Environmental

  • November 22, 2024

    Chemical Co.'s PFAS Coverage Suit In SC Gets Tossed

    A South Carolina federal court tossed BASF Corp.'s suit seeking coverage for thousands of underlying allegations that the chemical manufacturer's firefighting foam caused pollution and injury, finding Friday that a parallel suit in New Jersey state court favors abstention.

  • November 22, 2024

    New Congress Could Undo Rules On Drinking Water, Methane

    A consumer advocacy group is warning that Republicans may target a slew of recent and pending regulatory actions when they take control in Washington next year, saying they could make use of the Congressional Review Act to unwind new rules on competition, lead in drinking water, data protection and more.

  • November 22, 2024

    Hunting Groups Sue Colo. Wildlife Regulators Over Editorial

    Pro-hunting groups have said Colorado Parks and Wildlife commissioners violated the state's Open Meetings Law when they jointly authored a newspaper editorial promoting a measure to ban mountain lion, lynx and bobcat hunting, which voters rejected in November.

  • November 22, 2024

    Manhattan Project Waste Suit Sent Back To Mich. State Court

    A Michigan federal judge on Friday remanded back to state court a lawsuit from communities trying to prevent a local landfill company from accepting decades-old radioactive waste from the development of the first atomic bomb, finding a state judge can answer the unsubstantial federal question raised in the case.

  • November 22, 2024

    Bulgaria Looks To Nix $61M Renewable Energy Award Suit

    Bulgaria is urging a D.C. federal court to nix litigation filed by Maltese investor ACF Renewable Energy Ltd. to enforce a €61 million ($63.54 million) arbitral award it won following a dispute over a nixed tariff program, arguing that it never agreed to arbitrate with ACF.

  • November 22, 2024

    Feds Slam Utah High Court Case Over Fed. Land Ownership

    The federal government called on the Supreme Court to reject Utah's attempt to file a complaint accusing it of unconstitutionally hoarding and profiting from public lands in the state, saying the justices should decline to exercise original jurisdiction over the matter.

  • November 22, 2024

    Port Operators Can't Join Suit Over Delaware River Project

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has ruled two terminal companies waited too long to join in on a case that resulted in the revocation of the approval for a new port project on the Delaware River, reasoning that the companies' claim of having a stake in the outcome of the case was untimely.

  • November 22, 2024

    Mich. Justices Want To Know If 3M Water Challenge Is Moot

    The Michigan Supreme Court ordered additional briefing Friday in 3M Co.'s challenge to regulations on PFAS in drinking water to address whether subsequent regulatory changes made 3M's lawsuit moot, echoing a focal point of last week's oral arguments in the case. 

  • November 22, 2024

    Insurer Owes $4.5M For Water Damage, Wash. HOA Says

    A Washington state homeowners association told a federal court that its insurer owes over $4.5 million in coverage to repair hidden water damage at its condominium community, arguing that no exclusions, conditions or limitations bar coverage under its policy.

  • November 22, 2024

    PFAS Foam MDL Attys Score $95.8M For Tyco, BASF Deals

    A South Carolina federal judge awarded nearly $96 million in combined fees and costs Friday to lead counsel representing public water systems for reaching a $316.5 million deal with BASF Corp. and $750 million with Tyco Fire Products LP over forever chemicals, lauding them as "some of the most qualified mass tort litigators in America."

  • November 22, 2024

    Bondi Vowed Trump Payback. Ex-Colleagues Aren't Worried.

    U.S. attorney general nominee Pam Bondi is an outspoken ally of President-elect Donald Trump and vowed during the campaign that his "prosecutors will be prosecuted," but people who've worked with her say she's well qualified to serve as the nation's top cop and downplayed concerns that she would politicize the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • November 22, 2024

    LA Power Dept. Inks $60M Settlement Over Valley Gas Leak

    The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has reached a $59.9 million settlement over allegations that it hid a dangerous natural gas leak from San Fernando Valley residents for over three years, according to the plaintiffs' counsel.

  • November 22, 2024

    EPA, Pa. Nab $5.3M In Penalties Against Oil, Gas Producers

    The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday they have secured two settlements amounting to $5.3 million with XTO Energy Inc. and Hilcorp Energy Company, resolving alleged Clean Air Act and Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control Act violations.

  • November 22, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen cash-strapped Thurrock Borough Council bring a £40 million ($50 million) negligence claim against 23 other local authorities over its solar investments from a not-for-profit local government body, AstraZeneca sue a fire safety company following a blaze at its Cambridge headquarters last year, and a director who was convicted in 2016 for corporate manslaughter face action by Manolete Partners. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • November 22, 2024

    Ex-Invenergy Atty Joins McDermott's Energy Team In DC

    McDermott Will & Emery LLP announced Friday its Washington, D.C., office has brought on an in-house renewable energy and taxation expert with more than a decade of experience to further help the firm's clients utilize energy transition tax credits available in the Inflation Reduction Act.

  • November 21, 2024

    Greens Sue Army Corps Over San Jacinto River Barge Project

    A Texas environmental group sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Texas federal court Thursday, claiming the Corps rubber-stamped a barge mooring project in the San Jacinto River that runs a serious risk of releasing dangerous contaminants and poisoning the waterway.

  • November 21, 2024

    FirstEnergy Investors Slam Ex-Execs' Info 'Bogeyman' Story

    FirstEnergy shareholders have accused two former executives of the energy company of exploiting confidentiality rules by seeking to shield documents relevant to their suit over a stock plummet that followed a massive bribery scheme, telling an Ohio federal judge he should reject the executives' "informational bogeyman" story.

  • November 21, 2024

    FERC Heeds States' Worries With Grid Planning Policy Rewrite

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday approved changes to its sweeping revision of its regional transmission planning policies, and a heftier role for states in the planning process was enough to assuage the concerns of a commissioner who dissented from the original rule.

  • November 21, 2024

    DOD Needs To Do More To Fix Military Housing, OIG Says

    The U.S. Department of Defense failed to properly identify and fix health, safety and environmental hazards in military housing, according to a Thursday report from the DOD's Office of Inspector General.

  • November 21, 2024

    Judge Suggests 1st Circ. Should Hear Lobster Tracking Case

    A federal judge in Maine on Thursday tossed a case by lobster fishermen suing to keep their fishing routes secret from state observation, but the judge encouraged the lobstermen to appeal the ruling so that a federal appeals court can wade into this "significant" Fourth Amendment dispute.

  • November 21, 2024

    Fuel Economy Regs Are Unlawful Path To EVs, 6th Circ. Told

    Republican-led states and fuel industry groups have told the Sixth Circuit that the U.S. Department of Transportation overstepped with new vehicle fuel-economy standards that amount to an unlawful electric vehicles mandate, while environmental groups say the standards don't go far enough to meaningfully combat climate change.

  • November 21, 2024

    DC Circ. Judges Disagree On Standing In Drilling Permit Suit

    The judges of the D.C. Circuit stepped on each other's toes Thursday during oral arguments over a challenge to the approvals of thousands of drilling permits in New Mexico and Wyoming, appearing to be at odds over whether the environmental groups' stance on standing had legs.

  • November 21, 2024

    EPA Beats Calif. Suit Over Pesticide-Coated Seed Exemption

    A California federal judge threw out public safety groups' lawsuit alleging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provided pesticide-coated crop seeds an illegal loophole from regulation, finding the agency made a fair and considered judgment when it said the seeds are exempted from registration. 

  • November 21, 2024

    Trump Selects Ex-Fla. AG Pam Bondi As New AG Pick

    President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has selected Pam Bondi, a former attorney general of Florida, as his new pick for U.S. attorney general, just hours after former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration amid allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use.

  • November 21, 2024

    EPA Announces National Strategy To Tackle Plastic Pollution

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday unveiled its national strategy outlining how government agencies, businesses, nonprofits and communities can prevent plastic pollution. 

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Despite Calif. Delays, Climate Disclosure Rules Are Coming

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    Progress continues on state, federal and international climate disclosure regimes, making compliance a key concern for companies — but the timeline for implementation of California's disclosure laws remains unclear due to funding and timing disputes, says David Smith at Manatt Phelps.

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