On November 27, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling vacating and remanding the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s decision in Weyerhaeuser Company v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Court of Appeals had affirmed the District Court’s ruling that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service…
This update follows an earlier post discussing Proposition 10’s potential impacts and pre-election prospects, available here. What happened on Election Day Despite California’s sky-high rents, voters just rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed cities to expand rent control. With 100% of precincts reporting, 61.7% of voters opposed Prop…
On November 7, the Office of the Attorney General issued a Memorandum re: Principles and Procedures for Civil Consent Decrees and Settlement Agreements with State and Local Governmental Entities. This Memorandum is based largely on federalism concerns. It is anticipated that the policy on consent decrees with state and local governments is…
Pillsbury attorneys Stephan E. Becker, Charles F. Donley II, Emily B. Erlingsson, Brian E. Finch, Aimee P. Ghosh, Meghan C. Hammond, Laura E. Jennings, The Honorable Gregory H. Laughlin, Jeffrey S. Merrifield, Elizabeth V. Moeller, Matthew Oresman, Craig J. Saperstein, Edward W. Sauer, and Deborah S. Thoren-Peden discuss the 2018 Midterm…
Pillsbury energy partner Rob James authored Energy 2019: USA, in which he provides an overview of the current U.S. energy marketplace and discuss Ongoing incentives at the state level for offshore wind, other forms of renewable power, and electric storage; Impacts of dueling tariffs and trade restrictions on the energy…
On October 30, in Sinnok, et al. v. State of Alaska, et al., the Superior Court, sitting in Anchorage, AK, granted the state’s motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ (a “group of Alaska youth ages 5 to 20”) complaints that the state has contributed to climate change through its actions with…
On September 30, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a ruling dismissing claims that the operation of a municipal waste landfill violated the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) provisions making actionable any “substantial endangerment to human health and the environment.” The case is Toxics…
On October 29, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) published a final rule in the Federal Register which amends and revises the environmental National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures rules employed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). There is a…
On October 30, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit decided the case of Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co., LLC v. Permanent Easements for 2.14 Acres, et al. , affirming the District Court’s grant of a preliminary injunction to Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC (Transcontinental). This case involves…
On October 18, the Illinois Supreme Court decided the case of Ameren Transmission Co. of Illinois v. Hutchings, et al. According to the Illinois Supreme Court, there is no presumption that Illinois courts have subject-matter jurisdiction over administrative actions. The availability of any review of this determination was controlled by the…