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Environmental
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March 04, 2024
Camp Lejeune Plaintiffs Say Specific Illness Link Is Not Required
Litigants in the Camp Lejeune contaminated-water litigation on Sunday told a North Carolina federal court that Congress set a unique standard to show that their illnesses were caused by exposure to the water at the Marine base, given that it's been decades since some veterans were first exposed.
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March 04, 2024
9th Circ. Affirms Forest Service Logging Plans In Calif.
The Ninth Circuit on Friday upheld a U.S. Forest Service logging project in California's Los Padres National Forest that is designed to assist firefighters, rejecting environmentalists' argument that the plan runs afoul of the area's general logging prohibition.
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March 04, 2024
Split Calif. Panel Backs Drinking Water Regs On Oil Operators
A split California appellate panel threw out a trial court ruling finding drinking water regulations put in place by the California Geologic Energy Management Division are invalid, saying, instead, the challenged regulations are consistent with the overall statutory scheme and supported by substantial evidence.
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March 04, 2024
Army Corps Says It Considered Dredged Waste Plan Correctly
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has urged an Illinois federal judge to reject environmental claims targeting dredged sediment it is storing on part of Lake Michigan's shoreline, arguing the Corps' "robust" public interest study proves its decision-making process followed all statutory and regulatory requirements.
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March 04, 2024
What To Know About 9th Circ. Ruling On Tribe's Sacred Site
A split Ninth Circuit ruling that a sacred tribal site in Arizona's Tonto National Forest can be transferred to a copper mining company is certain to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court by the San Carlos Apache Tribe, which contends that the decision effectively bulldozes a long-held worship site and ultimately denies the tribe's freedom of religious expression, despite the panel's skepticism of that claim.
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March 04, 2024
FERC Slams Brakes On $1.1B Bridgepoint-ECP Deal
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has blocked U.K. asset manager Bridgepoint Group PLC's proposed £835 million ($1.1 billion) purchase of Energy Capital Partners LP, saying the companies haven't shown the merger wouldn't affect competition in U.S. electricity markets.
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March 04, 2024
Maine Slams Trade Secret Claim In Lobstermen's Tracking Suit
The Maine state government is pushing back against lobstermen who want a federal court to block a state requirement to have tracking devices on their boats, slamming arguments that the monitoring will reveal fishing patterns and locations they consider trade secrets.
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March 04, 2024
Electric Co. Must Face Claim It Kept Coal Partner In The Dark
Consumers Energy Co. still faces potential liability for excluding a minority owner from a decision to shut down its last remaining coal-fired power plant in 2025, a Michigan state judge ruled Friday, while also narrowing the company's dispute ahead of trial.
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March 01, 2024
EV Maker Rivian Rips Investors' Class Cert. Bid In Fraud Suit
Investors alleging Rivian Automotive Inc. underpriced its electric vehicles and misrepresented its profitability ahead of a blockbuster 2021 initial public offering cannot certify their class with zero evidence, weak fraud-on-the-market theories and troubling litigation tactics, Rivian argued in a California federal court filing Thursday.
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March 01, 2024
Pepsi, Kraft And GE Can't Block DEI, Enviro Proxy Proposals
A division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected bids from PepsiCo Inc., The Kraft Heinz Co. and General Electric Co. to exclude from their upcoming proxy statements proposals from a conservative think tank on diversity and environmental matters.
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March 01, 2024
Jury Awards Midwest Energy $57M On Refined Coal Patents
A Delaware federal jury on Friday awarded Midwest Energy Emissions Corp. more than $57 million after finding that numerous affiliated companies willfully infringed its patents on technology for refining coal to reduce mercury in emissions from power plants.
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March 01, 2024
Wash. Tribe Asks Judge To Revisit 'Cultural Resources' Ruling
A tribe is urging a Washington federal judge to reconsider a ruling that it can't pursue millions of dollars of "tribal service loss" claims stemming from Upper Columbia River pollution, saying its claims were misconstrued as "cultural resource damages" that can't be recovered under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.
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March 01, 2024
DC Circ. Says EPA Went Too Far In Voiding State Air Plans
The D.C. Circuit on Friday handed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a mixed bag regarding its authority to veto state air pollution plans, finding some state policies that exempt polluting facilities during startup, shutdown and malfunction phases are acceptable under the Clean Air Act, while others are not.
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March 01, 2024
Energy Dept. Halts Crypto Mining Survey To End Industry Suit
The crypto industry group challenging a U.S. Department of Energy survey on crypto mining has reached an agreement that will see the government offices destroy any data they've already collected and circulate the survey for comment from stakeholders — a step the crypto players say the government improperly bypassed the first time around.
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March 01, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Stay Oregon Kids' Climate Case, For Now
The Ninth Circuit has shot down the U.S. Department of Justice's attempt to pause an Oregon federal judge's decision to allow a lawsuit brought by youths alleging the government's energy policies imperil their future by exacerbating climate change.
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March 01, 2024
Joint Venture Wins $45B DOE Nuclear Deal Again After Protest
The U.S. Department of Energy has again awarded a $45 billion nuclear waste management contract to a BWXT, Fluor and Amentum joint venture, after a previous award to the company was vacated over its failure to follow a federal registration requirement.
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March 01, 2024
Ky. Sees $74M Boost For Abandoned Mine Cleanup Work
The U.S. Department of the Interior said it is awarding Kentucky another $74 million in funding to help the state address dangerous and polluting abandoned mines.
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March 01, 2024
Del. Jury Deadlocks In Roundup User's Cancer Death Trial
A Delaware state jury deadlocked Friday after an 18-day trial on a South Carolina woman's suit blaming Monsanto Corp.'s Roundup herbicide for causing her husband's fatal cancer and seeking millions in damages.
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March 01, 2024
Enviro Group Loses Challenge To NJ Wind Farm Plan
A New Jersey federal judge has tossed a challenge by a Garden State advocacy group and its founder to two offshore wind projects, including Orsted A/S' now-scrapped plan, ruling that the group failed to show how it is actually injured.
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March 01, 2024
Kimberly-Clark Hit With Connecticut PFAS Class Action
Three Connecticut residents have hit Kimberly-Clark Corp. with a proposed class action for allegedly contaminating private wells near its New Milford manufacturing plant with toxic "forever chemicals" emitted from the facility's smokestacks into the air and spread to the surrounding area.
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March 01, 2024
Calif. Water Utility Sues Feds Over Havasu Easement Access
A California public water utility hit the U.S. Department of the Interior with a complaint accusing the agency of preventing the utility from using an easement to access its supply pipeline located near the Parker Dam on Lake Havasu and distribute water to nearby residents.
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February 29, 2024
EPA Puts Off Key Component Of Power Plant GHG Rule
When highly anticipated regulations intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants are finalized this spring, existing gas-fired facilities won't be addressed because separate, broader regulations are being crafted just for them, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday.
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February 29, 2024
Biden Floats 3 Nominees To Return FERC To Full Strength
President Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled a trio of nominees to fill vacant commissioner slots at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, including the solicitor general of West Virginia and a former Massachusetts energy official.
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February 29, 2024
Judge OKs $6M Settlement In BMW Emissions Suit
A federal judge in New Jersey has signed off on a $6 million deal between BMW and drivers of two models who claimed the vehicle-maker unfairly beat emissions testing with specific kinds of software.
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February 29, 2024
Deals Rumor Mill: Springer Nature, Warner Bros., ExxonMobil
Springer Nature's IPO could be valued at $9.7 billion, Warner Bros. has pulled back on Paramount negotiations, and ExxonMobil could fetch $1 billion for Argentinean assets. Here, Law360 breaks down the notable deal rumors from the past week.
Expert Analysis
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Series
ESG Around The World: Australia
Clive Cachia and Cathy Ma at K&L Gates detail ESG-reporting policies in Australia and explain how the country is starting to introduce mandatory requirements as ESG performance is increasingly seen as a key investment and corporate differentiator in the fight for global capital.
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What New EPA Enforcement Initiatives Mean For Industry
With the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent announcement that climate change, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and coal ash will be major investigation and enforcement targets in the coming years, the oil and gas, chemical, and waste management sectors should anticipate increased scrutiny, say Jonathan Brightbill and Madalyn Feiger at Winston & Strawn.
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Bat's Newly Endangered Status Likely To Slow Development
A recent change in the classification of the northern long-eared bat from "threatened" to "endangered" could have significant effects on development in large portions of the Eastern and Southeastern U.S. — and in the absence of straightforward guidelines, developers will have to assess each project individually, says Peter McGrath at Moore & Van Allen.
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Corporate Compliance Lessons From FirstEnergy Scandal
Fallout from a massive bribery scheme involving Ohio electric utility FirstEnergy and state officeholders — including the recent sentencing of two defendants — has critical corporate governance takeaways for companies and individuals seeking to influence government policymaking, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.
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Twitter Legal Fees Suit Offers Crash Course In Billing Ethics
X Corp.'s suit alleging that Wachtell grossly inflated its fees in the final days of Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition provides a case study in how firms should protect their reputations by hewing to ethical billing practices and the high standards for professional conduct that govern attorney-client relationships, says Lourdes Fuentes at Karta Legal.
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Offshore Wind Auction Results Portend Difficulties In Gulf
Results of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's recent auction of the Gulf of Mexico lease areas tell different stories about the future of offshore wind in the U.S., with the Gulf’s low interest suggesting uncertainty and the Mid-Atlantic’s strong interest suggesting a promising market, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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ABA's Money-Laundering Resolution Is A Balancing Act
While the American Bar Association’s recently passed resolution recognizes a lawyer's duty to discontinue representation that could facilitate money laundering and other fraudulent activity, it preserves, at least for now, the delicate balance of judicial, state-based regulation of the legal profession and the sanctity of the attorney-client relationship, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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2 High Court Cases Could Upend Administrative Law Bedrock
Next term, the U.S. Supreme Court will be deciding two cases likely to change the nature and shape of agency-facing litigation in perpetuity, and while one will clarify or overturn Chevron, far more is at stake in the other, say Dan Wolff and Henry Leung at Crowell & Moring.
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Regulators Must Get Creative To Keep Groundwater Flowing
Even as populations have boomed in Sun Belt states like Arizona, California and Texas, groundwater levels have diminished due to drought and overuse — so regulators must explore options including pumping limits, groundwater replenishment and wastewater reuse to ensure future supplies for residential and commercial needs, says Jeffrey Davis at Integral Consulting.
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Tapping The Full Potential Of The Juror Questionnaire
Most litigators know that questionnaires can reveal biases that potential jurors would never reveal in voir dire, but to maximize this tool’s utility, attorneys must choose the right questions, interpret responses effectively and weigh several other considerations, say George Speckart and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.
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Issues To Watch As Biochar Carbon Project Demand Heats Up
Entities considering financing, constructing or operating biochar projects should evaluate the increasing demand for biochar as a soil amendment, the potential to generate revenue from carbon credits and produce other byproducts, and a variety of legal hurdles in this rapidly emerging market, say Mackenzie Schoonmaker and Astrika Adams at Beveridge & Diamond.
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Law Firm Professional Development Steps To Thrive In AI Era
As generative artificial intelligence tools rapidly evolve, professional development leaders are instrumental in preparing law firms for the paradigm shifts ahead, and should consider three strategies to help empower legal talent with the skills required to succeed in an increasingly complex technological landscape, say Steve Gluckman and Anusia Gillespie at SkillBurst Interactive.
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Texas Produced Water Ruling Helps Clarify Oil, Gas Leases
A Texas state appeals court's recent opinion in Cactus Water Services v. COG Operating, holding that the mineral lessee under an oil and gas lease owns the water extracted during oil and gas production, is a first step toward clarity on an issue that has divided the midstream industry, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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New 'Waters' Rule May Speed Projects, Spawn More Litigation
The Biden administration's new rule defining "waters of the United States" in accordance with a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision will remove federal protection for some wetlands — which could both enable more development and lead to more legal challenges for projects, says Marcia Greenblatt at Integral Consulting.
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The Basics Of Being A Knowledge Management Attorney
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Michael Lehet at Ogletree Deakins discusses the role of knowledge management attorneys at law firms, the common tasks they perform and practical tips for lawyers who may be considering becoming one.