The Louisiana Legislature recently made substantial changes to the Louisiana Direct Action Statute, which is codified at Louisiana Revised Statute § 22:1269.
Effective August 1, 2024, and pursuant to Act 275 of the 2024 Regular Legislative Session, the new law substantially limits the right of an injured person to sue another party’s insurer and
In an opinion filed June 27, and later ordered published (with slight modifications) on July 18, 2024, the First District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s judgment denying a writ petition challenging the City of Lafayette’s use of the CEQA Guidelines section 15332 categorical exemption and related approval of a 12-unit residential condominium project on a 0.3-acre parcel. Nahid Nassiri v. City of Lafayette, et al (3721 Land LLC, Real Party in Interest) (2024) 103 Cal.App.5th 910. In disposing of appellant’s arguments that the infill exemption’s elements were not satisfied, the Court of Appeal held that substantial evidence supported the City’s findings that the project site had no value as habitat for endangered, rare or threatened species, and that the project would not result in significant air quality impacts. The Court declined to reach the issue whether the unusual circumstances exception to the categorical exemption applied because appellant waived it by failing to properly raise it in the trial court.
GHG Emissions: DC Court Denies Challenge to EPA’s Recent Emissions Rule
On July 9, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied a motion filed by twenty-four states to stay the recent rule promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulating greenhouse gases (GHGs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions by oil
Garbage disposals, quite possibly among the lowest tech, geoengineering solutions to climate change.
In Nassiri v. City of Lafayette (2024) 103 Cal.App.5th 910, the First District Court of Appeal (Court) held that a proposed 12-unit condo (Project) in the City of Lafayette (City) was exempt from CEQA because it qualified for the Class 32 Infill Exemption, upholding the trial court’s determination. In doing so, the Court rejected arguments
PFAS-related litigation continues to climb and to diversify as to claims and parties. See the attached graphics, updated through the third quarter of 2023. We will continue to update these graphics on a quarterly basis.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Securities & Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, No. 22-859 (U.S. June 27, 2024), holding that the SEC cannot assess civil penalties for securities fraud through an administrative tribunal. As the court well-understood, the decision has implications for many areas of federal regulatory enforcement, including environmental law. So what does
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Water Quality: Oklahoma Court Holds State Ag Department Must Consider Environmental Impacts of Animal Operations
On June 28, 2024, the Oklahoma
LNG Infrastructure: Western District of Louisiana Blocks the White House’s Pause on Issuing LNG Export Permits
On July 1, 2024, the Western District of Louisiana issued a judgment, ordering White House officials to resume approving LNG export applications for “liquefied natural gas to non-FTA countries . . . .” In the memorandum ruling,
This was “simply a way to get in the back door what they cannot get in the front door.”