The arbitration clause in an oil and gas lease is likely not the most hotly negotiated term or even one that the parties think twice about. However, recent litigation in Pennsylvania should serve as a reminder to lessors and lessees to be aware that a poorly drafted arbitration clause may lead to unwanted litigation. Recently, […]
On September 9, 2016, 30 minutes after winning and stopping the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s (“Sioux” or “Tribe”) request to enjoin the Dakota Access Pipeline (“DAPL”), the Obama administration upended the rule of law. The Departments of Justice, Army and the Interior issued a joint statement that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) “will […]
On August 29, 2016, Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams found that the proponents of Proposed Initiative 75 (Local Government Control of Oil and Gas Development) and Proposed Initiative 78 (Mandatory Setback from Oil and Gas Development) did not collect the requisite number of sufficient signatures to make the November ballot. Mr. Williams also provided […]
For those interested in Colorado’s energy economy, ballot initiatives concerning oil and gas regulation have rightly taken center stage. (See [4/27/16 blog post]). As of today, however, none of those public initiatives appear destined for the ballot this November. The Colorado Secretary of State found that proponents of the two measures did not collect the […]
This blog post was written by Katherine “Kate” Sanford who worked with WSMT as a summer intern from June 1 through August 10, 2016. On August 5, 2015, Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) contractors inadvertently broke through a retaining wall at the closed Gold King Mine, causing over 3 million gallons of acidic, metal-laden water to […]
The federal Clean Air Act requires the states and the federal government to establish and meet targets for visibility in protected national parks and wildlife areas through regulations that control air pollutants in ambient air. 42 U.S.C. §§ 7410, 7491, 7492(e)(2). The federal government has the primary responsibility for identifying air pollutants and setting standards. […]
What do you do when someone enters your property to collect information about its status with the intent to convey that information to a governmental or regulatory agency without your permission? In Wyoming, you contact your local legislator. In 2015, the Wyoming legislature enacted two statutes, Wyo. Stat. §§ 6-3-414 and 40-27-101 (the “Trespass Statutes”), […]
Last week, Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah), formally introduced his revamped House Bill, the Public Lands Initiative, which seeks to designate millions of acres of proposed Wilderness, establish large motorized recreation areas, and expedite the development of oil, gas and minerals in southeastern Utah. The Bill encompasses the controversial Bears Ears, a pair of […]
The Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) within the Department of the Interior issued new royalty valuation rules on July 1, 2016. Although the goal of the regulations is to simplify the calculation of royalties on federal oil, gas and coal, the 65 pages of rules please no one. Under a new definition for “misconduct,” […]
The Colorado Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Upper Eagle Reg’l Water Authority v. Wolfe, 2016 CO 42 creates opportunities for owners of more than one conditional water right to make those rights absolute in advance of demonstrating the need for both, and the “catch” or court-imposed limitation may not have a practical effect in some […]