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Environmental
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August 06, 2024
Energy Dept. Awards $2.2B For 8 Grid Upgrade Projects
The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday awarded $2.2 billion of congressional funding for an eight-pack of electric grid projects, including $700 million for a transmission line that would create a new link between the western and eastern portions of the U.S. grid.
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August 05, 2024
FTC Says Syngenta 'Distorts' Info Rules In Competition Case
The Federal Trade Commission is urging a North Carolina federal court to force Syngenta Corp. to produce documents in a lawsuit accusing the chemical maker and Corteva Inc. of suppressing competition from cheaper generic pesticides, emphasizing that the information is relevant to the case despite Syngenta's contentions to the contrary.
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August 05, 2024
Abandoned Gas Wells Class Action Survives 4th Circ. Battle
The Fourth Circuit on Monday rejected EQT Corp.'s and Diversified Energy Co.'s efforts to evade a proposed class action filed by West Virginia property owners who allege they've been harmed by abandoned oil and gas wells.
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August 05, 2024
GSA Makes First Tribal Carbon-Free Electricity Purchase
A Seneca Nation holding company is the first tribal majority-owned business to be awarded a bid from the U.S. General Services Administration to sell carbon pollution-free electricity to the federal agency, a move that's been in the works since at least April.
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August 05, 2024
Monsanto PCB Appeals Win Has Shallow Impact, Families Say
A group of families suing Monsanto alleging they were poisoned by chemicals at a Washington school has told a trial judge their case can't be limited by the state's 12-year statute of repose for product liability claims, even though an appellate court did just that in a related case.
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August 05, 2024
Star Peak Shareholders Consolidate And Amend Class Action
Mix-and-match attorney teams will lead and manage a proposed class stockholder suit alleging damages from the blank check company deal that took artificial intelligence-driven energy storage business Stem Inc. public in April 2021, Delaware's chancellor has ruled.
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August 05, 2024
Top Groups Lobbying The FCC
The Federal Communications Commission heard from advocates nearly 180 times in July on issues ranging from rural broadband to Wi-Fi hot spots for schools and libraries, new payment rates for phone call captioning, spectrum for the electric grid, and more.
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August 05, 2024
Army Corps Fights Amendment To Miss. Dolphin Harm Suit
The Army Corps of Engineers told a federal judge that Mississippi local governments and industry groups should not be allowed to amend a lawsuit claiming its diversion of trillions of gallons of polluted floodwater into the Mississippi Sound unlawfully harmed bottlenose dolphins.
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August 05, 2024
Former Refiner Can't Dodge Polluted Water Remedy
A Virgin Islands oil refinery that spewed oil onto neighbors' properties has lost its Third Circuit challenge to a court-ordered program that required it to buy bottled water for residents too poor to buy it themselves.
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August 05, 2024
Washington, Tribes Back EPA's Health Criteria For The State
The state of Washington and five Native American tribes have argued that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rightly restored more than 140 human health criteria aimed at protecting the state's residents from toxic pollutants, urging a D.C. federal judge to reject several business groups' attempt to overturn the agency's rule.
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August 05, 2024
El Paso Inks Deal Over NM Agency's $1.3M Sewage Dump Fine
An El Paso, Texas, water utility is moving to end a lawsuit against the New Mexico Environment Department that challenged two compliance orders and a nearly $1.3 million penalty imposed against it over sewage diversions into the Rio Grande.
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August 05, 2024
Transportation Policies To Watch: Midyear 2024 Review
Rail and aviation safety reforms following recent incidents, stricter vehicle emission standards guiding automakers' gradual pivot to electrification, and the integration of new automation and drone technology are some of the transportation industry's top regulatory priorities to watch in the second half of 2024.
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August 05, 2024
Pennsylvania Legislation To Watch In 2024: A Midyear Report
The Pennsylvania Legislature is following other jurisdictions striving to make social media safer while preserving free speech, and putting stricter limits on "forever chemicals" that had been widely used in firefighting applications and products for resisting stains and stickiness. Here, Law360 looks at some of the Pennsylvania bills attorneys are watching in 2024.
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August 05, 2024
9th Circ. Denies Rehearing Bid In ESA Fish Protection Suit
The Ninth Circuit denied conservation groups' request to rehear a ruling affirming the federal government's approval of water supply contracts for the Central Valley Project in California.
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August 05, 2024
PE Firms Carlyle, Quantum Ink $3B Deal For US Power Co.
Houston-based Quantum Capital Group said Monday it has agreed to purchase Cogentrix Energy, a U.S. independent power producer, from Carlyle for about $3 billion.
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August 02, 2024
Hawaii Inks $4B Maui Wildfires Deal Ahead Of Anniversary
The state of Hawaii, Charter Communications and the state's largest utility have agreed to shell out $4 billion to resolve hundreds of lawsuits lodged after a deadly wildfire broke out in Maui nearly a year ago, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green announced on Friday.
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August 02, 2024
BigLaw Insurer Calls FirstEnergy Ruling Threat To Privilege
The Attorneys' Liability Assurance Society and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce threw their support Friday behind FirstEnergy's call for the Sixth Circuit to block investors' access to internal investigative documents produced by two BigLaw firms after a $1 billion bribery scandal became public.
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August 02, 2024
Glancy Prongay To Rep Investors In Landslide Risks Suit
Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP will represent a proposed class of investors in consolidated litigation alleging a Colorado-based mining company's unsafe practices precipitated a landslide, hurting investors when its trading prices dropped.
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August 02, 2024
Iowa, ND Move For Win In NEPA Rule Fight
States led by Iowa and North Dakota are asking a federal judge to scrap a Council on Environmental Quality rule they say threatens to turn the National Environmental Policy Act into an "action-forcing" process to advance the Biden administration's climate and environmental justice goals.
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August 02, 2024
Pa. AG Wants More From Feds' Norfolk Southern Settlement
Pennsylvania's attorney general was concerned Friday that a proposed $310 million settlement with Norfolk Southern Railway — intended to cover the cleanup costs, civil penalties and community health concerns after a fiery 2023 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio — did not go far enough in making the railroad pay for healthcare costs or implement safety upgrades.
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August 02, 2024
Wolverine, Travelers Drop Coverage Claims Over PFAS Suits
Footwear company Wolverine and various Travelers units have agreed to end their coverage battle over underlying lawsuits accusing the company of injuring individuals through its leather tannery operations and exposing individuals to so-called forever chemicals, the parties told a Michigan federal court.
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August 02, 2024
Challengers To Ga. Utility Panel Elections Want Another Shot
The plaintiffs behind a lawsuit that initially succeeded in challenging the allegedly discriminatory method for electing Georgia's Public Service Commission on Thursday asked a federal judge for permission to amend their complaint after the Eleventh Circuit refused to revisit an earlier panel decision upholding the electoral system.
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August 02, 2024
Paper Cos. Challenge Superfund Liability At 6th Circ.
International Paper Co. and Weyerhaeuser Co. on Thursday asked the Sixth Circuit to reverse a Michigan federal judge who found that they can be sued for future cleanup costs of a Michigan Superfund site.
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August 02, 2024
Navajo Restrict Radioactive Transport On Reservation Lands
For the next six months, no radioactive material can be transported across the Navajo Nation's reservation without prior agreement with the country's largest federally recognized tribe, according to an executive order signed by President Buu Nygren.
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August 02, 2024
8th Circ. Says Mining Co. Can't Escape Peruvians' Claims
The Eighth Circuit refused to overturn a ruling greenlighting litigation filed by more than 1,400 Peruvian nationals against U.S. billionaire Ira Rennert and his holding company The Renco Group seeking to hold them liable for alleged lead poisoning tied to a smelting and refining complex in rural Peru.
Expert Analysis
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A Deep Dive Into The Evolving World Of ESG Ratings
Attorneys at Mintz discuss the salience of environmental, social and governance ratings in corporate circles in recent years, and consider certain methodologies underlying their calculation for professionals, as well as issues concerning the ESG ratings and products themselves.
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Updated Federal Rules Can Improve Product Liability MDLs
The recent amendment of a federal evidence rule regarding expert testimony and the proposal of a civil rule on managing early discovery in multidistrict legislation hold great promise for promoting the uniform and efficient processes that high-stakes product liability cases particularly need, say Alan Klein and William Heaston at Duane Morris.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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Adopting 7 Principles May Improve Voluntary Carbon Markets
The Biden administration's recently issued joint policy statement on improving the integrity of voluntary carbon markets may help companies using carbon credits to offset their emissions withstand scrutiny by government agencies, the public and investors, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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EU Directive Significantly Strengthens Enviro Protection
The recently revised European Union directive on environmental protection significantly strengthens its prior legislation and broadens the scope of environmental crime through the introduction of offenses for conduct resulting in severe damage, say Katharina Humphrey and Julian Reichert at Gibson Dunn.
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How Act 126 Will Jump-Start Lithium Production In Louisiana
Louisiana's recent passage of Act 126, which helps create a legal and regulatory framework for lithium brine production and direct lithium extraction in the state, should help bolster the U.S. supply of this key mineral, and contribute to increased energy independence for the nation, say Marjorie McKeithen and Justin Marocco at Jones Walker.
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Legal Battles Show Brands' Dilemma In Luxury Resale Trend
Recent litigation, such as Chanel's pending case against The RealReal, underscores the intricate balance luxury brands must strike between protecting their trademarks and embracing the burgeoning secondhand market that values sustainability, says Prachi Ajmera at Michelman & Robinson.
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Why Jurors Balk At 'I Don't Recall' — And How To Respond
Jurors often react negatively to a witness who responds “I don’t remember” because they tend to hold erroneous beliefs about the nature of human memory, but attorneys can adopt a few strategies to mitigate the impact of these biases, say Steve Wood and Ava Hernández at Courtroom Sciences.
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How Federal And State Microfiber Pollution Policy Is Evolving
Growing efforts to address synthetic microfiber pollution may create compliance and litigation issues for businesses in the textile and apparel industries, so companies should track developing federal and state legislation and regulation in this space, and should consider associated greenwashing risks, says Arie Feltman-Frank at Jenner & Block.
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An Insurance Coverage Checklist For PFAS Defendants
With PFAS liability exposures attracting increased media attention, now is a good time for companies that could be exposed to liability related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances to review existing and past insurance policies, and consider taking proactive steps to maximize their likelihood of coverage, say attorneys at Nossaman.
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Series
Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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10 Tips To Build Trust With Your Witness During Trial Prep
Preparing a witness for deposition or trial requires more than just legal skills — lawyers must also work to cultivate trust with the witness, using strategies ranging from wearing a hat when conducting mock cross-examination to offering them a ride to court before they testify, say Faye Paul Teller and Sara McDermott at Munger Tolles.
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Opinion
It's Time To Defuse The Ticking Time Bomb Of US Landfills
After recent fires at landfills in Alabama and California sent toxic fumes into surrounding communities, it is clear that existing penalties for landfill mismanagement are insufficient — so policymakers must enact major changes to the way we dispose of solid waste, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.