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Environmental
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October 24, 2024
EPA, Air Force Commit To PFAS Plan For Tucson Airport
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Air Force said they're committing to a framework to address "forever chemical" contamination at the Tucson International Airport Area Superfund Site in southeastern Arizona.
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October 24, 2024
EPA Can't Rush Truck Electrification, DC Circ. Hears
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a trucking industry group have thrown their support behind challengers' attempts to upend the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's greenhouse gas emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles, telling the D.C. Circuit that the agency is trying to accomplish too much too soon.
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October 24, 2024
DC Circ. Ruling Endangers Distressed Texas Area, Port Says
The owner of the Port of Brownsville in Texas is urging the D.C. Circuit to consider the devastating impacts a panel's decision to vacate Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reauthorization orders for two major liquefied natural gas projects threatens to impose on the region.
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October 24, 2024
EPA Finalizes New Standards For Lead Paint Dust
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday said it's finalizing standards to better protect people from lead paint dust exposure, reducing the level considered hazardous and the levels that can remain after abatement work.
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October 24, 2024
Mining Eligible In Final Regs For Energy Manufacturing Credit
The U.S. Treasury Department's final rules released Thursday on a valuable tax credit for manufacturing key components and materials used in clean energy technologies allow producers to take into account the costs to mine and extract critical minerals.
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October 23, 2024
Conn. Judge Rejects Utility's Defenses In Site Cleanup Battle
An Avangrid Inc. unit hasn't sufficiently rebutted the Connecticut government's claims that it's taking too long to clean up the long-defunct English Station power plant site in New Haven under a partial consent order, a state court judge has ruled.
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October 23, 2024
Pa. County Defends Climate Change Suit Against BP, Chevron
BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and other major oil companies can't argue that a federal environmental statute sinks a climate change lawsuit because the claims fall outside of the law's purview, a Pennsylvania county told a state court.
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October 23, 2024
EPA's GHG Power Plant Rule Is Achievable, Scientists Say
A half-dozen prominent scientists and engineers have told the D.C. Circuit that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to tap carbon capture and sequestration technology to reduce power plants' greenhouse gas pollution is on point and readily achievable.
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October 23, 2024
No More Coverage For Paper Co.'s Pollution Claim, Panel Says
A WestRock Co. subsidiary that owned a Montana paper mill later identified as a Superfund site isn't entitled to additional coverage from its AIG insurer, an Illinois state appeals court ruled, saying two pollution conditions on the property were related and subject to a single $5 million limit of liability.
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October 23, 2024
Religion Law Can't Save Sacred Worship Site, High Court Told
A law designed to protect religious freedom can't help an Apache nonprofit's bid to save a sacred worship site in Arizona from destruction, the federal government said, arguing that the tribe is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to nullify a congressional statute crafted to allow federal third-party land transfers.
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October 23, 2024
USDA Unveils $1.5B In Conservation, Climate-Smart Projects
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday revealed a $1.5 billion investment in 92 partner-driven conservation projects through the agency's Regional Conservation Partnership Program.
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October 23, 2024
Judge Says Ex-Steward Hospital Nurse Row Out Of His Hands
A Texas bankruptcy judge Wednesday declined to order the new owner of former Steward Health Care hospitals in Massachusetts to take back changes to nurses' union contracts it assumed under his sale order, saying it wasn't up to him to make the call.
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October 23, 2024
'Alkaline Water' Co. Hit With $5B In Punitive Damages
A Nevada jury awarded $5 billion in punitive damages Wednesday in a 15-plaintiff trial over liver damage linked to Real Water's "alkaline water," the largest verdict yet in ongoing litigation against the bankrupt company.
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October 23, 2024
EPA Can't Restart Crafting Smog Rule, DC Circ. Told
A group of Democratic-led state governments is telling the D.C. Circuit that the Clean Air Act doesn't mandate reconsideration of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2023 "Good Neighbor" emissions regulation as two steel manufacturers say.
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October 23, 2024
Roundup Suit Pared As Preemption Claim Sways Mass. Judge
A Massachusetts judge has dismissed portions of a suit claiming a woman's use of the weedkiller Roundup caused her cancer, ruling a federal labeling law preempts her theory that Monsanto failed to warn consumers about the chemical's dangers.
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October 23, 2024
Chemical Co. GC Fires Back At Pregnancy Bias Claims In NJ
Arxada and its general counsel struck back at a former in-house attorney's claims in a New Jersey state court lawsuit that the specialty chemicals company unlawfully dismissed her in the days after she talked about taking leave to recover from a miscarriage.
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October 22, 2024
'Alkaline Water' Co. Owes $230M In Latest Liver Trial
A Nevada state jury awarded $230 million Tuesday in the latest trial over liver damage from Real Water's "alkaline water" and sent the 15 plaintiffs, including a UFC fighter, to a punitive damages phase.
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October 22, 2024
Blink Investor Deal Gets Final OK, Attys Score $1.25M Fee
A Florida federal judge has granted final approval to a $3.75 million settlement between electric-vehicle charging station operator Blink Charging Co. and a proposed class of investors who alleged the company mischaracterized the functionality of its charging network.
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October 22, 2024
Copper Mining Co. Asks High Court To Toss Sacred Site Suit
A copper mining company that wants to build operations in a tribally sacred part of the Tonto National Forest has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to toss a challenge to a Ninth Circuit ruling that allows for the transfer of nearly 2,500 acres of land.
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October 22, 2024
Walmart Pays $7.5M To End Hazardous Waste Disposal Suit
Walmart Inc. has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the state of California and district attorneys of several counties who alleged the retail giant improperly disposed of hazardous and medical wastes from its locations to municipal landfills, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on Tuesday.
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October 22, 2024
Feds Granted More Time For New Gulf Drilling Review
A Maryland federal judge has agreed to delay the date by which she will vacate a National Marine Fisheries Service review of the effects of oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after the agency explained that it would not be able to complete a new review by the original Dec. 20 deadline.
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October 22, 2024
Organic Food Group Asks 9th Circ. To Upend GMO Label Rule
An organic food industry advocacy group urged the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday to reverse a district judge decision that largely left a Trump-era organic food labeling rule intact, saying the U.S. Department of Agriculture's implementation of a nationwide labeling law for genetically modified foods has been "arbitrary and capricious."
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October 22, 2024
Appliance Co., Customers Agree To End Stove Pollutant Row
Luxury kitchen appliance maker Sub-Zero Group Inc. and the customers behind a proposed class action have agreed to drop the litigation, bringing to an end claims the company sold them gas stoves that emit "health-harming" pollutants.
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October 22, 2024
Tribe, Feds Reach Deal Over National Preserve Site
The federal government, joined by the Pueblo of Jemez, called on the Tenth Circuit to amend its March 2023 ruling granting the tribe title to a portion of the Valles Caldera National Preserve after the parties reached a settlement agreement concerning how the title will be effectuated.
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October 22, 2024
Feds Partner With Osage, Navajo To Tackle Orphaned Wells
The U.S. Department of Energy said it's inked agreements with the Osage Nation and the Navajo Nation that are aimed at identifying undocumented orphaned wells on tribal lands and addressing their harmful impacts.
Expert Analysis
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Navigating The New Rise Of Greenwashing Litigation
As greenwashing lawsuits continue to gain momentum with a shift in focus to carbon-neutrality claims, businesses must exercise caution and ensure transparency in their environmental marketing practices, taking cues from recent legal challenges in the airline industry, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State
On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.
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How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board effectively gives new entities their own personal statute of limitations to challenge rules and regulations, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence may portend the court's view that those entities do not need to be directly regulated, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.
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Expect The Unexpected: Contracts For Underground Projects
Recent challenges encountered by the Mountain Valley Pipeline project underscore the importance of drafting contracts for underground construction to account for unexpected site conditions, associated risks and compliance with applicable laws, say Jill Jaffe and Brenda Lin at Nossaman.
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How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts
As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.
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Series
Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.
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What NYC's Green Fast Track Means For Affordable Housing
New York City's Green Fast Track for Housing initiative, which went into effect last month, aims to speed up the environmental review process for modest residential developments and could potentially pave the way for similar initiatives in other cities, say Vivien Krieger and Rachel Scall at Cozen O'Connor.
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Opinion
Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.
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3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Roundup
After Chevron
Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 36 different rulemaking and litigation areas.
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Series
After Chevron: Expect Few Changes In ITC Rulemaking
The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion overruling the Chevron doctrine will have less impact on the U.S. International Trade Commission than other agencies administering trade statutes, given that the commission exercises its congressionally granted authority in a manner that allows for consistent decision making at both agency and judicial levels, say attorneys at Polsinelli.
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Opinion
Reform NEPA To Speed Mining Permits, Clean Energy Shift
It is essential to balance responsible regulatory oversight with permit approvals for mining projects that are needed for the transition to renewable energy — and with the National Environmental Policy Act being one of the leading causes of permit delays, reform is urgently needed, say Ana Maria Gutierrez and Michael Miller at Womble Bond.
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Opinion
Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem
The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.
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Calif. Long-Tail Ruling Continues Policyholder-Friendly Trend
The California Supreme Court's recent ruling in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Cement & Gypsum, rejecting horizontal policy exhaustion, was the latest in a string of its decisions involving insurance coverage for continuous or progressive injury claims that favor policyholders, say Billie Mandelbaum and David Goodwin at Covington.
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A Case Study For Calif. Cities In Water Utility Takeovers
With growing water scarcity and drier weather looming, some local governments in California have sought to acquire investor-owned water utilities by eminent domain — but the 2016 case of Claremont v. Golden State Water is a reminder that such municipalization attempts must meet certain statutory requirements, say attorneys at Nossaman.