Will the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause always insulate interstate commerce from the imposition of state and local taxes? Not always, as the Texas Supreme Court recently confirmed, when it agreed with the Court of Appeals for the First District of Texas, that Texas counties are permitted to levy property taxes on natural…
On April 28, the Texas Supreme Court, affirming the Court of Appeals of Texas, First District, sitting in Houston, issued a unanimous ruling in the case of Forest Oil Corporation v. El Rucio Land and Cattle Company, Inc., et al. This case involves claims for environmental contamination caused by oil and gas…
On April 18, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling in a Louisiana case that dismissed the plaintiff’s claims for property damage based on contamination caused to his property by long-term oil and gas operations conducted by the predecessors of Hess Corporation. The…
On April 20, an intermediate Court of Appeals for the First Court of Appeals, sitting in Houston, reversed the trial court and directed that court to reinstate an environmental enforcement action that had purportedly been settled by agreement of the officials of Brazoria County, Texas and the defendants. Brazoria County had…
On April 20, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Anderson Division, dismissed the plaintiffs’ Clean Water Act (CWA) Citizen Suit which alleged that the defendant pipeline operators had violated the CWA by discharging pollutants into navigable waters without a permit. The District Court concluded that although plaintiffs “identified…
On April 20, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a unanimous ruling that may terminate much of the litigation triggered by the bankruptcy of Tronox Inc. The Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. The case is In re Tronox Inc. On February 1, 2016, the…
On April 14, a U.S. Magistrate serving with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana issued a ruling in a matter involving the attorney-client and attorney work product privileges. The case is Valley Forge Insurance Company v. Hartford Iron & Metal, Inc. The District Court held that the attorney’s…
The new administration at the Environmental Protection Action has taken these actions: Reconsidering the New Methane Rules. On June 3, 2016, pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA), EPA promulgated amendments to the existing oil and gas New Source Performance Standards, 40 C.F.R. Part 60, Subpart 0000, and established new methane emissions…
Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency published a notice in the Federal Register seeking public comments on any “regulations that may be appropriate for repeal, replacement, or modification.” This notice invites an unprecedented level of review over EPA’s entire existing body of regulations. The notice aims to implement the President’s February…
On April 11, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed the lower court and held, in a unanimous opinion, that the American Forest Resource Council has standing to challenge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2012 designation of 9.5 million acres of federal forest lands as…