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Environmental
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February 29, 2024
Colo. Panel Says Well Owners' Appeal Belongs In Water Court
Two Colorado well owners can't bring a county district court lawsuit challenging a well permitting decision by the state water engineer because those issues are "water matters" that belong in a special water court, an appellate panel ruled Thursday.
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February 29, 2024
NY Tabs Equinor, Orsted Projects For Offshore Wind Deals
New York officials on Thursday awarded power contracts to offshore wind projects being developed by Equinor and an Orsted-Eversource partnership, the first contracts awarded under a revised bidding process aimed at combating macroeconomic headwinds buffeting U.S. offshore wind development.
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February 29, 2024
GE Denies Ties To La. Environmental Contamination Suit
General Electric has told a Louisiana federal judge it should be freed from a lawsuit seeking to hold it liable for widespread environmental contamination caused by a since-closed pressure valve manufacturing facility in Rapides Parish, saying the property owners behind the suit are relying on a misguided theory of liability.
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February 29, 2024
Mich. Judge Floats Sanctions If Doc Review Wastes Her Time
A Michigan federal judge on Thursday warned attorneys for a water engineering firm accused of prolonging lead exposure in the Flint water crisis not to waste her time by improperly withholding unprotected documents related to its public relations strategy around the case.
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February 29, 2024
Chamber Of Commerce Backs Exxon In Activist Investor Row
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and lobbying group Business Roundtable on Thursday threw their weight behind Exxon Mobil Corp. in the company's bid to pursue its lawsuit against activist investors, a suit that some see as a proxy battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over shareholder proposals.
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February 29, 2024
Wis. Tribe, Homeowners Hit Cranberry Farms With CWA Suit
A homeowner association and the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa claim two cranberry farms are unlawfully discharging excess phosphorus into a northwest Wisconsin lake and contributing to pollution harming its popular sport fishery and other natural resources.
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February 28, 2024
Judge Asks When Feds Will Consider Climate In Oil Leases
A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday voiced frustration at the Bureau of Land Management's inability to account for the total impact of carbon emissions from six western oil and gas leases, but cautioned that previous circuit courts have upheld federal agencies' reluctance to block projects based on climate change predictions.
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February 28, 2024
Judges Tell Mich. To Get Moving On Flint Engineering Suit
Michigan federal and state judges on Wednesday told the state to speed up its professional malpractice case against an engineering firm accused of prolonging the Flint water crisis, saying Michigan can't worry about whether it would look bad to go ahead before residents resolve their federal claims.
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February 28, 2024
Energy Dept. To Give Tribes $25M For Clean Energy Tech
The U.S. Department of Energy has said it is paying out $25 million in funds to Indigenous tribes for clean energy technology on tribal lands as part of an approximately $366 million Biden administration plan to support community-driven energy projects in rural areas.
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February 28, 2024
FDA Says No More Sales Of PFAS For US Food Packaging
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday said that so-called forever chemicals are no longer being sold for use in grease-proofing food packaging, such as in take-out containers, in the U.S., ending a major source of exposure to a group of chemicals linked to health problems.
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February 28, 2024
Green Groups Back Mass. Lobstering Closure To Save Whales
Conservation groups told a Massachusetts federal court that an offshore seasonal fishing closure is critical to stop gear entanglements threatening nearly extinct North Atlantic right whales, urging the court to reject the lobster industry's move to block the restrictions.
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February 28, 2024
AG James Accuses Meat Co. JBS Of Misleading Enviro Claims
New York Attorney General Letitia James slapped JBS USA, the U.S. subsidiary of the world's largest producer of beef products, with a complaint in New York state court Wednesday, accusing the company of misleading the public about the environmental impact of its products.
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February 28, 2024
Green Groups Pan Colorado's Monitoring Deal With Suncor
A group of environmental advocacy organizations told a Colorado state judge that state environmental regulators and Suncor Energy gave them too little time to review a settlement about enforcement of air quality monitoring regulations, but said they saw enough to spot some concerning flaws.
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February 28, 2024
Enviro Orgs Sue EPA Over Factory Farm Water Pollution Regs
Green groups are pushing the Ninth Circuit to revive their petition asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to craft new, stronger Clean Water Act regulations for the large animal feeding facilities they call "sewerless cities."
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February 28, 2024
Wash. Man Accused Of Killing, Selling Eagles To Plead Guilty
One of two men accused of conspiring to kill federally protected bald eagles and golden eagles on tribal lands in northwest Montana to sell on the black market has entered a plea agreement, court records show.
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February 28, 2024
No More Coverage For Aluminum Co.'s $165M Fire Damage
A South Carolina federal judge on Wednesday snuffed out an aluminum company's $165 million fire damage suit, ruling that its insurers had already paid up to their limits of $10 million for the molten material damage.
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February 28, 2024
Tribes Urge Biden To Break Silence On Pipeline Dispute
Great Lakes tribes are pressing the White House to break its "deeply concerning" silence on a fight to remove an Enbridge Energy Corp. pipeline from tribal lands in northern Wisconsin, saying the U.S. government is sitting on the sidelines as Canada and the energy company try to gut their sovereignty.
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February 28, 2024
Utah, Okla.'s EPA Ozone Challenge Sent To DC Circ.
The Tenth Circuit slingshotted seven consolidated challenges to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision disapproving Utah and Oklahoma's air quality plans to the D.C. Circuit, finding the Clean Air Act requires the disputes to fall under D.C. Circuit jurisdiction given the decision's national scope.
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February 28, 2024
Conn. State Worker Wants Atty Fees After Noose Trial Win
A Black employee of Connecticut's state energy and environmental regulator is asking a federal judge to award more than $200,000 in attorney fees after he prevailed in a lawsuit alleging that he was racially tormented and exposed to nooses in a hostile work environment.
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February 28, 2024
Oil Co. Says It's Too Broke For Colo. Regulators' $130M Bond
An oil and gas production company is asking a Colorado state judge to stay regulators' "exorbitant" order requiring it to pay $130 million in financial assurance on its obligation to plug and remediate oil and gas wells, arguing the company doesn't even have the cash for a $13 million installment due this month.
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February 28, 2024
BASF Says Insurers Owe Coverage For PFAS Suits
Major chemical manufacturer BASF Corp. told a South Carolina court Wednesday that 23 insurers should cover thousands of lawsuits that alleged a chemical the company produced for firefighting foam caused pollution and injuries.
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February 28, 2024
Energy Cos. Urge Justices To Slam Brakes On Climate Suits
Fossil fuel companies on Wednesday launched a fresh U.S. Supreme Court bid to put an end to climate change torts lodged by state and local governments, asking the justices to review and overturn a refusal by Hawaii's top court to dismiss Honolulu's suit.
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February 27, 2024
Energy Dept. Awards $45M For Tech That Stops Cyberattacks
The U.S. Department of Energy said it is awarding $45 million to industry stakeholders and academic projects that look to reduce cybersecurity threats and help protect systems within the nation's power grid against cyberattacks.
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February 27, 2024
PacifiCorp Faces $50M Ask In Latest Wildfire Trial
Nine Oregonians and a summer camp for the disabled went to trial Tuesday in state court against PacifiCorp, asking a Portland jury to award at least $50 million after a cluster of 2020 wildfires left them with "nowhere to go, but nowhere to return to."
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February 27, 2024
Del. Jury Urged To Award $142M Roundup Punitive Damages
Attorneys for the family of a South Carolina man whose cancer death was allegedly linked to long working use of Monsanto Corp.'s Roundup herbicide asked a Delaware Superior Court jury Tuesday for $142 million in punitive damages for the company's purported disregard of the product's toxic risk.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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How Focus On Congruency Affects Corporate Political Activity
Congruency — whether the contributions made by a company-sponsored political action committee align with the corporation's public statements on issues of social responsibility — is undoubtedly the next frontier in the battle over corporate political activity, despite the limited success of shareholder proposals on the issue, says Carol Laham at Wiley.