The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was urged this week by some in Congress to speed up its rulemaking aimed at arbitration provisions in consumer contracts used by companies offering payment services or financial products to consumers. In May, the preliminary rule was released. In Arbitration Provisions Mauled by…
Today, we published our alert Supreme Court’s Environmental and Administrative Law Decisions in 2015-2016 Term. In the Advisory, we provide a brief report on some of the significant U.S. Supreme Court actions from January through June 2016 related to environmental and administrative law. *Pillsbury summer clerk Brittney Sandler made significant contributions…
On July 29, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit released a very long (156 pages) opinion essentially upholding every regulatory decision made by the EPA in three major Clean Air Act (CAA) rulemakings: the “Major Boilers Rule”; the “Area Boilers” rule; and the “Commercial/Industrial Solid Waste Incinerators” (CISWI)…
My colleagues Mark Elliott, Kevin Fong and I, in Lesson of Ninth Circuit CERCLA Decision: Prepare to Prove Recoverable Costs, discuss the lesson to be learned from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ June 13, 2016 decision in Whittaker Corp. v. United States. The Ninth Circuit held that a party which…
My colleague Matt Morrison today published a client alert titled U.S. EPA Finds Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Aircraft Endanger Public Health—a First Step in Adoption of New ICAO Standards. The Alert discusses the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) issuance of a finding that aircraft greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions endanger public health…
My colleagues Dick Oliver and Selena Brady recently published an alert discussing the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) long-awaited Final Rule regarding “Small Business Mentor Protégé Programs” that establishes a government-wide mentor protégé program for all small businesses, including Historically Underutilized Business Zone businesses, Women-Owned Small Businesses, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned small businesses, and…
Today, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced, effective August 28, 2016 and continuing for 180 days, it is expanding its earlier Geographic Targeting Orders (GTO) requiring information about the natural persons behind shell companies used to purchase high-end residential real estate for “all cash.” FinCEN has been collecting this…
My colleagues Anthony Raven, Olivia Matsushita and Andrew White recently published an interesting advisory on the future of carbon dioxide (CO2) injection enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The Future of Carbon Dioxide Injection EOR in the United States is the first advisory in a periodic series exploring legal issues relating to…
In the latest installment in this long-running dispute, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit today, in Mingo Logan Coal Company v. EPA, ruled, in a 2 to 1 decision, that EPA satisfied its duties under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Administrative Procedures Act (APA) when it vetoed…
Pillsbury’s Policyholder Pulse Law blog recently posted an interesting blog, Use Contractor’s Pollution Liability Insurance to Clean Up Potential Gaps in Your CGL Coverage by Ashley E. Cowgill, on the importance of contractors having the right liability coverage in place in the event that a flash flood or other natural disaster causes damage…