Environment & Energy Law

Senate Includes Buy American Requirement in Water Resources Development Act of 2013: Provision Would Mandate Use of American Iron,...

by King & Spalding on 5/18/2013

The United States Senate passed the Water Resources Development Act of 2013 by an overwhelming 83-14 margin on May 15, 2013. The legislation included an amendment sponsored by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Sherrod Brown...more

Under The Dome: Inside The Maine State House 5-17-13

by Pierce Atwood LLP on 5/17/2013

Under the Dome: Inside the Maine State House is a weekly update that provides a high-level overview of recent activity at the Maine State House. Governor’s Fourth and Fifth Vetoes of the Session Sustained - Last week,...more

Energy Usage Disclosure Finally Going On-Line

by Lisa Stalteri | Carr, McClellan, Ingersoll, Thompson & Horn -... on 5/17/2013

As of July 1, 2013, California Public Resources Code §25402.10 requires the owner of a non-residential building with a total gross floor area of 50,000 square feet or more in the event of a sale, lease or finance of the...more

Reed Smith Marcellus Shale Tax Update - Recycle, Reuse, Reduce Your Tax Burdens

by Stephen Blazick, Daniel Dixon, Lee Zoeller | Reed Smith on 5/17/2013

Pennsylvania’s broad mining exemption from sales and use tax also includes an exemption for pollution-control devices that is less well known than the general exemption for mining equipment. The pollution-control exemption...more

Jarndyce v. Jarndyce Has Nothing On Comer v. Murphy Oil: The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Affirms Dismissal

by Seth Jaffe | Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law on 5/17/2013

Readers of this blog will recall the bizarre history of Comer v. Murphy Oil. In 2005, Plaintiffs brought tort claims against major GHG emitters, claiming that those emissions, by causing global warming, led to plaintiffs’...more

The 2013 Farm Bill, Liquid Natural Gas, and Hydropower – ML Strategies Weekly Energy and Environmental Update

by Mintz Levin - Energy & Clean Technology on 5/17/2013

This week’s Energy & Environment Update provides news on the progress of current bills as well as the status of the nominations of Dr. Ernest Moniz and Gina McCarthy. In the House, the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on...more

Summary of FERC Meeting Agenda - May 2013

by Donna M. Attanasio, Daniel A. Hagan, Earle H. O'Donnell | White & Case LLP on 5/16/2013

Below are brief summaries of the agenda items for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s May 16, 2013 meeting, pursuant to the agenda as issued on May 9, 2013. Agenda items E-3, E-13, E-17 have not been summarized as they...more

Employment And Labor Law Alert: Frack Supplier Hit With Overtime Class Action

by Tracey Holmes Donesky, Kristin Berger Parker | Leonard, Street and Deinard on 5/16/2013

Last week, a hydraulic fracturing equipment supplier was hit with a putative class action lawsuit in federal court in Pennsylvania, alleging violations of state and federal wage and hour law. ...more

How Much Water Does Fracking Shale Gas Consume, And Where?

by Charles Sartain | Looper Reed & McGraw, P.C. on 5/16/2013

Jesse Jenkins of the Energy Collective ponders the question. He reports as follows: According to the US Energy Information Administration 27,000 new gas wells were completed in the U.S. in 2011, many of which were...more

Fifth Circuit Knocks Out Climate Change Liability Lawsuit Again

by J. Wylie Donald | McCarter & English: Climate Change &... on 5/16/2013

Res judicata is one of those phrases learned in law school that seemed of limited utility. How often is someone going to bring the same claim twice?...more

Tax-Efficient Capital Vehicles for Unregulated Utilities: REITs, MLPs and Up-Cs Considered

by Nickolas Gianou, David Levy, Sean Shimamoto | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on 5/15/2013

Over the last several years, a confluence of political and market developments have made capital for renewable energy projects harder to come by, which has affected the ability of unregulated affiliates of public utilities...more

Energy And Environment Update -- May 13, 2013

by Jordan Collins, David Leiter, Neal Martin, Bryan M. Stockton | Mintz Levin - Environmental Law on 5/15/2013

In This Issue: Energy & Climate Debate; Congress; Administration; Department of Energy; Environmental Protection Agency; Department of Interior; Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Department of Commerce; Department...more

Budget 2013-14: The Government targets multinationals to recover from the GFC - Baker & McKenzie

by Dixon Hearder, Amrit MacIntyre, John Walker | Baker & McKenzie Australia on 5/15/2013

The Treasurer has delivered the 2013-14 Budget. With the Treasurer noting that almost $170 billion has been wiped off tax receipts since the GFC, a series of measures increasing the tax burden of multinationals, foreign...more

CFTC (And FERC) Compliance Managers Take Note – CFTC Schedules Vote On Final Interpretation Of Disruptive Trading Practices

by Robert Fallon | Leonard, Street and Deinard - Dodd-Frank and... on 5/15/2013

At its open meeting on May 16, 2013, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will vote on the final interpretative rule for disruptive trading practices under Section 747 of the Dodd-Frank Act. That order should be of...more

Is EPA Setting Its Sights on Hydraulic Fracturing Compounds?

by Jeffrey N. Hurwitz, Anthony "Tony" Pavel, Alex Polonsky, Ronald Tenpas | Morgan Lewis on 5/15/2013

Agency implements rule requiring companies to disclose information regarding the use of certain industrial chemical substances commonly used in natural gas and oil well drilling....more

Time For The White House To Step In? Patchwork State Fracking Regulations Will Spawn FOIA And Trade Secrets Lawsuits

by Sally Lee, Siddhartha Venkatasen | Orrick - Trade Secrets Group on 5/15/2013

With a growing number of states demanding disclosure of its fracking recipes, the oil and gas industry is fighting to plug what it views as government-mandated leaks in its trade secrets pipeline....more

City of Philadelphia moves forward with plan to sell its regulated gas division

by Dawn Crowder, Wendell Holland, Mark Kropilak | Saul Ewing LLP on 5/15/2013

The Mayor of Philadelphia recently announced the hiring of two investment bankers to start the solicitation process for selling the city’s gas division. As a unique feature of this transaction, the gas division is regulated...more

Graphene Technology Increases Anode Capacity For Lithium-Ion Batteries

by Bruce Goodman | Varnum LLP on 5/15/2013

XG Sciences Inc. of Lansing has used its proprietary know-how to improve lithium-ion battery capacity by a factor of four over conventional anodes. Using graphene nanoplatelet anode material not only improves charge storage...more

CFTC To Investigate EFS Trades In Energy And Metal Markets

by Elan Mendel | Shipkevich PLLC on 5/15/2013

The Commodity Futures Trading Commision (CFTC) is investigating a large number of trades in energy and metal markets to determine whether traders illegally used over-the-counter swaps markets to trade futures....more

U.S. Coast Guard and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement Sign Agreement on Offshore Oversight

by David Dickman, Megan Roberts-Satinsky | Venable LLP on 5/15/2013

On May 9, 2013, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) announced that they had entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) concerning offshore safety and environmental regulations....more

MoFo New York Tax Insights - Volume 4, Issue 5 - May 2013

by Open Weaver Banks, Hollis L. Hyans, Kara M. Kraman, Irwin M. Slomka | Morrison & Foerster - State + Local Tax... on 5/14/2013

In This Issue: New York Enacts Significant Changes to Related Member Royalty Add-Back Law; Nuclear Power Plant That Produces Steam and Water to Generate Electricity Not Eligible for Investment Tax Credit; Appellate...more

Superfund Liability for the Repair of a Useful Product

by Robert S. Sanoff | Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law on 5/14/2013

A few months ago, I blogged on the decision in Duke Energy Progress Inc. v. Alcan Aluminum Corporation where a court held that a company would not be held liable for selling used transformers to a recycling facility for...more

A Look At Two Approaches To Oil And Gas Regulation

by Charles Sartain | Looper Reed & McGraw, P.C. on 5/14/2013

This is a tale of two regulatory schemes. First, there is the federal way, and I’m not making this up. First, there is the federal way, and I’m not making this up: In my last post we learned that if the BLM,...more

New Bill Heightens Potential For More Investment Canada Reviews Of SOE Acquisitions

by Sandy Walker | Dentons on 5/13/2013

Last week the Canadian Government introduced amendments to the Investment Canada Act (ICA) to implement its revised policy towards state-owned enterprises (SOEs) which it announced in December last year....more

Canada To Strengthen Its Laws Against Bribery Of Foreign Public Officials

by Alan Monk | Dentons on 5/13/2013

Mining and exploration companies with projects in developing nations should take note that an amendment to the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act (CFPOA) has been approved by the Senate and is currently before the...more

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