On September 19, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that California Senate Bill 990 violates the Constitutional doctrine of “intergovernmental immunity” because it directly regulates the activities of the US Department of Energy in violation of the Supremacy Clause. S.B. 990 prescribes state radioactive cleanup…
On September 18, 2014, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decided another Deepwater Horizon case. The case is United States v. Transocean Deepwater Drilling, Inc., and involves the statutory authority of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) to issue administrative…
United States Supreme Court decisions provide guideposts for the exercise of environmental permitting and enforcement power by state and federal authorities. Whether a particular facility can be permitted often determines whether it can be built or modified after it has been constructed. In addition, a decision such as the Court’s…
UPDATE: The Sacramento Bee, SPI Solar and KDC Solar Announce Joint Ownership of Mountain Creek Project (Feb. 21, 2014) On January 8, 2014, SPI Solar announced that it has “executed agreements with KDC Solar and China Development Bank (CDB) to provide immediate financing for the previously announced Imclone [solar power]…
Thirteen years after the complaint was filed, on Monday, December 16, 2013, California Superior Court Judge James P. Kleinberg, in People of the State of California v. Atlantic Richfield Co. et al., Santa Clara Superior Court Case No. 1-00-cv-788657, issued a proposed statement of decision (SOD) after a 23-day bench…
The largest, 100% recycled plastic bridge was completed in Ohio spanning 24.6 feet. That’s a lot of bottles! Nanotechnology – the future of green building materials? Researchers tout ability of nanomaterials to improve sustainability and energy performance of buildings. Japanese developer uses green building techniques to create “disaster proof” environment.…