September 12, 2017
On September 7, 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) filed a Status Report in the ongoing Clean Power Plan litigation (State of West Virginia v. EPA), which has been pending before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for two years. Link.
The Obama Administration first released a draft version of the “Clean Power Plan” rules for existing coal-fired electric generating plants in June of…
September 7, 2017
Opponents of natural gas development do not have the resources to challenge individual well permits in the Marcellus and related shale gas basins. Instead, they understand that the future of the industry depends on assembling the rights to draw gas from fractionated ownership and on the ability to attract higher prices by building transmission pipelines to carry the gas to new markets. So, the…
September 6, 2017
On August 23rd, the federal Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a decision by the Corps of Engineers to issue a Clean Water Act §404 permit to Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company to construct about 13 miles of “looped” pipeline in two counties in northeastern Pennsylvania (read the JK Energy & Environmental Monitor summary of Delaware Riverkeeper Network v. U.S. Army Corps of…
August 31, 2017
On August 23, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the Corps’ decision to issue a Clean Water Act § 404 “fill” permit to a pipeline developer for 13 miles of pipeline in Pennsylvania. See Delaware River Network v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 17-1506 (3rd Cir. Aug. 23, 2017). The Riverkeeper’s challenge was an original action filed in the 3rd Circuit pursuant to the…
August 29, 2017
A public study led by West Virginia University has proposed a regional effort towards developing infrastructure capable of supporting oil and natural gas storage facilities along the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. The data was presented on August 29 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Known as the Appalachian Storage Hub study, researchers from the West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio geological surveys have…
August 21, 2017
On August 15th, 2017 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released and began accepting public comments on guidance for states that want to develop a permitting program for the disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCR), or coal ash. While the guidance does offer some flexibility to states in developing their permitting programs, state programs must be at least as protective as the Federal…
August 2, 2017
Any statement about the breadth of liability imposed by CERCLA, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, almost always seems to be an understatement. CERCLA makes the owner of property contaminated with hazardous substances or a person who arranges for the disposal of hazardous substances strictly liable for subsequent clean-up costs. Such owners or…
August 1, 2017
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has trimmed the discretion that the Office of Surface Mining can assert when it brings an enforcement action against a mining operator. Its decision applies a principle of law announced by the Supreme Court almost 25 years ago in Darby v. Cisneros which most agencies prefer to ignore.
As explained by the Tenth Circuit, Darby makes “intra-agency…
July 27, 2017
On July 17, 2017, the governments of California’s Marin and San Meteo counties, as well as the city of Imperial Beach, filed three separate complaints in California Superior Court in their respective counties against 37 oil, gas, and coal companies. We have previously written about similar suits filed by citizen groups, states, and cities in federal court here.
Although most of these suits…
July 26, 2017
The Virginia Supreme Court issued two opinions on July 13, 2017, addressing the rights of pipelines to survey property without landowner permission. In the first, Chaffins v. Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC, the Court considered what constitutes adequate prior notice by a pipeline company to gain access for surveys and property evaluation in the absence of landowner approval. In the second, Palmer…
July 20, 2017
On July 13, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit temporarily recalled its mandate previously issued contemporaneously with the entry of its July 3rd opinion rejecting EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s stay of portions of Obama-era “New Source Performance Standards” for the oil and gas sector. In rejecting Administrator Pruitt’s request for a longer extension of time to…
June 30, 2017
Several years ago, Murray Energy sued EPA in the Northern District of West Virginia under § 304(a)(2) of the Clean Air Act, which authorizes actions against EPA when it fails to perform an act or duty “which is not discretionary.” Murray sought to enjoin further rulemaking by EPA and the implementation of the Clean Power Plan until EPA explored the impacts of its Clean Air Act programs…
September 12, 2017
On September 7, 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) filed a Status Report in the ongoing Clean Power Plan litigation (State of West Virginia v. EPA), which has been pending before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for two years. Link.
The Obama Administration first released a draft version of the “Clean Power Plan” rules for existing coal-fired electric generating plants in June of…
September 7, 2017
Opponents of natural gas development do not have the resources to challenge individual well permits in the Marcellus and related shale gas basins. Instead, they understand that the future of the industry depends on assembling the rights to draw gas from fractionated ownership and on the ability to attract higher prices by building transmission pipelines to carry the gas to new markets. So, the…
September 6, 2017
On August 23rd, the federal Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a decision by the Corps of Engineers to issue a Clean Water Act §404 permit to Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company to construct about 13 miles of “looped” pipeline in two counties in northeastern Pennsylvania (read the JK Energy & Environmental Monitor summary of Delaware Riverkeeper Network v. U.S. Army Corps of…
August 31, 2017
On August 23, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the Corps’ decision to issue a Clean Water Act § 404 “fill” permit to a pipeline developer for 13 miles of pipeline in Pennsylvania. See Delaware River Network v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 17-1506 (3rd Cir. Aug. 23, 2017). The Riverkeeper’s challenge was an original action filed in the 3rd Circuit pursuant to the…
August 29, 2017
A public study led by West Virginia University has proposed a regional effort towards developing infrastructure capable of supporting oil and natural gas storage facilities along the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. The data was presented on August 29 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Known as the Appalachian Storage Hub study, researchers from the West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio geological surveys have…
August 21, 2017
On August 15th, 2017 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released and began accepting public comments on guidance for states that want to develop a permitting program for the disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCR), or coal ash. While the guidance does offer some flexibility to states in developing their permitting programs, state programs must be at least as protective as the Federal…
August 2, 2017
Any statement about the breadth of liability imposed by CERCLA, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, almost always seems to be an understatement. CERCLA makes the owner of property contaminated with hazardous substances or a person who arranges for the disposal of hazardous substances strictly liable for subsequent clean-up costs. Such owners or…
August 1, 2017
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has trimmed the discretion that the Office of Surface Mining can assert when it brings an enforcement action against a mining operator. Its decision applies a principle of law announced by the Supreme Court almost 25 years ago in Darby v. Cisneros which most agencies prefer to ignore.
As explained by the Tenth Circuit, Darby makes “intra-agency…
July 27, 2017
On July 17, 2017, the governments of California’s Marin and San Meteo counties, as well as the city of Imperial Beach, filed three separate complaints in California Superior Court in their respective counties against 37 oil, gas, and coal companies. We have previously written about similar suits filed by citizen groups, states, and cities in federal court here.
Although most of these suits…
July 26, 2017
The Virginia Supreme Court issued two opinions on July 13, 2017, addressing the rights of pipelines to survey property without landowner permission. In the first, Chaffins v. Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC, the Court considered what constitutes adequate prior notice by a pipeline company to gain access for surveys and property evaluation in the absence of landowner approval. In the second, Palmer…
July 20, 2017
On July 13, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit temporarily recalled its mandate previously issued contemporaneously with the entry of its July 3rd opinion rejecting EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s stay of portions of Obama-era “New Source Performance Standards” for the oil and gas sector. In rejecting Administrator Pruitt’s request for a longer extension of time to…
June 30, 2017
Several years ago, Murray Energy sued EPA in the Northern District of West Virginia under § 304(a)(2) of the Clean Air Act, which authorizes actions against EPA when it fails to perform an act or duty “which is not discretionary.” Murray sought to enjoin further rulemaking by EPA and the implementation of the Clean Power Plan until EPA explored the impacts of its Clean Air Act programs…
