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Environmental
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December 04, 2024
Hoopa Valley Tribe Wants In On Trinity River Water Row
The Hoopa Valley Tribe is looking to intervene in a challenge to the Bureau of Reclamation over its operation of California's Trinity River water flows in an effort to dismiss the case, arguing that the litigation can't proceed without it, due to its federal property interests in the dispute.
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December 04, 2024
Farmers Insurance Off Hook In Homeowner's Fire Loss Appeal
A California homeowner who alleged that an agent underinsured her scorched $3 million Malibu home cannot blame Farmers Insurance, a state appeals court affirmed, finding in a published opinion that the agent acted independently when obtaining a policy via a fire insurance pool for her client.
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December 04, 2024
EPA Finalizes Changes To Chemical Review Process
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday finalized a rule to improve the efficiency of its new chemical review process that also makes per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as "forever chemicals," ineligible for exemptions that allow for shorter, less robust chemical reviews.
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December 04, 2024
Del. Justices Skeptical $2.4B SPAC Deal Misled Investors
Delaware Supreme Court justices pressed a stockholder attorney on Wednesday to explain how the blank-check company that took electric vehicle venture Canoo Holdings Ltd. public in a $2.4 billion deal breached its duties by failing to reveal information it purportedly had yet to receive.
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December 04, 2024
Treasury Finalizes Broad Energy Investment Tax Credit Regs
The U.S. Treasury Department released final regulations Wednesday for the clean energy investment tax credit, which includes notable changes to the proposed energy property definition to include functional components in calculating the incentive's value, such as a biogas facility's upgrading equipment.
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December 04, 2024
Ethylene Oxide Suits Sent Back To Ill. State Court
An Illinois federal judge said Tuesday that lawsuits accusing several companies of polluting the air with ethylene oxide were improperly removed to federal court, despite a state judge's statement that two defendants reaching settlements was cause for removal.
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December 04, 2024
DuPont Asks Court For Pause In $1 Billion Pollution Suit
Chemours and E.I. du Pont de Nemours urged a New Jersey state court to pause a small town's billion-dollar lawsuit over pollution from the former DuPont Chambers Works facility in order to appeal a recent ruling, arguing clarity from the Appellate Division is necessary.
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December 03, 2024
Investor Attys Seek $6.6M Cut Of $20M Metal Price-Fixing Deal
Attorneys for investors settling platinum and palladium price-fixing claims against Goldman Sachs and others for $20 million have asked a New York federal judge to award them fees equivalent to a third of the settlement amount, or more than $6.6 million, a below-lodestar request that they said is, "clearly, not a windfall situation."
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December 03, 2024
Feds, Nuke Storage Co. Ask Justices To Nix Bar On Waste Site
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Interim Storage Partners LLC are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a Fifth Circuit ruling barring a license for the company to temporarily store spent nuclear fuel at a site in Texas's Permian Basin.
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December 03, 2024
Ex-Braves Blast Tax Court's 'Disregard' In Easement Fight
Two former Atlanta Braves players penalized for allegedly overstating the value of a conservation easement donation urged the Eleventh Circuit to toss the costly ruling against them, saying the U.S. Tax Court's decision showed "blatant disregard" for the appeal court's precedent in deciding the matter.
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December 03, 2024
ND Calls Tribes' Bid For Riverbed Mineral Rights 'Irrational'
North Dakota has hit back against the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation's attempt to win a federal court declaration that it owns mineral rights beneath a portion of the Missouri River, arguing that the three tribes' claim of riverbed ownership is "irrational."
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December 03, 2024
Trump-Era Rule On Genetically Engineered Crops Tossed
A California federal judge on Monday vacated a 2020 Trump-era rule that a group of agricultural and environmental organizations alleged significantly reduced government oversight over genetically engineered crops, grasses and trees, granting the groups a partial summary judgment win due to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's inadequate explanations for the rule.
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December 03, 2024
5th Circ. Judge Doubts Deepwater Horizon Claims Can Survive
A Fifth Circuit judge on Tuesday questioned whether cleanup workers' claims following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill can survive in the face of a demanding evidence standard adopted from toxic tort cases.
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December 03, 2024
Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action
December's appellate forecast calls for a squall of showdowns in a tiny time period before the holidays, including arguments involving recent U.S. Supreme Court cases, Big Tech's patents and popular purveyors of health food. In addition, winds of change are swirling around the White House's litigation posture and judicial nominations, and we'll quiz you on the latter in this edition of Wheeling & Appealing.
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December 03, 2024
MTA, NY Officials Rip Bid To Block Revised Congestion Pricing
New York officials have told a federal judge that residents, truckers and community groups cannot sideline Manhattan's recently resurrected congestion pricing, saying there's zero merit to the plaintiffs' claims that they'd be irreparably harmed by allegedly unconstitutional and discriminatory tolls.
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December 03, 2024
Judge Says ND Can Intervene In Dakota Access Pipeline Row
The state of North Dakota can back the federal government in a challenge by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe over the Dakota Access Pipeline, a federal district court judge said, after the state argued that a shutdown would substantially impact its economy and undermine its sovereign interests.
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December 03, 2024
Willkie Adds Litigation Heavyweight, Energy Expert In DC
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP announced Tuesday that it has brought on two Washington, D.C., partners — a new chair for its regulatory litigation practice group who joined from King & Spalding LLP and an energy-focused finance attorney who joined from Greenberg Traurig LLP.
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December 03, 2024
Trump Pledges To Block $14.9B US Steel-Nippon Deal
President-elect Donald Trump has reiterated his opposition to the proposed $14.9 billion acquisition of Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, pledging on Truth Social to block the deal and virtually extinguishing any remaining glimmers of hope that it can get done.
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December 02, 2024
DC Circ. Asked To Spike 'Dangerous' NEPA Regulatons Ruling
Environmental groups are asking the D.C. Circuit to overturn a panel's "demonstrably dangerous" ruling that the White House Council on Environmental Quality lacks the authority to issue legally binding regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act.
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December 02, 2024
Newsom Wants $25M For Expected Legal Fights With Trump
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that he wants up to $25 million for litigation and legal fights he foresees with the administration of President-elect Donald Trump, kicking off the first day of a special session the state Legislature held at the governor's request after Trump's win.
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December 02, 2024
Insurer Says Telecom Co. Can't Ax Marshall Fire Coverage Suit
Liberty Mutual urged a Colorado federal court to allow it to proceed with a lawsuit against a Lumen Technologies subsidiary over coverage for underlying litigation linking the 2021 Marshall Fire to an unmoored telecommunications line, arguing that the insurer had clear standing to bring the suit.
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December 02, 2024
EPA Pitches Partial Ban On Food Crop Pesticide Chlorpyrifos
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday it is proposing a rule to revoke tolerances over the use of chlorpyrifos on foods, a year after the Eighth Circuit said the agency hurriedly instituted a ban and didn't fulsomely consider the possibility of allowing some beneficial uses to continue.
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December 02, 2024
Green Group Urges Justices To Save Wash. Port CWA Ruling
A Washington state environmental group is urging the U.S. Supreme Court not to disturb a Ninth Circuit ruling that protects its right to sue over pollution discharges under the citizen enforcement provision of the Clean Water Act.
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December 02, 2024
Mining Cos. Ask Justices To Sink Peruvians' Pollution Claims
The Renco Group Inc., owned by U.S. billionaire Ira Rennert, has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an Eighth Circuit ruling that greenlit a lawsuit filed by more than 2,000 Peruvians who are seeking to hold The Renco Group and other companies liable for alleged lead poisoning tied to a smelting and refining complex in rural Peru.
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December 02, 2024
Solar Cos. Ask High Court To Review Vermont-Imposed Fine
Allco Renewable Energy Ltd. and several other companies pursuing a solar generation project in Bennington, Vermont, are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to wade into their row with the Vermont Public Utility Commission and hold that it had no authority to impose a civil penalty on them without a jury trial.
Expert Analysis
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Cos. Should Inventory Issues To Prep For New Congress
As the legislative and oversight agendas of the 119th Congress come into sharper focus, corporate counsel should assess and plan for areas of potential oversight risk — from tax policy changes to supply chain integrity — even as much uncertainty remains, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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Conservation Easement Cases Weave Web Of Uncertainty
Much of the IRS and Justice Department’s recent success in prosecuting syndicated conservation easement cases can be attributed to the government’s focus on the so-called PropCo ratio, which could indicate treacherous waters ahead for participants and their advisers, even under the incoming Trump administration, say attorneys at Polsinelli.
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Trump Fossil Fuel Focus Won't End Interest In Clean Energy
A second Donald Trump administration is expected to prioritize expanding oil and gas drilling and reducing regulations — but some clean energy investments, including energy storage, hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel, will likely continue to garner bipartisan and market support, says Scott Segal at Bracewell.
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EPA's New Lead Pipe Rule Leaves Key Questions Unanswered
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recently released update to its Lead and Copper Rule is a major step forward in the elimination of lead from drinking water systems, but it lacks meaningful guidance on alternative materials, jurisdictional concerns, cost allocation and other topics, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.
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What To Expect From State AGs As Federal Control Changes
Under the next Trump administration, Democratic attorneys general are poised to strengthen enforcement in certain areas as Republican attorneys general continue their efforts with stronger federal support — resulting in a confusing patchwork of policies that create unintended liabilities for businesses operating in multiple jurisdictions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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So You Want To Move Your Law Practice To Canada, Eh?
Google searches for how to move to Canada have surged in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, and if you’re an attorney considering a move to the Great White North, you’ll need to understand how the practice of law differs across the border, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.
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In SF Water Case, Justices Signal How Loper May Be Applied
Skeptical questions from U.S. Supreme Court justices during oral argument in San Francisco v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offer hints of how the court intends to apply limits on agency regulatory autonomy established last term in Loper Bright, says Karen Cullinane at Goldberg Segalla.
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Trump Rollback Of Biden Enviro Policies: What To Expect
Donald Trump's upcoming second presidential term will usher significant shifts in U.S. environmental and natural resource law and policy — and while the Biden administration is racing to secure its legacy, the incoming Trump administration is making plans to dramatically roll back most, if not all, of Biden's environmental initiatives, say attorneys at Beveridge & Diamond.
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Why K-Cup Claims Landed Keurig In Hot Water With SEC
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent settlement with Keurig Dr. Pepper for making incomplete statements regarding the recyclability of K-cup pods highlights the importance of comprehensive corporate disclosures, particularly with respect to ESG matters, say attorneys at BCLP.
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Legislation Most Likely To Pass In Lame Duck Session
As Congress begins its five-week post-election lame duck session, attorneys at Greenberg Traurig break down the legislative priorities and which proposals can be expected to pass.
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Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Series
Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers
In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron.
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Dissecting New Circuit Split Over SEC's Proxy Adviser Rule
The Sixth Circuit recently upheld the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's partial rescission of enhanced conflict-of-interest disclosure requirements for proxy voting advice businesses, creating a circuit split over broader questions concerning the standard for assessing the legality of agency actions in general, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.
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The Unfolding Potential of Green Hydrogen In Brazil
A new federal law in Brazil establishing a legal framework for hydrogen development is the country's latest step toward creating a favorable environment for green hydrogen production, but significant challenges — including high production costs, technological hurdles and a lack of infrastructure — remain, says David Andrew Taylor at Almeida Advogados.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Metadata
Several recent rulings reflect the competing considerations that arise when parties dispute the form of production for electronically stored information, underscoring that counsel must carefully consider how to produce and request reasonably usable data, say attorneys at Sidley.