On August 27, 2015, the US District Court for the District of North Dakota granted a motion for preliminary injunction to a coalition of 13 states (the States) attempting to block implementation of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule, promulgated by US EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) and set to go into
Recent Developments Regarding the Business Utilities Tax Payments and Taxpayer’s Rights to Protest
As is now widely known, the Louisiana Legislature has adopted HCR No. 8, which purports to suspend the sales tax exemptions business utilities effective July 1, 2015. On July 1, 2015, the Louisiana Chemical Association (“LCA”) filed a declaratory judgment proceeding attacking the validity of HCR No. 8. The Legislature and the Louisiana Department of
D.C. Circuit Mandates Further Work on CSAPR
On July 28, 2015, the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit remanded part of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) to USEPA for reconsideration, finding that the Agency had erred in 2014 sulfur dioxide and ozone budgets for 13 states. The next opportunity to influence outcome will be US EPA’s rulemaking process for
FERC Assesses Penalties for Alleged No-Risk UTC Trading Against City Power and Its Founder
Earlier this month, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an Order Assessing Civil Penalties against City Power Marketing, LLC (City Power) and its founder and sole owner, K. Stephen Tsingas[1] (collectively, Respondents) for violating section 222 of the Federal Power Act (FPA) and section 1c.2 of the Commission’s regulations, which prohibit energy market manipulation.[2]
A Watch List of Possible Changes in EPA’s Final Clean Power Plan
In August, EPA is expected to finalize and to modify its ambitious Clean Power Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants. Here is a Watch List of key areas for possible changes and clarification that EPA might make, after considering voluminous public comments on the Proposed Regulations, which were issued in June
UK Judicial Review of Official Veterinarian over Beef Carcase: Food Standards Agency Victory
On 2 July, the Administrative Court ruled in the Food Standard Agency’s (FSA’s) favour over a decision by an FSA veterinary contractor based at a slaughterhouse (following an inspection by a Meat Hygiene Inspector) to declare a beef carcase as unfit for human consumption [i]. The Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (AIMs) together with
Reforming the offence of Public Nuisance
Introduction
Five years after originally consulting the public, the Law Commission has recently published its report on reforming the common law criminal offences of public nuisance and outraging public decency. This note focuses on the proposed reforms to the offence of public nuisance.
Public nuisance is unusual in so far as it is
Faced with Drought and Water Shortage, California Water Board Can’t Win For Losing
Things couldn’t be going much worse for the California State Water Resources Control Board (“Board”). In the midst of one of California’s worst droughts on record that has seen water levels drop to historic lows in California Reservoirs, Governor Jerry Brown and the Board have been desperate to find and implement ways to conserve water
Supreme Court Decisions Raise Questions about Future Judicial Scrutiny of EPA’s Clean Power Plan
Two of the Supreme Court’s major, end-of-term decisions turn on the deference the Court gives to agency determinations of the meaning of ambiguous clauses in complex regulatory statutes, applying the familiar Chevron framework. The Court’s less deferential applications of Chevron raise important questions about the deference courts might be expected to give to the scope
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Provides New Resource for Marine Operators
On May 26, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers launched a new website to provide the public and industry interests with nationally-issued Notices To Navigation Interests (NTNI). The new website can be found here. The new site allows users to search NTNIs by keywords, providing a new-user friendly interface. The site will keep navigation interests