A recent Ninth Circuit decision limited the ability of an insurer to seek CERCLA contribution and/or cost recovery from potentially responsible parties ("PRPs"). In Chubb Custom Insurance Company v. Space Systems/Loral et al. , [ enhanced version... Read More

ENVIRONMENT: The MONTANA House rejects SB 143, a bill that would have increased the number of hunting licenses for bison and prohibited the future relocation of the animals (HELENA INDEPENDENT RECORD]). • The INDIANA House approves SB 487, a bill... Read More

By William Perry Pendley, President and Chief Operating Officer of Mountain States Legal Foundation A 117-year-old nonprofit, non-partisan mining trade association with thousands of members has rebutted arguments by federal lawyers and environmental... Read More

By William Perry Pendley, President and Chief Operating Officer of Mountain States Legal Foundation A western, nonprofit, public-interest legal foundation with decades of experience defending the rights of westerners against the federal government... Read More

This week EPA released EJSCREEN, an environmental justice screening and mapping tool that uses high resolution maps combined with demographic and environmental data to identify places with potentially elevated environmental burdens and vulnerable populations... Read More

NY, NJ TAKE DIFFERENT PATHS TO SANDY RECOVERY: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) are taking vastly different approaches to residents seeking to rebuild their coastal homes destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. Christie wants... Read More

By E. Lynn Grayson EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy recently testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee regarding EPA's proposed 2016 fiscal year budget. EPA's 2016 fiscal year from October 1, 2015 through September 30... Read More

Besides researching and writing environmental rules, such as the mercury power plant rule recently addressed by the US Supreme Court, the USEPA must also spend a lot of effort enforcing rules – to ensure they are fairly and evenly complied with... Read More

By the Ballard Spahr LLP Mortgage Banking Group The federal banking agencies, together with the Farm Credit Administration, have issued joint guidance on amendments to the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (FDPA). The amendments were part of the... Read More

By Jean-Cyril (JC) Walker and Adrienne M. Timmel In response to concerns and Congressional pressure over widespread fraud in the renewable fuels market, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") is proposing to establish an innocent... Read More

Can the government be liable for financial damages, when they refuse environmental permits for unreasonable reasons, or cause an unreasonable delay in issuing a permit? Yes, it is possible, according to the British Columbia Court of Appeal ! Given the... Read More

By Michael B. Gerrard The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), signed into law by President Richard Nixon on January 1, 1970, was the first U.S. environmental statute of the modern era. It requires the preparation of environmental impact statements... Read More

By Kurt L. Krieger and Nora C. Price On March 21, 2013, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") approved new rules for managing vegetation along power line rights of way. The purpose of the approved modifications to existing electric... Read More

On April 15, 2013, the IRS released Notice 2013-29 addressing the eligibility for certain alternative energy projects to qualify for the renewable electricity production tax credit (PTC) under section 45 of the Tax Code. This guidance has been eagerly... Read More

Accessibility Disclosure: Each lease or rental agreement for commercial property executed on or after July 1, 2013 must state whether the property being leased or rented has undergone inspection by a Certified Access Specialist (CASp), and, if so, whether... Read More