On June 27, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the final version of a long-anticipated rule defining the scope of the agency’s power to regulate waters under the Clean Water Act. The rule defines what constitutes a “water of the United States” for purposes of regulation under the Clean Water Act. The publication finalizes […]
After testing new rules in a select number of Colorado districts over the past few years, on July 1, 2015, the Colorado Supreme Court adopted new rules intended to significantly change civil litigation, especially the discovery process. This initial stage of a lawsuit – depositions, document requests and production, and interrogatories – is costly in […]
On June 29, in a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court held in Michigan v. EPA that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must consider the costs of industry when deciding to set limits under the Clean Air Act on the emissions of hazardous air pollutants from certain stationary sources such as power plants. The […]
On April 14, 2015, the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission unanimously approved several changes to its drilling regulations, which will go into effect on June 28, 2015 (i.e. 75 days after approval). The Commission increased the minimum distance between drilling operations and homes or other occupied structures from 350 feet to 500 feet. The […]
On June 1, 2015, in an 8-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Abercrombie & Fitch and for a Muslim job applicant, Elauf, who had been rejected for employment because her headscarf would conflict with the store’s “Look Policy” which prohibited the wearing of caps on the sales floor. E.E.O.C. v. Abercrombie & Fitch […]
On May 29, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit upheld the entry of judgment for defendant and rejected National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Clean Water Act (CWA) challenges to the validity of Army Corps of Engineers’ Nationwide Permit 12 (NWP 12) for the Gulf Coast Pipeline (the southern segment of […]
In an apparent attempt to head-off legislative changes to the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) that have been threatened by Congressional Republicans, President Obama unveiled a suite of proposed changed to the ESA species listing process. These changes, contained in a proposed rule that was announced on May 19, are largely focused on making it more […]
BLM’s new fracking rule is scheduled to take effect on June 24, 2015, but the Western Energy Alliance and Independent Petroleum Association of America moved for a preliminary injunction on May 15 to keep that from happening. They allege irreparable harm because the new rule lacks the factual, scientific, or engineering bases to sustain it. […]
Utah’s Transfer of Public Lands Act (“TPLA”) demands that the federal government “extinguish” its title to more than 30 million acres of federal public lands by December 31, 2014. Utah Code Ann. § 63L-6-101 et seq. (2012). When the law was enacted in 2012, former Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar charged that the legislation […]
Despite the fact that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management lease sale covering lands in Wyoming conducted on May 5, 2015, brought in a paltry $688,000, which is the lowest total since August 2009, the Wyoming State Geological Survey (“WSGS”) has begun the process of developing the next generation of the Oil and Gas Map […]