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Minería en tiempos de transición energética
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Challenges for Infrastructure Projects in the Current Environment
In December 2024, the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act became law. Lauded by the National Mining Association as “the final step in securing a key solution to tackle the long-overdue cleanup of legacy...more
Black Water Riverkeeper (“Riverkeeper”) and Warrior Met Coal Mining, LLC (“WMC”) entered into a July 29th Consent Decree (“CD”) addressing alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. See Case No. 7:22-cv-01178-LSC. The CD...more
This article is part of Womble Bond Dickinson’s Energy & Natural Resources thought leadership series titled Striking the Balance: Permitting Reforms for Mining and the Energy Transition. In this series, we’ll explore the...more
The Tenth Circuit became the second federal appellate court—after the Ninth Circuit—to analyze how federal district courts should evaluate whether a discharge of pollutants to groundwater is the “functional equivalent” of a...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Ninth Circuit”) in a November 20th Opinion addressed an issue involving the applicability of the Section 402 Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination...more
Stone v. High Mountain Mining Company, LLC, was decided September 12, 2022, and involved a citizen suit challenge to a placer mine operating without a Clean Water Act (“CWA”) discharge (“NPDES”) permit. High Mountain’s...more
Several environmental organizations sent the following document to Rosemont Copper Company (“Rosemont”) on April 14th: 60-Day Notice of Intent to Bring Citizen Suit for Rosemont Copper Company’s Violations of the Clean...more
Washington AG Bob Ferguson obtained a summary judgment from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington against gold-mining companies Crown Resources Corporation and Kinross Gold U.S.A., Inc....more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (“Fourth Circuit”) addressed in a March 30th Opinion the scope of the federal Clean Water Act Permit Shield. See Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, et al. v. Red...more
As previously noted, House Bill 1261 (“HB 1261”) was introduced on January 25th which would authorize the Arkansas Water Control Agency (i.e., Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment – Division of Environmental Quality...more
The Environmental Council of the States (“ECOS”) transmitted a June 26th letter to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and Water...more
Coal Earnings Set to Plunge 50% in North America, Moody's Says - "Earnings for North American coal miners may plunge by more than half this year as the coronavirus pandemic makes a weak market even worse, according to...more
Environmental Groups Accuse Multiple Mining Sites of Violating Federal Regulations - "Allegations of 'egregious' violations of the federal Clean Water Act and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act could be...more
New Source Review (“NSR”) remains a focus of enforcement for EPA. Between last year and now, EPA finalized eight settlements with manufacturers and one with a utility, asserting NSR violations for allegedly not obtaining a...more
On February 1, 2018, the 9th Circuit issued its ruling in Hawai’i Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui that expands coverage under the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA) to discharges of contaminants to groundwater that travel through...more
One of the most difficult and costly aspects of developing mining projects in the United States is the permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Trump administration is currently undertaking a rulemaking...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently upheld a lower court’s determination that a West Virginia mining company was not shielded from liability by its NPDES permit. The mining company’s permit...more
President-Elect Donald Trump has promised to bring back jobs in the coal industry and reduce regulations that could inhibit economic growth. His transition team has already begun arriving at federal agencies to review the...more
While speaking at a recent conference on natural resource damages, the Secretary of the New Mexico Environment Department, Ryan Flynn, outlined New Mexico’s grievances against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”)...more
The United States Supreme Court has handed regulated parties their second win in four years concerning when they can take EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to court over wetlands permitting issues. In 2012, the...more
CONGRESS FINDS THE FORMULA TO REFORM CHEMICAL REGULATION - The Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) is the primary federal law by which the manufacture, import and use of chemical substances are regulated in the United...more
EPA on September 15, 2015, announced its National Enforcement Initiatives (NEIs) for its Fiscal Years (FY) 2017 – 2019 and requested comment on them. 80 Fed. Reg. 55352. EPA selects enforcement initiatives every three years...more
Clean Water Rule Opens Litigation Floodgates - With much fanfare, EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) recently issued a final rule clarifying which bodies of water are “waters of the United States” protected...more
On May 27, 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and Army Corps of Engineers jointly released a final rule clarifying what bodies of water are subject to federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water...more
“All good things come to those who wait,” certainly is not an expression that applies to property owners who receive wetlands jurisdictional determinations (JD) from the Army Corps of Engineers with which they disagree. ...more