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Environmental
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April 03, 2024
NJ Judge Grants Initial OK Of $2.7M EV Maker Investor Deal
A New Jersey federal judge granted preliminary approval to a $2.7 million deal between investors and executives of an electric vehicle company after it went bankrupt, after finding his prior hesitations concerning the deal's notice plan had been resolved.
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April 03, 2024
Industry Groups Ask DC Circ. To Toss EPA Smog Plan
Industry groups have urged the D.C. Circuit to strike down the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to reduce smog-forming emissions in several states, saying the federal agency cannot forge ahead with a diminished version of the regulations.
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April 03, 2024
Fed. Circ. Struggles With Ambiguity In $14M Army Corps Row
Federal Circuit judges struggled Wednesday to understand ambiguous terms in a company's contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for post-hurricane power restoration, indicating that neither party had clearly explained if the contractor has a valid $14 million claim for additional work needed.
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April 03, 2024
ITC To Pay $6.6M To DOJ, Texas Over 2019 Chemical Fire
The owner of a chemical storage facility has agreed to pay more than $6.6 million in connection with natural resource damage stemming from a 2019 fire that burned for six days at a plant southeast of Houston, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
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April 03, 2024
Enviro Group Sues DOE Over $1.1B Diablo Canyon Award
Environmental group Friends of the Earth slapped the U.S. Department of Energy with a complaint in California federal court seeking to unravel the agency's $1.1 billion award for the continued operation of the state's last remaining nuclear power plant.
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April 03, 2024
EPA Faces Down Water Rule Challenge In Texas
The federal government has asked a Texas federal judge to toss lawsuits filed by Texas, Idaho and more than a dozen industry groups challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers' rule defining the extent of the Clean Water Act's reach.
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April 03, 2024
5th Circ. Unsure Miners Can Escape Pecan Farm Flood Verdict
Fifth Circuit judges on Wednesday suggested that the owner of an open gravel mine on the bank of the Colorado River could have a tough time in its bid to avoid responsibility for devastating flooding at a pecan farm across the river.
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April 03, 2024
Gov't Says Alaska Gold Mine Approvals Should Stand
The U.S. government is defending its approvals for a large open-pit gold mine along the Kuskokwim River in southwest Alaska, telling a federal judge a half dozen tribes challenging them fail to show that agencies did not take the required "hard look" at project impacts.
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April 03, 2024
Beekeeper Groups Seek Fees From EPA After 9th Circ. Appeal
Attorneys for beekeeper groups in an appeal over a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decision on insecticides have asked the Ninth Circuit to award nearly $750,000 in legal fees after a ruling that hammered the EPA but left the agency's decision intact.
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April 03, 2024
Forchelli Appoints Environmental Practice Chair
Forchelli Deegan Terrana LLP has announced the hiring of a partner with experience in organizations such as Miller Environmental Group Inc. and New York American Water to chair its environmental practice group.
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April 03, 2024
Top 10 Deals Of Q1 Led By GE Energy Spinoff, Capital One
It may be wishful thinking to imagine that earlier hopes for a major rebound in 2024 mergers and acquisitions activity will pan out, but by many indications the year was at least off to a better start than 2023.
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April 03, 2024
Oil Company Says Judge's Recusal Not Needed In Cartel Suits
Pioneer Natural Resources Co. fired back at gasoline buyers' attempt to recuse a Nevada federal judge from the parties' antitrust litigation over her stock ownership in ExxonMobil Corp., arguing that the company isn't a party to the case, and that the litigation should be transferred to Texas.
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April 02, 2024
Utility Cos. Must Face Uri MDL Gross Negligence Claims
Transmission and distribution utility providers can't escape allegations they were grossly negligent in cutting off power to Texans during winter storm Uri, a Texas state appeals court ruled Tuesday in an opinion that keeps intact only two claims against the companies in the multidistrict litigation created to handle consumer actions from the severe weather event.
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April 02, 2024
OxyChem Opposes Feds' $150M Lower Passaic Deal
Occidental Chemical Corp. is fighting the federal government's proposed $150 million consent decree with 82 small companies that share some responsibility for New Jersey's Lower Passaic River pollution, with the businesses filing a brief supporting the deal.
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April 02, 2024
Tesla Pushed On La. Antitrust Claims In 5th Circ.
Tesla Inc.'s claims that Louisiana car dealers and regulators illegally excluded the direct-sale automaker from the state's market met a Fifth Circuit panel Tuesday that questioned how the case might be impacted by a Pelican State probe into the company's allegedly unlawful conduct.
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April 02, 2024
Mich. Warns PFAS Ruling Could Fuel More Agency Challenges
Michigan has warned the state's high court that an appellate decision invalidating PFAS drinking water limits could pave the way for future litigants to attack state regulations by pointing to imperfect cost estimates, urging the court to revive the PFAS rules.
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April 02, 2024
Enviro Org. Says Feds Failed To Act On Protections For Bees
Conservationists are asking an Arizona federal judge to order the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decide whether four bee species — including the iconic American bumblebee — should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
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April 02, 2024
Seattle Seaport Co. Defying Clean Water Act, Green Group Says
SSA Marine Inc. is allegedly violating the Clean Water Act by allowing excess contaminated stormwater from its port cargo facility to pollute Seattle's Duwamish River and Elliott Bay, according to a citizen lawsuit filed by an environmental group.
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April 02, 2024
Ohio Regulator Urges Justices To Review FERC Deadlock Rule
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Third Circuit's decision upholding a rule change from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that took effect despite a commissioner deadlock, arguing that the appellate court didn't apply a fitting standard.
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April 02, 2024
Former Trump EPA Leader Joins Holland & Hart In DC
Holland & Hart LLP has added the leader of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Trump administration to its Washington, D.C., office as part of the firm's strategic growth in the country's capital.
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April 02, 2024
Another Judge Says Feds Overstepped With GHG Rule
A Kentucky federal judge has sided with Kentucky and 20 other Republican-led states, ruling that the Federal Highway Administration overstepped its authority with a rule directing states to set targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from federally funded highway projects.
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April 02, 2024
20 Republican-Led States Urge Justices To Ax Climate Suits
A coalition of 20 Republican-led states and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, along with eight others, have thrown their support behind fossil fuel companies in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to put an end to climate change torts lodged by state and local governments.
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April 02, 2024
La. Property Owners, Insurers To Arbitrate Hurricane Claims
A Hurricane Ida damage coverage dispute between seven New Orleans-area property owners and their insurers will be stayed pending arbitration, a Louisiana federal judge ruled, agreeing with the insurers that the policy's arbitration agreement is enforceable under the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.
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April 02, 2024
Latham-Led SLB To Buy ChampionX In $7.8B All-Stock Deal
Energy-focused global technology company SLB and chemistry solutions provider ChampionX Corp. said Tuesday they have agreed for SLB to purchase ChampionX in an all-stock transaction worth nearly $7.8 billion.
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April 01, 2024
EPA Asks 4th Circ. To Review Panel's Split Ozone Decision
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has told the Fourth Circuit that a panel of judges incorrectly rejected its attempt to move West Virginia's lawsuit over an ozone regulation program to a different court.
Expert Analysis
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1st Tax Easement Convictions Will Likely Embolden DOJ, IRS
After recent convictions in the first criminal tax fraud trial over allegedly abusive syndicated conservation easements, the IRS and U.S. Department of Justice will likely pursue other promoters for similar alleged conspiracies — though one acquittal may help attorneys better evaluate their clients' exposure, say Bill Curtis and Lauren DeSantis-Then at Polsinelli.
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Analyzing The Legal Ripples Of The EPA's PFAS Regulation
As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency makes major moves on its pledge to regulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, the developing body of PFAS regulation will lead to an increase in litigation, and personal injury and product liability claims, say attorneys at Gordon & Rees.
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Why Public Cos. Should Also Comply With SEC's Names Rule
While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's updated Names Rule specifically clarifies that funds must consider ESG factors in their investment strategies if their names so imply, public companies should also heed the message and conduct business consistent with the way they market or advertise themselves, says Spencer Feldman at Olshan Frome.
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Insurers Should Prepare For 'Black Swan' Climate Disasters
As rapid climate change results in increased risk of casualties and property loss from rare, severe weather events, the insurance industry should take five crucial steps toward evolving and continuing operations, including advanced analytic techniques and investments in alternative energy sources, say Stephen Brown and Irena Maier at Wilson Elser.
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Series
ESG Around The World: The UK
Following Brexit, the U.K. has adopted a different approach to regulating environmental, social and governance factors from the European Union — an approach that focuses on climate disclosures by U.K.-regulated entities, while steering clear of the more ambitious objectives pursued by the EU, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Tips For Litigating Against Pro Se Parties In Complex Disputes
Litigating against self-represented parties in complex cases can pose unique challenges for attorneys, but for the most part, it requires the same skills that are useful in other cases — from documenting everything to understanding one’s ethical duties, says Bryan Ketroser at Alto Litigation.
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Opinion
Test Results Signal Poor Odds For Lead Cables Litigation
After sites in New York and New Jersey allegedly contaminated with lead by telecommunications cables were found by state and federal agencies to present no imminent threats to public health, it seems unlikely that mass litigation over this issue by plaintiffs firms or state attorneys general will succeed, says Andrew Ketterer at Ketterer & Ketterer.
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New Initiatives Will Advance Corporate Biodiversity Reporting
Two important recent developments — the launch of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures' framework on nature and biodiversity reporting, and Nature Action 100's announcement of the 100 companies it plans to engage on biodiversity issues — will help bring biodiversity disclosures into the mainstream, say David Woodcock and Maria Banda at Gibson Dunn.
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How Justices' Disclosure Ruling May Change Corp. Filings
In the upcoming Macquarie Infrastructure v. Moab Partners case, the U.S. Supreme Court will resolve a circuit split over whether a company may be sued for private securities fraud if they fail to disclose certain financial information in public filings, which may change the way management analyzes industry risks and trends for investors, says Paul Kisslinger at Lewis Brisbois.
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Pro Bono Work Is Powerful Self-Help For Attorneys
Oct. 22-28 is Pro Bono Week, serving as a useful reminder that offering free legal help to the public can help attorneys expand their legal toolbox, forge community relationships and create human connections, despite the challenges of this kind of work, says Orlando Lopez at Culhane Meadows.
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Key Terms Of European Hydrogen Bank's 2023 Pilot Auction
The European Hydrogen Bank is a meaningful step in supporting production of green hydrogen within Europe, although its first auction round may not have the financial firepower needed to make major projects happen in Europe, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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What US Cos. Should Know About ESG Directives In The EU
Even if U.S. companies don't fall directly within the scope of the EU's directives requiring corporate reporting on human rights and environmental impacts, which will likely be fully enacted next year, they may still be implicated if they are part of an EU business's value chain, so U.S. companies should undertake proactive steps to gain a competitive advantage, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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Series
Playing In A Rock Cover Band Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Performing in a classic rock cover band has driven me to hone several skills — including focus, organization and networking — that have benefited my professional development, demonstrating that taking time to follow your muse outside of work can be a boon to your career, says Michael Gambro at Cadwalader.
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How To Advertise Carbon Reductions Under New Calif. Law
As more companies advertise their efforts to reach the status of carbon neutral or net zero, California's recently enacted Voluntary Carbon Market Disclosures Act aims to force companies to more clearly disclose the basis for such claims — and there's not a lot of time to comply, say Gonzalo Mon and Katie Rogers at Kelley Drye.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Espinosa On 'Lincoln Lawyer'
The murder trials in Netflix’s “The Lincoln Lawyer” illustrate the stark contrast between the ethical high ground that fosters and maintains the criminal justice system's integrity, and the ethical abyss that can undermine it, with an important reminder for all legal practitioners, say Judge Adam Espinosa and Andrew Howard at the Colorado 2nd Judicial District Court.