In This Issue:

- Fifth Circuit Reins In Trend of Expanding ESA Liability for Remote Harm

- Japan's Pivotal Role in the Global LNG Industry's 50-Year History

- Government of Greece to Launch New Licensing Round and Announces Proposal for Significant Tax Cut to Encourage Hydrocarbon Investment

- Mining, Oil and Gas Exploration and Exploitation Activities in France: Applicable Law and Planned Reform

- Successfully Negotiating Software License Agreements

- DOT Proposes Anticipated Safety Rule for Crude by Rail Transport

- EPA Outlines Options Under Consideration for Risk Management Program Modernization – Will the "Safety Case" Model Cross the Pond?

- Excerpt from Fifth Circuit Reins In Trend of Expanding ESA Liability for Remote Harm:

The Fifth Circuit's recent decision in The Aransas Project v. Shaw, No. 13-40317 (5th Cir. June 30, 2014), clarified two points relating to the element of causation in claims under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The case involved allegations that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) had "taken" endangered whooping cranes by issuing water withdrawal permits that were alleged to have resulted in the deaths of 23 whooping cranes. Reversing the district court, the Fifth Circuit held that the chain of events linking these permits to the deaths was not sufficiently "direct" or "foreseeable" to sustain a claim under the ESA. The court also cast serious doubt on the theory of "vicarious liability" that had been used to hold TCEQ liable under the ESA for failing to regulate private actions that resulted in harm to protected species.