In a unanimous 3-0 decision, on January 25, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Court held that President Obama’s three recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board exceeded his Constitutional authority.
Articles on this decision can be found here, and here.
The decision calls into question all of…
On December 12, 2012, the U.S. Department of Health Human Services (HHS) launched a new website focused on the use of mobile devices in relation to health information privacy and security. The website is entitled Mobile Devices: Know the RISKS. Take the STEPS. PROTECT and SECURE Health Information. The website provides educational materials, such…
This is the first in a series of blog entries regarding Ohio state and local taxes imposed on oil and gas operations.
Oil and gas operators in Ohio currently pay a variety of state and local taxes:
Comparison to peer states with shale gas potential and shale oil potential:
The Ohio shale boom started slowly when a few small companies quietly began acquiring mineral leases for as little as $25 per acre. This soon gave way to a full blown land rush in the fall of 2010. But as lease prices skyrocketed through the Fall of 2011, disillusioned lessors who signed before the peak of the market were the ones rushing – to the courthouse to file lawsuits to cancel their leases.
In order to gain leverage and legitimize their lawsuit, lessors frequently allege that their lease is “unconscionable” or they were fraudulently induced to sign it. “Exhibit A” to these lawsuits is often a technical error in the lease signing or a “fraudulent” statement made by a landman. There are exceptions, but many of these kinds of lawsuits have no legal basis.
The Medicare laws have undergone significant changes. With the relatively new reporting regulations and the focus on compliance, litigators must implement new procedures in their practice. Many companies are establishing guidelines to obtain information needed to comply with the Medicare Secondary Payer Act (“MSP”) and the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (“MMSEA”).…
In response to questions posed by the Richland County Prosecuting Attorney, the Ohio Attorney General recently provided guidance to public authorities about entering into Road Use Maintenance Agreements (“RUMA’s”) with oil and gas operators. This is a distillation of the 20-page Attorney General Opinion No. 2012-029, which addressed three primary questions.
I. May a county enter into an agreement with a private oil and gas drilling company to have the company improve and repair the county roads it uses at no cost to the county?
In Preserve Wild Santee v. City of Santee (2012) 2012 Cal. App. LEXIS 1091, petitioners challenged the City of Santee’s (City) certification of a final environmental impact report (EIR) for a development project in the City, claiming the project violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in several ways. The trial court found merit in…
In Ohio, private pipeline companies regulated as common carriers or public utilities have the power of eminent domain to “condemn” or “appropriate” private property in certain situations.
It is well known that the power of eminent domain is available to government authorities. But, the reality of modern America is that carefully regulated private companies, not…
Employers find themselves in uncharted territory when it comes to responding to social media activity by their employees, particularly in the wake of a series of reports issued by the National Labor Relations Board’s acting general counsel. But on September 28, 2012, in the Board’s first decision involving a discharge for Facebook postings, the NLRB…
Part of the mission of the Energy Resources Program of the United States Geological Survey (“USGS”) is to determine the location, quantity, and quality of U.S. mineral and energy resources. In pursuit of that mission, the USGS recently conducted a survey of the potential of the Utica shale across the Appalachian Basin.
The results of…
