The American Petroleum Institute, American Farm Bureau Federation, National Corn Growers Association, and a number of automobile dealerships filed a Petition for Review on June 13th challenging the United States Environmental...more
When Minnesota's Attorney General Keith Ellison announced in June 2020 that his office had filed a climate change lawsuit, the litigation strategy he described was relatively novel for a climate change case. Rather than...more
As most people are aware, various public and private entities have filed lawsuits against fossil fuel producers alleging a variety of claims that seek to enjoin behavior and obtain damages as a result of the defendants’...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced it is finalizing a rule to retain the current Clean Air Act National Ambient Air Quality Standard (“NAAQS”) for particulate matter (“PM”). The PM standard...more
On March 23, 2020, on behalf of its members and U.S. industry, the American Petroleum Institute (“API”) sent a letter to the EPA requesting a temporary waiver of non-essential compliance obligations, including recordkeeping,...more
An Interview with Bill Raney, President of West Virginia Coal Association - Nick Preservati, Co-Chair of Spilman's Energy Practice Group, recently sat down with Bill Raney, President of the West Virginia Coal Association...more
The American Petroleum Institute (“API”) recently announced that Kelly Robbins has been named Executive Director of the Arkansas Petroleum Council (“APC”). As noted in an October 31st post, long-time APC Executive Director...more
Arkansas Petroleum Council (“APC”) Executive Director Tom Parker has announced he will retire December 31st. Tom also serves as the Southern Region Director of the American Petroleum Institute (“API”)....more
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently rejected portions of an EPA rule designed to distinguish true recycling from “sham recycling” under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act...more
On July 7, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (the D.C. Circuit) vacated portions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 2015 rule on the Definition of Solid Waste (the...more
Last June, the Securities and Exchange Commission belatedly adopted a rule requiring disclosure of resource extraction payments by issuers. As I wrote at the time...more
As reported by Broc Romanek yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted (again) a resource extraction rule. Congress had ordered the SEC to adopt a rule by April 17, 2011. After belatedly adopting a rule, the...more
Congress told the SEC to adopt a resource extraction disclosure rule by no later than April 17, 2011. The SEC missed that statutory deadline by over a year. After the SEC belatedly adopted a rule in 2012, the U.S. District...more
Every three years, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets national enforcement initiatives to focus its civil and criminal enforcement resources on specific environmental issues. On September 15, 2015,...more
On January 5, 2016, the American Petroleum Institute (API) released its annual State of American Energy 2016 report while emphasizing a need to either amend or repeal EPA’s RFS and a need to promote energy infrastructure...more
On October 30, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submitted a draft final rule for review to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that would reduce the amount of biofuels that must be...more
In a settlement with the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) and the American Petroleum Institute (API), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agreed to set renewable fuel obligations for calendar...more
The rules would add gathering lines and pipelines in non-HCA areas. On October 13, the US Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a Proposed Rule that would...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - Royal Dutch Shell suspends Arctic drilling indefinitely: Washington Post - Sep 28: Royal Dutch Shell announced early on September 28, 2015 that it will indefinitely suspend its Arctic...more
On October 2, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a schedule with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts providing details as to when the agency will seek to issue a final rule on revenue...more
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act imposed a requirement on the SEC in Section 1504 to promulgate a disclosure rule regarding certain extraction payments involving resource issuers within 270 days of passage or by April...more
In a press release Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute (“API”) published a first-of-its-kind industry standard for community engagement in shale-rich areas where oil and gas can be extracted using horizontal drilling...more
Everyone is in favor of transparency and anti-corruption – at least, everyone except the occasional despot or dictator. Yet substantial controversy now swirls around the disclosure of the vast sums that governments receive...more
On July 2, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia vacated the resource extraction issuer disclosure rules adopted last year by the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Section 1504 of the...more
In 2012 ,the SEC adopted final rules requiring public companies engaged in certain oil and gas activities to disclose payments made to domestic and foreign governments as required by the Dodd-Frank Act. The rules were...more