In his November op-ed, C. Andrew Gibson states that bonds do not have a deductible as compared to a subcontractor default insurance (SDI) policy that does carry a deductible. The statement is literally correct. A bond does not have a “written” deductible when a default takes place. However, frustration develops when…
Historically, investors have pretty clearly found the Peruvian legal framework for procuring, awarding and monitoring concessions to be a favorable one — just since 1996, the country has awarded more than US$20bn in Public-Private Partnership concessions. But a new legislative structure for PPP financings in Peru entered into force at…
Twice, courts have been called upon to interpret North Carolina’s 10-year statute of repose in connection with injuries allegedly stemming from the release of hazardous substances. CTS Corporation v. Waldburger involved CTS’s liability under CERCLA as the past owner of a manufacturing facility in North Carolina whose operations resulted in the release…
In mid-March, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, in National Parks Conservation Assoc., et al., v. McCarthy, approved the “Minnesota’s Regional Haze State Implementation Plan” (MRHSIP), rejecting the arguments opposing EPA’s approval filed by several environmental organizations. The conservation organizations challenged EPA’s approval of Minnesota’s decision to use the Transport…
Earlier this week the U.S. Supreme Court, in Sturgeon v. Frost, Alaska Regional Director of the National Park Service, issued a unanimous ruling reversing the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s interpretation of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservations Act (ANILCA) that had the effect of subjecting the use of hovercrafts…
In early March, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, in Sierra Club v. Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company, in a 2-to-1 decision, affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Sierra Club’s Clean Air Act (CAA) citizens suit against OG&E, concluding that their civil penalty and equitable relief claims are time-barred because Sierra Club’s…
In Supreme Court to Hear False Claims Act “Implied Certification” Appeal, we provide a primer for the oral argument that will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on April 19, 2016 in Universal Health Services v. United States ex rel. Escobar, No. 15-7. The Court is expected to resolve the…
Properly interpreting CERCLA’s statute of limitations often presents vexing problems, and never more so than when claims for natural resource damages (NRD) are filed. As explained several years ago by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in United States v. Asarco, Inc., ordinarily a claim for NRD must be filed within three years…
The courts have been busy issuing significant Endangered Species Act rulings. In the latest decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in Defenders of Wildlife and Center for Biological Diversity v. Jewell, issued a unanimous ruling which affirmed the lower court’s decision that the U.S. Fish and…
In REIT Citizenship and the Impact of Americold Realty Trust on Jurisdictional Challenges, we discuss the Supreme Court’s unanimously ruling in Americold Realty Trust v. ConAgra Foods, Inc. that unincorporated entities organized as “real estate investment trusts” (REITs) under Maryland law are citizens of every state in which at least one…