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Environmental
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April 09, 2024
House GOP To Air Measure Rejecting SEC Climate Rule
The U.S. House of Representatives' Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday morning addressing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure rules, where a leading Republican member of the committee is expected to put forth a resolution that would nullify the rules.
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April 09, 2024
47 Members Of Congress Urge DC Circ. To Ax EPA Smog Plan
Nearly 50 members of Congress called on the D.C. Circuit to strike down the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to reduce smog-forming emissions in several states, arguing that the agency is infringing on states' authority to establish how they achieve federal air quality standards.
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April 09, 2024
EPA Reaches $1.4M Deal With Chemical Co. Over Plant Fire
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday said that it had recently reached a settlement with Houston-based Sasol Chemicals LLC over a 2022 chemical plant explosion in Westlake, Louisiana, over which the company agreed to pay more than $1.4 million in civil penalties and fix violations.
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April 09, 2024
Feds Want To Push Back Complex Camp Lejeune Cases
The federal government has asked the North Carolina court overseeing litigation concerning contaminated water at Camp Lejeune to first try cases brought by former residents of the Marine base who allege they have developed only one disease from the water and try more complicated cases later.
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April 09, 2024
EPA Outlines New Ways To Destroy, Dispose Of PFAS
Waste managers, government regulators and the public should use methods such as underground injection to destroy or dispose of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and PFAS materials, guidance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says.
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April 09, 2024
Hogan Lovells Adds Baker Botts Enviro Litigators In DC, SF
Hogan Lovells announced Tuesday it has hired three environmental crisis and white collar attorneys from Baker Botts LLP to bolster efforts to steer clients through criminal environmental and workplace safety investigations and other matters.
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April 09, 2024
16 States Seek To Defend EPA Particulate Matter Rule
A coalition of 16 states, New York City and Washington, D.C., has pushed to intervene before the D.C. Circuit in defense of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent final rule tightening federal standards for fine particulate matter pollution, as it faces challenges from industry groups and Republican-led states.
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April 09, 2024
Climate Inaction Violates Human Rights Law, ECHR Rules
The European Court of Human Rights found on Tuesday that the Swiss government was at fault over failures to tackle global warming, one of three major decisions on climate change that could affect litigation in the future.
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April 09, 2024
California Can Set Own Emissions Standards, DC Circ. Says
The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday upheld the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Air Act waiver that allows California to set its own greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles and run a zero-emission vehicles program, rejecting challenges filed by red states and industry groups.
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April 09, 2024
Norfolk Southern Settles Train Derailment Suits For $600M
Norfolk Southern Corp. has agreed to settle the consolidated class action claims brought against it over its tragic train derailment and toxic chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, for $600 million, according to a joint motion filed in federal court Tuesday.
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April 09, 2024
EPA Finalizes Rule Cutting Cancer-Causing Emissions
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday finalized restrictions on cancer-causing emissions including ethylene oxide and chloroprene from chemical plants that the agency says will reduce nearby vulnerable populations' risk of cancer and other health problems.
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April 08, 2024
W.Va. Blocks Citi, HSBC, Others Over Fossil Fuel 'Boycotts'
West Virginia's state treasurer announced Monday that Citigroup Inc., HSBC Holdings PLC, TD Bank NA and The Northern Trust Co. are ineligible for state banking contracts, finding they boycott fossil fuel companies under a Mountain State law, while two other banks escaped such a designation.
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April 08, 2024
7th Circ. Won't Demolish Obama Center Approval
Federal agencies properly reviewed the environmental impacts of building the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago's Jackson Park, the Seventh Circuit ruled Monday, once again rejecting opponents' attempts to stop construction of the campus set to open in 2026.
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April 08, 2024
Idaho Land Deal Would Sustain Legacy Of Pollution, Tribes Say
A group of Idaho tribes is urging the Ninth Circuit to uphold a lower court ruling granting a partial win in their challenge to a land transfer for a fertilizer plant's expansion, arguing that if allowed to go forward, it would continue a decadeslong legacy of contamination for their communities.
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April 08, 2024
Miss. Residents Defend Jackson Water Contamination Claims
A group of Jackson, Mississippi, residents are asking a federal judge to preserve their second amended proposed class action against the mostly Black city over a water treatment plant shutdown that left more than 150,000 people without access to clean water.
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April 08, 2024
Texas School District Not Immune In Arbitration Row
A Texas school district isn't immune from a lawsuit by its insurers seeking to appoint an umpire in a $10 million hurricane damage dispute, a New York federal court ruled Monday, finding the district doesn't meet the standards set under the 11th Amendment.
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April 08, 2024
Southwest Gas Unit Centuri Eyes Spinoff Through $242M IPO
Southwest Gas Holdings Inc.'s infrastructure services unit Centuri Holdings Inc. on Monday unveiled terms for an estimated $242 million initial public offering that would lead to Centuri becoming a standalone public company, represented by Morrison Foerster LLP and underwriters' counsel Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.
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April 08, 2024
DOI Sued Over Absent Western Gray Wolf Protections
Ten environmental groups have slapped the U.S. Department of the Interior with a complaint in Montana federal court challenging the agency's finding that gray wolves in the Western U.S. do not warrant listing as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
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April 08, 2024
Group Says US Oil-Drilling Policy Harms Protected Species
An environmental group sued the U.S. government Monday in District of Columbia federal court, accusing it of violating the Endangered Species Act and alleging that top officials are not adequately protecting threatened animals from offshore oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico.
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April 08, 2024
Tribes Say Army Corps Mistakes Their Claims In 5th Circ. Row
Two Native American tribes and a conservation group have told the Fifth Circuit that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and an Enbridge Inc. unit have intentionally mischaracterized their claims in litigation seeking to challenge the agency's permit authorization for a major oil terminal on Texas' Gulf Coast.
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April 08, 2024
Oak Flat Mining Decision Treads On Human Rights, UN Told
The San Carlos Apache Tribe is urging a United Nations committee to ask the United States to withhold any permissions that would allow Resolution Copper Co. to proceed with any activity on a plot of land known as Oak Flat, arguing that a Ninth Circuit ruling allowing the land transfer merits urgent intervention to prevent further human rights violations on the sacred site.
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April 08, 2024
Feds Can't Believe Steel Factory Doesn't Know Own Directors
The U.S. government told a Michigan federal judge that a steel input manufacturer can't try to avoid questions about business decisions by claiming it can't identify company leaders, asking the judge to make the factory answer key inquiries about its practices when it sought to remove oven gas limits.
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April 08, 2024
Hogan Lovells Recruits 3M Atty In DC Amid PFAS Focus
A former U.S. Department of Justice trial attorney has joined Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C., from 3M Co. as businesses face growing regulatory scrutiny and litigation over chemicals known as PFAS, the firm announced Monday.
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April 05, 2024
Bayer Verdict In Mo. Roundup Cases Reduced To $611M
A Missouri state judge has significantly reduced the $1.56 billion jury verdict awarded to three people who claimed their cancer was caused by Bayer unit Monsanto Co.'s Roundup weedkiller, cutting the damages awarded to just $611 million.
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April 05, 2024
Baltimore Bridge: Biden's Visit, Recovery, Supply Chain
Nearly two weeks after the Francis Scott Key Bridge's collapse, government and legal maneuvers are taking shape as the Biden administration pledged to fully reopen the Port of Baltimore before June, while the owner and operator of the ship that caused the collapse sought to limit its financial liability.
Expert Analysis
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How Clients May Use AI To Monitor Attorneys
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Artificial intelligence tools will increasingly enable clients to monitor and evaluate their counsel’s activities, so attorneys must clearly define the terms of engagement and likewise take advantage of the efficiencies offered by AI, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
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Energy Sector Takeaways From Biden's AI Executive Order
While the U.S. Department of Energy begins to establish rules in accordance with President Joe Biden's recent executive order on artificial intelligence, in-house counsel can work with business lines and executive teams to consider implementing their own AI governance process, say Joel Meister and James De Vellis at Foley & Lardner.
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Lessons From This Year's Landmark Green Energy IP Clash
In this year's Siemens v. General Electric wind turbine patent dispute, a Massachusetts federal court offers a cautionary tale against willful infringement, and highlights the balance between innovation, law and ethics, as legal battles like this become more frequent in the renewable energy sector, say John Powell and Andrew Siuta at Sunstein.
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Series
ESG Around The World: Singapore
Singapore is keen to establish itself as a leading international financial center and a key player in the sustainable finance ecosystem, and key initiatives led by its government and other regulatory bodies have helped the Asian nation progress from its initially guarded attitude toward ESG investment and reporting, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge D'Emic On Moby Grape
The 1968 Moby Grape song "Murder in My Heart for the Judge" tells the tale of a fictional defendant treated with scorn by the judge, illustrating how much the legal system has evolved in the past 50 years, largely due to problem-solving courts and the principles of procedural justice, says Kings County Supreme Court Administrative Judge Matthew D'Emic.
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Series
Performing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The discipline of performing live music has directly and positively influenced my effectiveness as a litigator — serving as a reminder that practice, intuition and team building are all important elements of a successful law practice, says Jeff Wakolbinger at Bryan Cave.
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Green Tech And IP From Obama Through Biden: What's Next?
J. Douglas Miller and Matthew Dills at Shumaker consider how positions on the environment have shifted along with the last three U.S. presidential administrations, how these shifts have affected investment in sustainable green technologies and intellectual property strategies, and how the future might look.
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What US-Canada Critical Minerals Collab Means For Cos.
Recent announcements from U.S. and Canadian officials indicate closer collaboration between the two governments on procurement of critical minerals for electric vehicles and other advanced technology — and companies on both sides of the border may have access to new opportunities as a result, say John Lushetsky, Matthew Simpson and Paul Dickerson at Mintz Levin.
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Breaking Down High Court's New Code Of Conduct
The U.S. Supreme Court recently adopted its first-ever code of conduct, and counsel will need to work closely with clients in navigating its provisions, from gift-giving to recusal bids, say Phillip Gordon and Mateo Forero at Holtzman Vogel.
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High Court's Chevron Review May Be A Crypto Game-Changer
The outcome of the U.S. Supreme Court's review of the Chevron doctrine in its pending Loper v. Raimondo case will potentially usher in a paradigm shift in cryptocurrency regulation, challenging agency authority and raising hopes for a recalibrated approach that favors judicial interpretation, says Sylvia Favretto at Mysten Labs.
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How New Expert Rules Are Already Changing Court Decisions
Though not formally effective until last week, some courts have been relying for several years on amended federal rules clarifying judges’ gatekeeping role, so counsel should be prepared to justify their expert witnesses’ methodologies and expect additional motion practice on expert testimony admissibility, say Colleen Kenney and Daniel Kelly at Sidley.
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IRA Monetization Energizes Clean Power Tax Credit Market
Recent large sales of clean energy production tax credits reflect an environment in which the Inflation Reduction Act's provisions for monetizing such credits via direct transfer — bypassing slow, costly tax equity transactions — offer opportunities for both developers and investors, says Andrew Eastman at Husch Blackwell.
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Opinion
Legal Profession Gender Parity Requires Equal Parental Leave
To truly foster equity in the legal profession and to promote attorney retention, workplaces need to better support all parents, regardless of gender — starting by offering equal and robust parental leave to both birthing and non-birthing parents, says Ali Spindler at Irwin Fritchie.
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Business Takeaways From Biden's Global Labor Rights Memo
President Joe Biden's recent memorandum on protecting worker rights is one of the most expansive statements the administration has made regarding international labor rights policy, and reflects several points of which businesses should take note, including the government’s interest in working with the private sector on these issues and a notable focus on the transition to clean energy, say Tom Plotkin and Pegah Nabili at Covington.
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Superfund Site Reopenings Carry Insured Risk, Opportunity
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's reported plans to reopen certain Superfund sites citing the presence of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances raise notable liability concerns, but may also present unique opportunities for policyholders under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, say attorneys at Haynes and Boone.