comply With New PFAS Superfund Rule

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule designating two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as "hazardous substances" under the Superfund law will likely trigger additional enforcement and litigation at sites across the country — so companies should evaluate any associated reporting obligations and liability risks, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Understanding The IRC's Excessive Refund Claim Penalty

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    Taxpayers considering protective refund claims pending resolution of major questions in tax cases like Moore v. U.S., which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, should understand how doing so may also leave them vulnerable to an excessive refund claim penalty under Internal Revenue Code Section 6676, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Recent Wave Of SEC No-Action Denials May Be Slowing

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in March granted no-action relief to Verizon and others on the grounds that a director resignation bylaw proposal would mean violating Delaware law, bucking recent SEC hesitation toward such relief and showing that articulating a basis in state law is a viable path to exclude a proposal, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • Why RWI Insurers Should Consider Excluding PFAS

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    As regulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances escalates, carriers providing representations and warranties insurance should reconsider providing PFAS coverage on a case-by-case basis, say Dave Bartoletti and Ina Avalon at Taft Stettinius.

  • Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert

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    As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • 10b-5 Litigation Questions Follow Justices' Macquarie Ruling

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    Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Macquarie v. Moab that pure omissions are not actionable under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b–5(b), creating a slightly higher bar for plaintiffs and setting the stage for further litigation over several issues, say Steve Quinlivan and Sean Colligan at Stinson.

  • Series

    Walking With My Dog Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Thanks to my dog Birdie, I've learned that carving out an activity different from the practice of law — like daily outdoor walks that allow you to interact with new people — can contribute to professional success by boosting creativity and mental acuity, as well as expanding your social network, says Sarah Petrie at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

  • Could 'General Average' Apply To The Key Bridge Crash?

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    While the owner and operator of the vessel that struck Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge have sought legal protection under the Limitation of Liability Act, they could choose to invoke the long-standing principle of general average, if supported by the facts of the crash and the terms of their contracts with cargo owners, says Julie Maurer at Husch Blackwell.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Follow The Iron Rule Of Trial Logic

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    Many diligent and eager attorneys include every good fact, point and rule in their trial narratives — spurred by the gnawing fear they’ll be second-guessed for leaving something out — but this approach ignores a fundamental principle of successful trial lawyering, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

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