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…
July 15 was a busy day at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, as five important decisions were issued. What was remarkable and worth noting is that Judge Judith Rogers, a member of the court since 1994, was the author of unanimous opinions in three very…
Recently the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an important decision regarding the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the interactions between EPA and the states. On July 15, Fifth Circuit, in a unanimous ruling, granted a stay of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Final Rule promulgated in 2016…
Bi-partisan legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives (H.R. 5685), known as the “Farm Regulatory Certainty Act,” a bill that would amend Resource Conservation and Recovery Act’s (RCRA) definition of “solid waste” (42 U.S.C. § 6903 (27)) to exclude “animal waste, manure, fertilizer, or constituents derived from such sources.” A recent…
Public development and infrastructure projects are on the rise in California. This is a good thing for the economy. But it also means that private property will often be needed to complete these projects. Public agencies may acquire private property upon payment of just compensation, without the owner’s consent, through an eminent domain action. Property near…
Recently, my colleagues Brian Blum and Jim Chudy published an interesting piece titled Five Things about the IRS’s Proposed Regulations on the Spinoff Device and Active Business Tests discussing the IRS’ recent proposal of long-anticipated regulations tightening the “device” and “active trade or business” tests that are necessary for a corporation to distribute a subsidiary in…