Articles Posted in Environmental

On August 19, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a ruling discussing the impact of New York State’s “Fracking Moratorium” on some existing oil  and gas leases.  The case is Beardslee, et al., v. Inflection Energy, LLC, et al.  The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s decision to grant a motion for summary judgment filed by a group of landowners located in Tioga County, New York.  The district court had concluded that the parties’ five-year oil and gas leases had expired by their terms and that the leases’ force majeure clauses did not extend the leases’ primary terms. It did so despite the energy companies’ arguments that New York Fracking Moratorium amounted to a force majeure automatically extending the term of these leases.

Continue Reading ›

On August 11, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, issued a long ruling deciding a challenge to a new rule, adopted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in December 2013, which increased the maximum duration of a “programmatic permit” to “take” bald and golden eagles incident to otherwise lawful activities from 5 to 30 years.  The case is Shearwater, et. al. v. Dan Ashe, Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, et al.

Continue Reading ›

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an interesting ruling on July 31, 2015 that is excellent guide to this esoteric corner of federal government regulation and practice.  In the case of Bodie S. Knapp dba The Wild Side v. U.S.D.A, the Court of Appeals largely upheld a governmental order levying  a fine of $398,900 against Knapp for buying and selling regulated animals without a license, in violation of the Animal Welfare Act.

Continue Reading ›

In another recent Fifth Circuit case, Cox Operating , L.L.C. v. St. Paul Surplus Lines Insurance Company, decided July 30, 2015, the Court of Appeals issued an important environmental/insurance ruling in an insurance recovery controversy.  The Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision that the insurance company breached its policy commitments to Cox, by failing to cover Cox’s costs  for the millions of dollars that the company spent to clean up the pollution and debris caused to Cox’s Louisiana oil and gas facilities after they were severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Continue Reading ›

On July 31, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a ruling affirming the Secretary of Labor’s interpretation of the term ”fire” in the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, and accordingly affirmed a decision of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission that patches of smoldering and smoking coal observed by mine safety inspectors in a coal mine could support the issuance of safety orders, citations and fines.  It was agreed that no visible flames were present, and the mining company challenged the basis of these sanctions.  The case is The American Coal Company v. Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission and Department of Labor.  Continue Reading ›

On July 30, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling affirming the district court’s dismissal of an action brought by the City and County of San Francisco against the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and its administering Agency, the  Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (Administration).  The case is City and County of San Francisco v. US Department of Transportation, et al.

Continue Reading ›

In Organized Village of Kake, et al. v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, et al., decided July 29, 2015, an en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reinstated the Department of Agriculture’s  (Department) 2001 “Roadless Rule”, which limits timber harvesting in the natural forests under the control and supervision of the Department.  This rule has particular importance for the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska.  Indeed, after the Department decided not to appeal the latest adverse decision of the U.S. District Court of Alaska, the State of Alaska intervened and participated in this appeal.  The tangled history of the Roadless Rule implicates three Presidential administrations, several decisions of the federal district courts and three U.S. Courts of Appeals, and it would be surprising if this latest decision will be the last.

Continue Reading ›