Environmental

  • August 19, 2024

    Refiners Seek EPA Biofuel Reg Waiver, Citing Shortfall

    A national trade group for refiners is asking a D.C. federal judge to order the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to partially waive cellulosic biofuel blending requirements for 2023, arguing the agency overestimated how much would be available, causing refiners an estimated $237 million in compliance costs.

  • August 16, 2024

    9th Circ. Throws Alaska Fishers A Lifeline In Orca Food Case

    Alaskan salmon fishers got the green light to continue their hunts as the Ninth Circuit on Friday said a Washington federal judge "glossed over" severe economic consequences in holding that the fishing illegally reduced a food source for endangered orcas in Washington state.

  • August 16, 2024

    SEC Climate Rules Backed By Wave Of Amici At 8th Circ.

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has received a wave of support for its recently adopted climate disclosure rules from various consumer advocacy, environmental, investor and academic groups, which told the Eighth Circuit the measures are necessary and within the agency's authority.

  • August 16, 2024

    6th Circ. Won't Rethink Sending Pipeline Fight To Mich. Court

    The Sixth Circuit stood by a decision to send a lawsuit seeking to shut down an Enbridge Energy LP crude oil and natural gas pipeline back to a Michigan state court Friday, denying Enbridge's request for a hearing in front of the full appellate court.

  • August 16, 2024

    9th Circ. Upholds Tribe's Win In Washington Dam Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday upheld an order requiring that a Washington hydroelectric company alter its rock pile dam on the Puyallup River, handing another win to the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, which says the dam is threatening several species of endangered fish.

  • August 16, 2024

    New Study Sought On Uranium Mine Near Grand Canyon

    Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is asking the U.S. Forest Service for an updated environmental impact study on the state's only working uranium mine at the center of a dispute with the Navajo Nation, saying the original assessment is based on outdated information about risks to the region's groundwater.

  • August 16, 2024

    Voters' Bid To Revive Ga. Election Suit Slammed As Hail Mary

    Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is asking a federal judge to "make clear" a case alleging a biased system to elect Georgia Public Service Commission members "is over," as Black voters behind the suit fight to keep it alive.

  • August 16, 2024

    TCJA's Estate Tax Treatment Shouldn't Change, Panel Told

    If the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's estate tax exemption increase is allowed to lapse in 2025, many family farms in the Midwest would face tough choices, including whether to sell to large corporations, panelists told the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee on Friday.

  • August 16, 2024

    No More Info For Camp Lejeune Plaintiffs, Gov't Says

    The federal government has told a North Carolina court that a motion by the Camp Lejeune litigants to compel more information should be denied, since it has already produced nearly 23 million pages that cover half a dozen federal agencies and decades of data.

  • August 16, 2024

    V&E Can Advise Wood Pellet Co. Enviva In Ch. 11, Court Says

    Months after a Virginia bankruptcy court blocked Vinson & Elkins LLP from representing Enviva in the wood pellet maker's Chapter 11 case due to a possible conflict of interest, the court has reversed course, permitting the law firm to serve as special counsel after it pledged to narrow the scope of its work.

  • August 16, 2024

    DC Circ. Rolls Back Pipeline Safety Rules

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday threw out a handful of new safety standards for gas transmission pipelines set by the U.S. Department of Transportation, ruling that federal regulators failed to explain why their benefits outweighed their costs.

  • August 16, 2024

    Kentucky Couple Sue Progressive Over Coal Mine Subsidence

    A couple told a Kentucky federal court that Progressive denied coverage for coal mine subsidence damage to their home in bad faith, saying the insurer did so despite having access to records showing that the state authorized a $1.8 million project to help fix that very subsidence.

  • August 16, 2024

    NC AG Readies Appeal In Fight Over Smithfield Foods Funds

    North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein is taking a fight over millions of dollars in environmental grants to the state appeals court, after a trial judge found the funds should be exclusively set aside for use in public schools.

  • August 16, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen Barry Manilow sued by music rights company Hipgnosis, a struck-off immigration lawyer take on the Solicitor's Disciplinary Tribunal and the former CEO of a collapsed bridging loan firm start proceedings against the FCA. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • August 15, 2024

    Green Group Backs Feds' Denial Of Water Co.'s Right-Of-Way

    Save Our Forest Association urged a D.C. federal judge on Thursday to reject the company behind Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water's attempt to block the federal government from requiring it cease operation of its 23,000-foot-long water pipeline in Berkeley, California's Strawberry Canyon.

  • August 15, 2024

    DC Circ. Explains Toss Of EPA's Biofuel Exemptions Denial

    The Environmental Protection Agency's narrow interpretation of what defines an economic hardship wrongly shut dozens of small oil refineries out of receiving federal renewable fuel blending requirement exemptions, according to a per curiam D.C. Circuit opinion unsealed this week.

  • August 15, 2024

    Judge Rejects GE's Bid To Pull Plug On Contamination Suit

    A Louisiana federal judge on Wednesday refused to let General Electric escape a lawsuit alleging it is liable for widespread environmental contamination caused by a now-closed pressure valve manufacturing facility that GE used to own.

  • August 15, 2024

    Monsanto Gets 3rd Circ. Win In Roundup Failure-To-Warn Case

    The Third Circuit ruled Thursday that a Pennsylvania state law failure-to-warn claim in a suit alleging the weed killer Roundup caused a Keystone State man's cancer is preempted by federal law, creating a circuit split on central issues in multidistrict litigation over the Monsanto product.

  • August 15, 2024

    Interior Department Grants $775M To Plug Oil And Gas Wells

    The U.S. Department of the Interior said it's making up to $775 million available for 21 eligible states to plug orphaned oil and gas wells to curb harmful methane leaks and reduce risks to the environment and public health.

  • August 15, 2024

    Deals Rumor Mill: Paramount, Blackstone, Starbucks

    The heir to Canadian liquor purveyor Seagram is preparing a bid for Paramount's parent company, Blackstone explores a potential $2.6 billion sale of Clarion Events, and activist investor Starboard sets sights on Starbucks. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.

  • August 15, 2024

    Prof Rips DOJ, VW's 9th Circ. Bid To Shield Jones Day Docs

    A Loyola Marymount University professor has urged the Ninth Circuit to shut down the U.S. Department of Justice and Volkswagen AG's relentless "obfuscation" in a long-running dispute over access to confidential Volkswagen documents that were part of a Jones Day investigation into the automaker's 2015 emissions-cheating scandal.

  • August 15, 2024

    Levi & Korsinsky To Lead Hertz EV Cost Shareholder Suit

    Levi & Korsinsky LLP will represent a proposed class of investors in car rental giant Hertz Global Holdings Inc. in litigation alleging it exaggerated demand for electric cars, then took a $200 million earnings hit as it worked to offload those cars.

  • August 15, 2024

    DC Judge Restarts Border Wall Suit After Deal Scuttled

    A D.C. federal judge has resumed a suit over border wall damage on Arizona ranch lands after the ranches and the Biden administration said a Texas injunction in a different case upended a potential settlement in this one.

  • August 15, 2024

    Colorado, Suncor Back EPA In Denver Refinery Permit Fight

    Colorado and Suncor Energy USA Inc. told the Tenth Circuit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was right to refuse to object to a series of permit changes state regulators approved for the company's Denver-area oil refinery, as fights over the facility's emissions are heating up.

  • August 15, 2024

    Carrier Wraps Strategic Exit Plan With $3B Sale Of Fire Units

    Carrier Global Corp. said Thursday it has inked an agreement to sell its commercial and residential fire units to an affiliate of Lone Star Funds at an enterprise value of $3 billion, completing the company's strategic plan to sell off several business units and focus on its core ventilation business.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market

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    Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • Series

    Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.

  • What Chevron's End Means For How Congress Does Business

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision, overturning the Chevron doctrine, will have a far-reaching impact across the entire public policy life cycle, beginning with how Congress writes its laws and extending through agency implantation and judicial review, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • What Cos. Should Know About New Global Plastics Regs

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    As the global regulatory landscape for plastics and recycling changes rapidly — with new policies coming into effect in California, at the federal level, in the European Union and at the United Nations — businesses that operate across jurisdictions must stay informed to remain compliant, mitigate legal risk and achieve stewardship goals, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • The Rise Of State And Local Environmental Leadership

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    While Congress is deadlocked, and a U.S. Supreme Court with a hostility toward the administrative state aggressively dismantles federal environmental oversight, state and local governments are stepping up with policies to shape a more sustainable future for all species, says Jonathan Rosenbloom at Albany Law School.

  • 5 Tips For Solar Cos. Navigating Big Shifts In US Trade Policy

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    Renewable energy developers can best mitigate new compliance risks from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s increased tariffs on imported solar cells, and simultaneously capitalize on Treasury Department incentives for domestic solar manufacturers, by following five best practices in the changing solar trade landscape, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

  • Half-Truths Vs. Omissions: Slicing Justices' Macquarie Cake

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Macquarie v. Moab provides a road map for determining whether corporate reports that omit information should be considered misleading — and the court baked it into a dessert analogy that is key to understanding the guidelines, say Daniel Levy and Pavithra Kumar at Advanced Analytical Consulting Group.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

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    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • 3 Areas Of Enforcement Risk Facing The EV Industry

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    Companies in the EV manufacturing ecosystem are experiencing a boom in business, but with this boom comes increased regulatory and enforcement risks, from the corruption issues that have historically pervaded the extractive sector to newer risks posed by artificial intelligence, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • How Cos. Should Handle Research Org.'s Carcinogen Evals

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    In light of the International Agency of Research for Cancer's list of substances slated for review over the next five years, manufacturers of chemicals, pharmaceuticals and consumer products should monitor for potentially unbalanced determinations, which could stimulate litigation regarding potential exposure from products, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

  • Keeping Up With Carbon Capture Policy In The US And EU

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    Recent regulatory moves from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the European Commission in the carbon capture, sequestration and storage space are likely to further encourage the owners and operators of fossil fuel-fired power plants to make decisions on shutdowns or reconfiguration to meet the expanding requirements, say Inosi Nyatta and Silvia Brünjes at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • New State Climate Liability Laws: What Companies Must Know

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    New legislation in Vermont and New York creating liability and compliance obligations for businesses deemed responsible for climate change — as well as similar bills proposed in California, Massachusetts and Maryland — have far-reaching implications for companies, so it is vital to remain vigilant as these initiatives progress, say Gregory Berlin and Jeffrey Dintzer at Alston & Bird.

  • EU Investor-State Dispute Transparency Rules: Key Points

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    The European Union's recent vote to embrace greater transparency for investor-state arbitration will make managing newly public information more complex for all parties in a dispute — so it is important for stakeholders to understand the risks and opportunities involved, say Philip Hall, Tara Flores and Charles McKeon at Thorndon Partners.

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