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Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog

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9th Circuit Upholds Lake Tahoe Regional Development Plan Update

Affirming the district court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected claims that the environmental impact statement (EIS) adopted by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency supporting the Regional Plan Update (RPU) failed to comply with the requirements of the Regional Planning Compact between California and Nevada (Compact). The case…

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WA Court Denies MSJs in CWA Citizen’s Suit Over Alleged Illegal Discharges of Coal and Coal Dust

A group of environmental organizations, headed by the Sierra Club, filed a Clean Water Act (CWA) citizen’s lawsuit against the BNSF Railway Company, alleging that the railroad, the only transporter of coal in Washington, illegally discharges coal and coal dust into the waterways of the State of Washington by virtually…

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Texas District Court Stays “Blacklisting” Rule

Our colleagues Julia Judish, Dick Oliver and Glenn Sweatt recently published a very interesting client alert discussing U.S. District Court Judge Marcia A. Crone’s issuance of a preliminary injunction that suspends the implementation of certain portions of President Obama’s Executive Order 13673, called the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order, that…

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9th Cir. Upholds ESA Listing of Pacific Bearded Seals on the Basis of Climate Projections

On October 24, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court and upheld the determination of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The NMFS concluded that two distinct population species of the Pacific bearded seal subspecies –located in the shallow waters of the Artic—were likely…

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WV District Court: EPA Has A Non-discretionary Duty Under The CAA To Evaluate Economic Losses Resulting From Government Action

On October 17, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia granted summary judgment to Murray Energy Corporation, which sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against EPA because it has persistently failed to perform a nondiscretionary duty under Section 321(a) of the Clean Air…

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Is Your Use of Standard Subrogation Waivers Leaving You Exposed

We recently posted an interesting blog on Pillsbury’s Policyholder Pulse titled Subrogation Waivers and the Perils of Litigation: Wavering on a Precipice. In it, we discuss the perils of using standard subrogation waivers in your insurance policies, and cautions against the use of standard waivers (which can have unintended consequences).

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Fall is Upon Us, But Summer is Not Forgotten ~ Environmental Case Law Update ~ April thru September

Our latest Environmental Case Law Update highlights a number of significant environmental and administrative law decisions reported in the period of April-September 2106. We hope you find this information to be useful and informative. Photo:  Ian Sane, Silver Creek, Taken November 3, 2012 – Creative Commons

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DC Circuit Rules That Basic Structure of CFPB is Unconstitutional

In a decision released on October 11, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued a very long opinion (110 pages) which vacates an order of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that requires PHH Corporation, a large home mortgage lender, to disgorge $109 million in a…

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Weathering a Storm – Action Plan to Maximize Insurance Recovery

Recently, our colleagues Tamara Bruno, Colin Kemp, Peter Gillon, Vince Morgan and Joseph Jean published an alert titled Hurricane Matthew Requires Immediate Action to Maximize Insurance Recovery to help you weather any storm. Photo:  U.S. Department of Agriculture – A MH-60 helicopter from the U.S. Coast Guard  (USCG) Aviation Training Center…

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Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s Administrative Injunction Freezing Work on Dakota Access Oil Pipeline Dissolved

A few weeks ago, we noted that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, in a decision reported on September 9, 2016, denied a motion for a preliminary injunction filed by the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline through the lands of…