On April 11, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed the lower court and held, in a unanimous opinion, that the American Forest Resource Council has standing to challenge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2012 designation of 9.5 million acres of federal forest lands as…
On April 11, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated the Environmental Protection Agency’s December 18, 2008 CERCLA/EPCRA Administrative Reporting Exemption for Air Releases of Hazardous Substances from Animal Waste at Farms rule (Rule) that created hazardous substance reporting exemptions for all farms, except large animal raising operations…
For builders working in California—already one of the most expensive states for new construction—a new bill winding its way through the legislature could add yet more costs. For this reason, Senate Bill 71 (SB 71) should be on the radar of developers and construction companies that do business in California.…
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma has dismissed the Sierra Club’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) citizen suit, filed against several oil and gas producers seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. The District Court invoked the Burford abstention doctrine (Burford v. Sun Oil Co.) and primary jurisdiction doctrine to…
On April 4, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit decided the case of Mirabella v. Villard, et al., a civil rights case brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging, inter alia, violations of their First Amendment rights by local officials. Although the Court of Appeals concluded that the Mirabellas adequately alleged…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has decided the case of North Carolina v. Alcoa Power Generating, Inc. The Court of Appeals affirmed, in a 2 to 1 ruling, the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina that a relevant segment of North…
In Brexit: The UK’s Great Reform Bill, Pillsbury attorney Tim Wright discusses Prime Minister May’s “notice to quit” under Article 50 and start of what he aptly describes as the equivalent of a “difficult and protracted divorce proceedings.” The White Paper published sets out Prime Minister May’s plans for a great repeal bill, which at one strike will remove…
On March 23, the Colorado Court of Appeals issued a ruling reversing the trial court and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission which had denied the petitioners’ request that the Commission, when promulgating rules affecting oil and gas production operations and activities in Colorado, be required to consider public…
In Potentially Costly Nuclear Rulemaking Proposed, NRC targets include oil & gas industry, cancer treatment providers, sterilization facilities and radiographers, Pillsbury attorney Jay Silberg discusses the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff’s recent recommendation that the NRC undertake a rulemaking requiring licensees to provide financial assurance (or set aside funds) to cover…
In Trump Jettisons Obama Climate Policies, President Trump signed a sweeping Executive Order initiating the rollback of the Clean Power Plan and requiring a broad regulatory review of energy and environmental regulation under a new “burden” standard, we discuss President Trump’s sweeping Executive Order initiating the rollback of the Clean Power…