As the High Speed Rail Authority (“Authority”) prepares to begin construction this week of the first segment of the High Speed Rail Project (the “Project”), the State Public Works Board is concurrently scrambling to consider resolutions of necessity to acquire property for the first segment within Fresno and Madera counties. Because of the recent litigation
New Water Reporting Requirements for Oil and Gas Operators
By Mike Mills
A new oil and gas reporting bill, Senate Bill 1281, sponsored by State Senator Fran Pavley, was signed by Governor Brown on September 25, 2014. The California Department of Conservation – Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (“DOGGR”) issued a Notice to Operators containing important information on the new law’s reporting mandates on December 8, 2014.
Under Senate Bill 1281, Section 3226.3 was added to the Public Resources Code and requires the State Oil and Gas Supervisor to provide an annual inventory report of all unlined oil and gas field sumps to the State Water Resources Control Board and Regional Water Quality Control Boards.
Section 3227 of the Public Resources Code was also amended to require operators of wells to provide a monthly and quarterly statement disclosing the following information:
- The source and volume of water produced from each oil field
- The water used to generate or make up the composition of any injected fluid or gas
- The volume of untreated water suitable for domestic or irrigation purposes
- The treatment of water and use of treated or recycled water in activities, such as exploration, development, and production
- The disposition method of all water used in or generated by oil and gas field activities – including water produced from each well reported
- Also the identity of any temporary onsite storage of water and the ultimate specific use, disposal method or method of recycling, or reuse of the water
For each reporting requirement, if water is commingled, it must be assigned proportionately to each well.
DOGGR has provided an interim water reporting form on its website for use until February 2015, at which time a final version of the form will be made available.
The Fifth Circuit’s Latest Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Ruling
In its most recent decision regarding Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) coverage, namely New Orleans Depot Services, Inc. v. Director, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, 718 F.3d 384 (5th Cir. 2013) (en banc), the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals defined “adjoining” as used in the LHWCA to mean “bordering on…
International Employers Watch Out: China Will Assign Hefty Fines for Worker Safety Violations
By Wan Li, Brent I. Clark, and Craig B. Simonsen
According to Cai Renjun, an official from the People’s Republic of China, Legislative Affairs Commission, of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, “about 70,000 people died in work safety cases last year, [with] about 60,000 of them in road accidents.” Policy Watch,…
Work Related Stress: It Comes With The Job for a Jones Act Seaman
In a recent decision, the Eleventh Circuit in Skye v. Maersk Line Limited, Corp., 751 F.3d 1262 (11th Cir. 2014), reversed a district court ruling awarding damages to a Jones Act seaman for injuries stemming from “excessive work hours and an erratic sleep schedule.” The Court’s decision in Skye reaffirms a now decades old…
US EPA Updates List of TSCA “Work Plan” Chemicals for Risk Analysis
US EPA has updated its Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Work Plan for Chemical Assessments, the Agency’s list of priority chemicals for analysis, adding 23 new chemicals to the list while removing or consolidating 16 others.
US EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety & Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) produced the original list of Work Plan chemicals in…
Controversial “Waters of the US” Rule Proposal Draws Criticism as Public Comment Period Expires
The extended public comment period for the US EPA and Army Corp of Engineers’ proposed rule to redefine “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act (CWA) expired November 14, 2014. The proposed rule has come under intense scrutiny for its apparent expansion of CWA jurisdiction. US EPA received nearly 500,000 public comments…
Food Information for UK Consumers – Allergen Information to Represent a Business Opportunity?
By Nicola Smith
We have blogged previously on the EU Food Information for Consumers Regulation (the “EU FIC”), which will apply in the UK from 13 December 2014. The EU FIC will mean a number of significant changes for the labelling of pre-packed food. However, it will also affect the provision of information on non-pre-packed/ loose foods,…
What the 2014 Mid-Term Congressional Election Results Mean for Key Environmental Issues in the Run Up to the 2016 Presidential Election
Major policy developments that will drive the agenda in Washington DC over the next two years are outlined in Squire Patton Boggs’ 2014 Mid-Term Congressional Elections Analysis, What to Expect From the 114th Congress in the Run-Up to the 2016 Presidential Election. Key environmental policy developments include the following:
- Climate Change
Look for the
…
California Adopts Historic Groundwater Laws
For a state that has 840 miles of sweet Pacific Ocean coastline, it might seem ironic that California is hurting for water. But years of drought and unregulated groundwater use have devastated groundwater aquifers, forcing the California legislature to finally step in with what some farmers in California’s Central Valley are calling “draconian”…