Environmental

  • September 24, 2024

    EPA Finalizes HFC Leak And Recycling Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a final rule aimed at reducing hydrofluorocarbon leaks from large refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, while establishing a new program to better manage and recycle the potent greenhouse gasses.

  • September 24, 2024

    Interior Dept. Awarding $24 Million For Ecosystem Projects

    The U.S. Department of the Interior on Monday said it's awarding about $24 million to boost 50 ecosystem restoration projects across 34 states and territories.

  • September 23, 2024

    Chamber Says X Ruling Boosts Bid To Nix Calif. Climate Laws

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the state of California have filed competing briefs on how a recent Ninth Circuit decision blocking parts of a social media law applies to the state's corporate climate disclosure rules, with the Chamber arguing the ruling reinforces how the latter violate the First Amendment.

  • September 23, 2024

    Need To Bag Your Groceries? You Can Have Paper, Calif. Says

    California grocery stores won't be allowed to offer plastic bags of any kind in their checkout lines under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom a day before the California Attorney General's Office on Monday accused Exxon Mobil Corp. of inundating the state with plastic waste.

  • September 23, 2024

    High Court Enviro Shadow Docket Could Diminish DC Circ.

    The U.S. Supreme Court's "shadow docket" is full of pleas from environmental rule opponents who want the justices to overturn D.C. Circuit rulings that allowed the regulations to go into effect, and recent history shows the challengers have some chance for success — but experts say the high court's willingness to step in at this stage risks diminishing lower courts' voices.

  • September 23, 2024

    Tyson, Cargill Want Appeal Of Pollution Verdict Plan Certified

    Tyson, Cargill and other poultry producers have urged an Oklahoma federal judge to certify their interlocutory appeal of a plan to hash out remedies concerning a river pollution trial that took place over a decade ago, arguing that the record is far too "stale" to support forward-looking relief now.

  • September 23, 2024

    Feds, SunZia Urge 9th Circ. To Toss Power Line Challenge

    The federal government and SunZia Transmission LLC have asked the Ninth Circuit to uphold a lower court decision tossing a suit by a coalition of tribes and conservation groups challenging the government's decision to let the company route a 520-mile power line through cultural and historical sites.

  • September 23, 2024

    EPA Admits Mistakes In Approving New Chevron Chemicals

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday told the D.C. Circuit that it overestimated the risk of allowing Chevron Corp. to create new fuel chemicals derived from plastic waste, asking the appeals court to remand the order authorizing the new substances back to federal regulators.

  • September 23, 2024

    Texas Fighting ESA Listing For Tiny Lizard In Permian Basin

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking a judge to overturn a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule that listed the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species, calling it a "backdoor attempt" to undermine energy development in the Permian Basin.

  • September 23, 2024

    States, Enviros Urge USPS Vehicle Plan Challenge To Proceed

    States and environmentalists have pushed back against the U.S. Postal Service and Oshkosh Defense's efforts to end a lawsuit alleging the USPS' multibillion-dollar delivery vehicle acquisition plan violates environmental law, saying the plan was inadequate and would harm them.

  • September 23, 2024

    Toyota Accused Of 'Rotten' Forklift Emissions Compliance

    Toyota has been misrepresenting the true emissions levels of the engines in its forklifts and construction machinery, leading businesses to believe the engines were far more environmentally friendly than they actually were, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court.

  • September 23, 2024

    Calif. Sues Exxon For Plastic Pollution And Recycling Deception

    California's attorney general and a coalition of conservation groups hit Exxon Mobil Corp. with a pair of lawsuits on Monday claiming the petrochemical giant has inundated the state with harmful plastic waste while misleading people about recycling's ability to ever make a dent in the problem.

  • September 23, 2024

    Fired Sotera Exec's Vesting Suit Goes Forward In Del.

    Delaware's Court of Chancery dismissed on Monday some claims in a former Sotera Health Co. executive's suit accusing the lab-testing and sterilization firm of wrongly refusing to grant him severance benefits and equity awards worth millions, while holding other claims for trial.

  • September 23, 2024

    Brockovich, Attys Warn Of PFAS Dangers At Ga. Town Halls

    More than 400 people gathered in northwest Georgia over the weekend to attend two town hall meetings hosted by a group of law firms and paralegal-turned-environmental advocate Erin Brockovich concerning claims of local water and environmental contamination allegedly caused by chemical giant 3M Co., as well as the potential health risks associated with so-called forever chemicals.

  • September 23, 2024

    NY Extends Industrial Property Tax Break Application Deadline

    New York state extended by four years to 2029 the deadline to apply for property tax abatements for eligible industrial and commercial buildings in New York City as part of a bill signed by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.

  • September 23, 2024

    SEC Scores $12M Judgment In Unregistered Dealer Case

    A Minnesota federal judge has ordered financial firm Carebourn Capital LP, its founder and an affiliated company to pay more than $12 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest over U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claims they made millions selling securities as unregistered dealers.

  • September 23, 2024

    US Can't Pin Clean Water Act Violation On Fla. Farmer

    A Florida federal judge recommended that a court rule in favor of a landowner sued by the government for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act after polluting wetlands to build a farm, saying a man-made ditch bordering the property isn't technically connected to navigable waters of the United States.

  • September 23, 2024

    Hawaii Judge Says Tenants Must Arbitrate Water Pollution Suit

    The named plaintiffs in a proposed class of Hawaii tenants must arbitrate the individual claims in their water contamination case against a landlord while their other claims are paused, an Aloha State federal judge has ruled.

  • September 23, 2024

    La. Wants EPA Civil Rights Regs Vacated After Court Win

    Louisiana is asking a federal judge to revisit an order and amend it to completely vacate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency civil rights regulations, after the judge granted the Pelican State's motion for a permanent injunction within its borders.

  • September 23, 2024

    Conn. Reaches $5M Deal To Resolve Vision Solar Case

    Connecticut is asking a judge to sign off on a judgment that would impose a $5 million civil penalty against Vision Solar LLC to resolve the state's unfair trade practices complaint against the bankrupt company.

  • September 20, 2024

    Wash. Strikes Deal With Wild Fish Groups To End ESA Row

    Two conservation groups have struck an agreement with Washington state to drop a claim that some of its hatchery programs are unlawfully imperiling protected wild salmon on the Lower Columbia River, though the groups will continue to pursue similar claims against Oregon and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

  • September 20, 2024

    Cards Against Humanity Hits SpaceX With $15M Trespass Suit

    Cards Against Humanity LLC hit Elon Musk's SpaceX with a $15 million lawsuit in Texas state court, alleging SpaceX has trespassed and dumped trash and machinery on its once-pristine Lone Star State property that the party card game-maker bought to impede former President Donald Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall.

  • September 20, 2024

    Court Cuts Down Antitrust Suit From Loggers, Landowners

    An Oregon federal court has tossed a lawsuit by loggers and landowners that accused Iron Triangle LLC of monopolizing the market for logging services in part of the Pacific Northwest, saying they failed to show the logging and lumber company has monopoly power.

  • September 20, 2024

    EPA Defends Methane Rule At Supreme Court

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and green group allies on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reject states' and fossil fuel industry players' effort to block the implementation of a rule strengthening methane emissions control requirements for oil and gas infrastructure.

  • September 20, 2024

    EV Battery Co. Hit With $207M Default Loss For Lack Of Attys

    Shareholders of electrical vehicle battery maker Romeo Power Inc. have secured a $206.8 million default win against the company after it failed to retain new counsel in a proposed class action alleging it concealed its acute shortage of high-quality battery cells before going public via a merger with a blank check company.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions

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    Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.

  • How Attorneys Can Reduce Bad Behavior At Deposition

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    To minimize unprofessional behavior by opposing counsel and witnesses, and take charge of the room at deposition, attorneys should lay out some key ground rules at the outset — and be sure to model good behavior themselves, says John Farrell at Fish & Richardson.

  • FERC Rule Is A Big Step Forward For Transmission Planning

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    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's recent electric transmission system overhaul marks significant progress to ensure the grid can deliver electricity at reasonable prices, with a 20-year planning requirement and other criteria going further than prior attempted reforms, say Tom Millar and Gwendolyn Hicks at Winston & Strawn.

  • Series

    Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Environmental Law May Face Hurdles

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling overturning Chevron deference could prove to be as influential as the original 1984 decision, with far-reaching implications for U.S. environmental laws, including rendering recently promulgated regulations more vulnerable to challenges, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice

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    The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • Electrifying Transportation With Public-Private Partnerships

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    Many clean energy goals remain public policy abstractions that face a challenging road to realization — but public-private partnership models could be a valuable tool to electrify the transportation sector, says Michael Blackwell at Husch Blackwell.

  • Navigating The New Rise Of Greenwashing Litigation

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    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.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    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.

  • How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges

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    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.

  • Expect The Unexpected: Contracts For Underground Projects

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    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.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    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.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • What NYC's Green Fast Track Means For Affordable Housing

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    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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