Before ultimately answering the questions posed in the title above on a National Energy Plan, in full disclosure it should be noted that I have been employed by and/or have been an investor in oil, natural gas, coal and solar. The same applies for two railroads, CSX and NS, which hauled a lot of the aforementioned products or their supply chain components to market ...
by Allyn G. Turner, as seen in the December 2008 issue of IOGA Newsletter As we head toward 2009, West Virginians will be governed by second-term Governor Joe Manchin and the new administration of President-Elect Barack Obama. In the environmental regulation arena, this means change. West Virginia’s Executive Branch, including the Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”), may not be headed for immediate changes ...
Late yesterday afternoon, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) published on its website what it characterizes as a “rough draft” of its forthcoming emergency[1] rule (the “Draft Rule”), which is 79 pages in length. This Draft Rule comes nine days after the agency’s release of an Interpretive Rule implementing, in part, the new Aboveground Storage Tank Act (the “AST Act”), a summary of which is available here ...
On February 3, 2015, House Bill 2574 (“HB 2574”) was introduced in the West Virginia Legislature. HB 2574 proposes to remedy the unintended consequences to businesses created by the passage of the Aboveground Storage Tank Act (the “AST Act”) during the 2014 regular session of the Legislature immediately following the contamination of the Elk River from Freedom Industries, Inc ...
By the time you are reading this, the October 1 deadline to register all aboveground storage tanks (“ASTs”) in West Virginia has passed, and the world is still turning. If you have not yet registered your ASTs, it is still a good idea to register any tanks that qualify as ASTs as soon as you can. However, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (“WVDEP”) is proceeding with implementation of the Aboveground Storage Tank Act, W. Va ...
On August 7, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Summit Petroleum Corp. v. United States EPA, et al., Case Nos. 09-4348/10-4572, dealt the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") a major setback in its efforts to aggregate multiple, often disperse, emitting units in the oil and natural gas industry as a single stationary source - thus subjecting them to more stringent controls under the Clean Air Act ("CAA") ...
With the recent proliferation of horizontal drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus region, there continues to be significant scrutiny on potential water quality impacts, including impacts to sources of water supply ...
On August 1, 2016, the legislative rule promulgated to implement the Aboveground Storage Tank Act became effective. The Rule is 63 pages long and contains detailed requirements for registering, designing, installing, operating, maintaining and closing tanks subject to the AST Act. The following is a handy reference list of the more significant compliance deadlines established in the Rule ...
In the latest development relating to West Virginia’s new aboveground storage tank (“AST”) legislation, yesterday afternoon the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (“WVDEP”) filed with the West Virginia Secretary of State its finalized Interpretive Rule outlining mechanisms for compliance with the imminent deadlines under the Aboveground Storage Tank Act (the “AST Act”), W. Va. Code §§ 22-30-1 et seq ...
Under legislation passed in December 2011, which established a comprehensive program for the regulation of oil and gas operations utilizing horizontal drilling methods and related activities, the West Virginia Legislature directed the Department of Environmental Protection to conduct certain studies to inform future decisions regarding the need, or lack thereof, for further legislation or regulations in this area ...
The U.S. General Services Administration recently added Green Globes as an additional third-party green building certification system for federal government construction projects. With this addition, many are now asking about the difference between Green Globes and LEED. Green Globes has emerged, in some parts of the U.S., as a rival building option to the more well-known Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (“LEED”) system ...
Everyone likes pie of some sort, especially around the holidays. For those working in the construction industry, the rapidly developing energy sector appears to be an ever-expanding “Job Pie” for contractors designing, managing, supplying, engineering, clearing and erecting projects for participants in the energy sector. For clues on how to follow the pie crumbs to real construction jobs, I turned to Melvin Stroble of Black & Veatch. Here is a slice of the information Mr ...
The California State Water Resources Control Board issued a notice today that all water users diverting water in California under Water Rights Permits, Licenses, Stockpond Certificates and Registration for Livestock Stockpond, Small Domestic or Small Irrigation uses must submit their annual water use reporting for the 2016 calendar year by April 1, 2017. All such reports must be filed online via the Report Management System (RMS) located at https://rms.waterboards.ca.gov/ ...
In the most recent ruling arising from the now infamous Sabine case (In re Sabine Oil & Gas Corp., 547 BR 66 (Bankr. SDNY 2016)), in which New York bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman held in favor of Sabine Oil & Gas Corp ...
The courts’ widening of liability for polluted land and groundwater continues. From two new rulings it can be understood that taking responsibility in agreements can be held against the company that has chosen to be responsible. The fact that a person who pursues an activity or takes a measure (an “operator”) which results in pollution is also liable for the pollution is made clear in chapter 10 of Sweden’s Environmental Code ...
In March 2017, the Montenegrin Agency for the Protection of Competition carried out an unannounced inspection (dawn raid) at the business premises of Sava Trans d.o.o. Cetinje, a company engaged in freight transport, in order to collect data necessary for undertaking further actions carried out by the Agency ...
A federal court in the District of Columbia has ordered the U.S. EPA to complete its review of air toxics emission standards for 13 source categories by June 30, 2020. Under the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, EPA must set maximum achievable control technology ("MACT") standards for stationary sources of hazardous air pollutants. The agency must review and, if necessary, revise those standards every eight years. 42 U.S.C. §§ 7412(d)(6), 7412(f)(2) ...
On March 23, 2017, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved new regulations on greenhouse gas emissions from oil and natural gas production and storage facilities. The regulations, which focus on methane emissions, represent the most aggressive effort by any U.S. jurisdiction to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from oil and natural gas production ...
The Philippine Court of Appeals (CA) denied the petition by NGO Ang Aroroy ay Alagaan, Inc. and certain individuals, for the issuance of a writ of kalikasan against Filminera Resources Corporation, and its directors and officers. The petitioners have claimed that Filminera, which operates in the Philippine province of Masbate, had been causing environmental damage in the conduct of its mining operations in violation of local law, and that a writ of kalikasan should be issued ...
As part of the implementation of the Mexican Energy Reform of 2013, several new regulations and administrative guidelines affecting the hydrocarbons and power industries were issued. These are of particular importance to oil and gas producers, power generators and others looking to invest or expand operations in Mexico’s dynamic energy sector. I. Hydrocarbons March 6, 2017.Ayín-Batsil Farmout ...
Autonomous cars have really taken off in the last few years, particularly due to the interest of both consumers and the businesses who develop and improve them. In this context, on April 5 and 10, 2017, the City of Montréal and the Government of Québec respectively announced significant investments in the electrification and intelligent transportation sector to make the Province of Québec a pioneer of that industry ...
The Croatian Competition Agency (the "Agency") initiated proceedings against Grand Auto – an authorised dealer of Land Rover and Jaguar cars for Croatia, after an initiative by the Auto Dealership "Karlo", a former authorised repairer of the said cars for Croatia ...
Following recommendations from a working group formed by the Ministry of Transportation, Ports and Civil Aviation (MTPAC) and discussions with representatives of different interested parties, President Michel Temer recently signed a decree changing the regulations of (Ports Law) ...
In a recent decision concerning off-site drilling, the Texas Supreme Court affirmed the San Antonio Court of Appeals1 and held that an oil and gas operator could drill through the mineral estate underlying an adjacent tract of land without the adjacent mineral lessee’s permission. Lightning Oil Co. v. Anadarko E&P Onshore LLC, No. 15-0910, 2017 Tex. LEXIS 463, --- S.W.3d --- (Tex. May 19, 2017) ...
