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Environmental
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June 26, 2024
White House Unveils $1.8B In Transportation Grants
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg revealed on Wednesday that the agency had awarded $1.8 billion in grants for 148 transportation infrastructure projects across the country, as part of the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity discretionary grants program.
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June 26, 2024
SpaceX Beach Closure Challenge Is 'Illogical,' Texas Says
Texas is asking its high court to review a decision that forces several government entities to face an environmental group's challenge to the closure of a beach for SpaceX activities, writing that the appellate court's adoption of the group's theory of open beach access "clashes" with state law and court precedent.
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June 26, 2024
Texas Moves To Bar DOJ Witness In Rio Grande Barrier Fight
Texas has moved to disqualify one of the Biden administration's witnesses in litigation over the Lone Star state's 1,000-foot barrier in the Rio Grande to keep out migrants, arguing the witness has no relevant or reliable opinions to offer.
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June 26, 2024
Judge Sides With Army Corps, Costco On Wetlands Permit
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not violate the Clean Water Act when it issued a wetlands permit for the development of a new Costco store, a Washington federal judge said in ruling against residents who opposed the project.
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June 26, 2024
EDF Renewables Units Dodging Biogas Judgment, Suit Says
A Colorado composting company claims a biogas plant venture has been stripping itself of assets in order to evade a judgment, according to a Colorado federal complaint accusing the biogas company and related enterprises of fraudulent transfers.
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June 26, 2024
Ex-Worker Says NC Justices Needn't Review Carcinogen Test
A former graduate student worker for North Carolina State University has told the Tar Heel State's highest court that the school is trying to delay a potential lawsuit by continuing its fight to keep the ex-employee and cancer patient from investigating a campus building for carcinogens.
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June 26, 2024
NJ Cos. Can't Toss Contamination Claim In Green Groups' Suit
A New Jersey federal judge won't let NL Industries Inc. and a subsidiary escape claims by two environmental groups under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, saying it's undisputed that the companies are considered persons who handled hazardous waste.
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June 26, 2024
2nd Circ. Critical Of Electronics Co.'s COVID-19 Loss Case
The attorney for an electronics company seeking more than $100 million in pandemic-related coverage from its insurer faced an uphill battle during Second Circuit oral arguments Wednesday as she tried to convince the court that her case was different from others that had been rejected.
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June 26, 2024
Alaska Natives Call EPA Pebble Mine Veto Unconstitutional
Two Alaska Native American groups are asking a federal court to strip the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of its power to block projects — like a controversial mine in the state — under the Clean Water Act.
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June 26, 2024
Calif. AG Defends Chemical Org's Subpoena In Pollution Probe
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is urging a D.C. federal judge to reject a bid from the American Chemistry Council that would block his office from enforcing a subpoena on the organization as part of an investigation into fossil fuel and petrochemical industries' role in global plastics pollution.
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June 26, 2024
House GOP Gears Up For The End Of Chevron Deference
A new memo outlines how House Republicans are gearing up for the U.S. Supreme Court to potentially overturn the decades-old precedent that courts defer to agencies' interpretations of ambiguous statutes, as an opportunity to roll back the Biden administration's policies and reclaim Congress' power.
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June 25, 2024
NC Judge Bars Consultant From Lying About Packaging Patent
A North Carolina federal judge has enjoined a patent owner from "making bad-faith, objectively false assertions of infringement" to insulated box maker Eco Fiber Inc.'s customers, as past assertions to the company's main customer have put it at "severe risk of losing [its] business."
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June 25, 2024
Feds Transfer Nearly 12,000 Acres To Minnesota Tribe
A Native American tribe in northern Minnesota has added nearly 12,000 acres of forest land to its reservation following an agreement signed by the U.S. Forest Service.
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June 25, 2024
Bulk Of Colo. Climate Case Against Oil Giants Beats Dismissal
A Colorado state judge has paved the way for a county's lawsuit against major oil and gas companies that aims to hold them liable for damages caused by climate change, rejecting bids to toss claims for public and private nuisance, conspiracy and unjust enrichment.
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June 25, 2024
4th Circ. Revives Arranger Liability Claims In Superfund Suit
The Fourth Circuit revived claims Tuesday against six companies that arranged the disposal of hazardous waste in the 68th Street dump site in Baltimore County, Maryland, ruling that a lower court was wrong to say the companies needed to know that the waste was hazardous to be liable for cleanup costs.
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June 25, 2024
Cummins Brass Face Investor Suit For $2B Clean Air Act Deal
Executives and directors of engine manufacturer Cummins Inc. have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit accusing them of concealing the company's use of unlawful emissions control devices in certain engines, which eventually resulted in a record $1.68 billion fine against the company and more than $326 million in related payments.
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June 25, 2024
Norfolk Southern Torched In NTSB Final Derailment Findings
Norfolk Southern used "reprehensible" tactics to interfere with the investigation into last year's derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and pushed for an "unnecessary" controlled vent and burn of highly flammable vinyl chloride during the accident's chaotic aftermath, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.
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June 25, 2024
GOP Lawmakers Urge 8th Circ. To Quash SEC's Climate Rule
A group of 35 Republican lawmakers on Tuesday moved to weigh in on the consolidated challenge to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently adopted climate disclosure rule, arguing that the Eighth Circuit should vacate the measure due to a lack of clear congressional authorization.
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June 25, 2024
Split DC Circ. Backs Bush-Era Mining Deregulation
A divided D.C. Circuit panel on Tuesday upheld a Bush-era mining regulation that removed limits on how much land near a mining site can be used for secondary operations like waste disposal, ruling against environmental groups that accused regulators of illegally walking back a more restrictive interpretation of federal mining law.
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June 25, 2024
Flint Judge Wants To Keep City 'Motivated' To Fix Lead Pipes
A Michigan federal judge on Tuesday all but approved a proposal from the state to step in and help the city of Flint finish replacing lead water service lines and restoring properties for residents, noting the city's repeated failures to meet its obligations under a 7-year-old settlement agreement.
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June 25, 2024
Ga. County Wants Battery Fire Suit Sent Back To State Court
A Georgia county that sued an electric vehicle battery manufacturer for allegedly dumping hundreds of batteries that led to a massive fire at a local recycling plant asked a federal judge Monday to send the case back to state court.
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June 25, 2024
Conn. Firefighters Sue Over PFAS In Protective Gear
Connecticut firefighters slapped 3M, DuPont and 17 others with a proposed class action on Tuesday, alleging they have been exposed to dangerous levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, contained in their protective gear manufactured and sold by the companies.
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June 25, 2024
DOD Watchdog Says Calif. Bases Must Prep Climate Plans
The U.S. Department of Defense's Office of the Inspector General revealed in a report that the leaders of four California defense facilities have failed to incorporate mandatory climate-related environmental risks, infrastructure vulnerabilities and risk-reduction measures into their master plans.
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June 25, 2024
NC Development Bill Violates UN Declaration, Tribe Says
A North Carolina tribe is fighting state legislation that it says does not assure protections over one of the most significant archaeological Native American discoveries in recent years, arguing its language violates international law and centuries-old treaties.
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June 25, 2024
Oil Co. Accused Of Duping Consumers With Biodiesel Product
A Massachusetts home heating oil dealer falsely told consumers they were purchasing an environmentally friendly biodiesel product, a proposed class action filed in state court on Monday alleges.
Expert Analysis
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SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap
As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.
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Googling Prospective Jurors Is Usually A Fool's Errand
Though a Massachusetts federal court recently barred Google from Googling potential jurors in a patent infringement case, the company need not worry about missing evidence of bias, because internet research of jury pools usually doesn’t yield the most valuable information — voir dire and questionnaires do, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.
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Reducing Carbon Footprint Requires A Tricky Path For CRE
As real estate owners find themselves caught between rapidly evolving environmental, social and governance initiatives and complicated societal debate, they will need to carefully establish formal plans to remain both competitive and compliant, say Michael Kuhn and Mahira Khan at Jackson Walker.
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The Corporate Disclosure Tug-Of-War's Free Speech Issues
The continuing conflict over corporate disclosure requirements — highlighted by a lawsuit against Missouri's anti-ESG rules — has important implications not just for investors and regulated entities but also for broader questions about the scope of the First Amendment, say Colin Pohlman, and Jane Luxton and Paul Kisslinger at Lewis Brisbois.
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3 Administrative Law Lessons From 5th Circ. Appliance Ruling
Showing that mundane details can be outcome-determinative, the Fifth Circuit's recent decision in Louisiana v. U.S. Department of Energy — that the government's repeal of rules affecting dishwashers and laundry machines is invalid — highlights the relationship between regulatory actions and statutory language, say Michael Showalter and Vyasa Babu at ArentFox Schiff.
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A Look Into How Jurors Reach High Damages Awards
In the wake of several large jury awards, Richard Gabriel and Emily Shaw at Decision Analysis shed light on challenges that jurors have in deciding them, the nonevidentiary and extra-legal methods they use to do so, and new research about the themes and jury characteristics of high-damages jurors.
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Aviation Back On Course, But Keep Seat Belts Fastened
While the airline industry finally returned to profitability last year for the first time since the onset of COVID-19, and is poised for historic levels of traffic in 2024, supply chain problems and economic and geopolitical uncertainty persist — so more turbulence may lie ahead, say Kevin Lewis and Bart Biggers at Sidley.
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Preparing For A New Wave Of Litigation Under Silicosis Rules
After the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of California issued an emergency temporary standard to combat noncompliance with assessments of workers' exposure to particles of crystalline silica, companies that manufacture, distribute or sell silica-containing products will need aggressive case-specific discovery to navigate a new wave of litigation, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Managing Competing Priorities In Witness Preparation
There’s often a divide between what attorneys and witnesses want out of the deposition process, but litigation teams can use several strategies to resolve this tension and help witnesses be more comfortable with the difficult conditions of testifying, say Ava Hernández and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.
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Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout
While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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Series
ESG Around The World: Brazil
Environmental, social and governance issues have increasingly translated into new legislation in Brazil since 2020, and in the wake of these recently enacted regulations, we are likely to see a growing number of legal disputes in the largest South American country related to ESG issues such as greenwashing if companies are not prepared to adequately adapt and comply, say attorneys at Mattos Filho.
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Understanding And Working With The Millennials On Your Jury
Every trial attorney will be facing a greater proportion of millennials on their jury, as they now comprise the largest generation in the U.S., and winning them over requires an understanding of their views on politics, corporations and damages, says Clint Townson at Townson Litigation Consulting.
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Vagueness In Calif. Climate Law Makes Compliance Tricky
California's recently enacted Voluntary Carbon Market Disclosures Act requires companies making claims of carbon neutrality, or significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions, to disclose information supporting those claims — but vague and conflicting language in the statute poses multiple problems for businesses, say John Rousakis and Chris Bowman at O'Melveny.
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Series
Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.
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Harmonizing Agricultural And Clean Energy Goals
Congress' extension of the Farm Bill offers a chance to more thoroughly consider innovation and investments that could transform the competition between farmers and solar developers into synergistic agrivoltaic systems, which use land for both agriculture and solar energy generation, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.