Yesterday, by refusing to hear an appeal from Exxon Mobil (see docket), the U.S. Supreme Court declined to protect the oil giant from handing over decades of climate change-related documents to the Massachusetts Attorney General. Back in 2015, InsideClimate News and the L.A. Times each ran multiple stories digging into Exxon’s knowledge of climate science… Continue Reading
On October 17, 2017, the U.S. and the States of Rhode Island and Massachusetts lodged what was acknowledged as a “unique” settlement with a tug boat owner and operator for natural resource damages resulting from a 2003 marine oil spill. In U.S. v. Bouchard Transportation Company, the defendants had earlier settled other federal, state and… Continue Reading
The Jordan Cove LNG project in Coos Bay, Oregon, prevailed in a legal challenge to a key permit. The permit, issued by the Oregon Department of State Lands, allows dredge and fill work for a deep water ship channel. In Coos Waterkeeper v. Port of Coos Bay, the Court of Appeals rejected that challenge and… Continue Reading
With the rapid growth of natural gas production from shale plays and growing demand due to low gas prices, pipeline companies have been scrambling to expand and reconfigure their systems to serve the needs of a changing gas marketplace. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rules generally govern the commercial terms pipelines can offer prospective capacity… Continue Reading
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets the annual percentage standards for ethanol, cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuels that apply to all gasoline and diesel produced or imported each year. EPA blending requirements for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to date have been reduced to address the “blend wall” – the… Continue Reading
Yesterday, I wrote a blog post describing a FERC order that, for the first time ever, would have allowed an interstate oil pipeline to grant preferential rates and capacity rights to shippers making volume commitments through an open season process conducted outside the context of a pipeline project. FERC’s order is also noteworthy for the general… Continue Reading
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order on March 20, 2014, rejecting Colonial Pipeline Company’s (Colonial) petition for a declaratory order (PDO) that, for the first time ever, would have allowed an interstate oil pipeline to grant preferential rates and capacity rights to shippers making volume commitments through an open season process conducted outside… Continue Reading
On January 22nd, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declined petitions to reconsider their decision upholding of enforceability of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). The petitions were spearheaded by various trade groups and energy groups, including the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, who argued that the LCFS’s strict… Continue Reading
The Columbia and Snake River federal network of dams, and the abundance of low cost electricity it produces, has long been the cornerstone of the Pacific Northwest manufacturing economy. It has also supported another industry—the legions of lawyers fighting over the environmental effects. The latest iteration is an attack brought by Columbia Riverkeepers against the… Continue Reading
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (“ANWR”) is in the news again. This refuge, set in the midst of some of the nation’s richest petroleum deposits, has been a source of contention and controversy since the passage of the Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act (“ANILCA”) in 1980. That Act greatly expanded the size of ANWR,… Continue Reading
By Gerald George On an appeal of a penalty determination in the first oil spill case to be tried under the civil penalty provisions enacted after the Exxon Valdez catastrophe in the Oil Pollution Act of 1991,[1] the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the case for reconsideration of the penalty, despite holding… Continue Reading
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued on July 18, 2013, is proposing to facilitate increased coordination between electric transmission operators and natural gas pipelines. FERC is proposing to amend its regulations to provide explicit authority for interstate natural gas pipelines and electric transmission system operators to share non-public operational information… Continue Reading
A recent advisory from DWT partners Glenn Benson and Barbara Jost: On June 4, 2013, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”) and the U.S. Coast Guard signed a Memorandum of Agreement regarding division of lead agency responsibilities between the two agencies for regulation, inspection, and oversight of systems… Continue Reading
A recent advisory from DWT partners Glenn Benson and Barbara Jost: On May 16, 2013, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) issued a revised proposed rule regarding hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands for oil and gas production. In response to the more than 177,000 public comments submitted in… Continue Reading
From Allison A. Davis of our San Francisco Office: The U.S. District Court in San Jose recently found that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) failed to adequately review the environmental impacts of fracking on four oil and gas leases it recently auctioned off in the Monterey Shale area of Monterey and Fresno counties in… Continue Reading
Today, ConocoPhillips announced that it is suspending its drilling program in the Chukchi Sea off the northwest coast of Alaska for 2014, due to uncertainty regarding the changing regulatory requirements. “While we are confident in our own expertise and ability to safely conduct offshore Arctic operations, we believe that more time is needed to ensure… Continue Reading
In the March 29th decision of Sullivan v. Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands (REDOIL), the Supreme Court of Alaska held that the Alaska Constitution requires only one “best interest finding” (that an oil or gas project is in the state’s best interest) to be made before a lease is issued, though subsequent permitting decisions… Continue Reading
From our Anchorage office, some recent developments in Alaska of note: Polar bears. Comments are being taken on a proposed special rule and draft environmental assessment by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. When the polar bear was listed as a threatened species pursuant to the Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed… Continue Reading
Two important announcements on March 30, 2012 from the State of Alaska and major North Slope producers have brightened the prospects for natural gas development in northern Alaska and the possibility of an in-state pipeline. First, the State of Alaska announced a settlement of the ongoing lawsuit stemming from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources… Continue Reading
Just a few years ago, the price of natural gas was high enough to encourage development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals to receive LNG from foreign gas producers and then “re-gassify” such gas before sending it to existing interstate pipelines. Three such facilities were proposed in Oregon, after a failed attempt to site… Continue Reading