Litigation
Yucca Mountain dispute goes to Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The tangled saga of the proposed high-level nuclear waste disposal facility at Yucca Mountain is going to have at least one more chapter. In June 2008, President Bush’s Department of Energy filed an application for a license to construct a high-level repository at Yucca Mountain. In March 2010, President Obama’s Energy Department sought to withdraw …
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CONTINUE READINGStay denied in appeal of offshore moratorium decision
Cross-posted at CPRBlog. A three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit heard argument today on the Obama administration’s request that it stay the District Court’s injunction of the 6-month deepwater oil development moratorium, and by a 2-1 vote quickly rejected the request. The moratorium halted any new drilling, and the granting of any new permits for …
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CONTINUE READINGAnti-AB 32 Campaign Should Be Interesting
The ballot initiative to suspend the implementation of California’s landmark greenhouse gas legislation — which qualified for the ballot last week — should garner huge amounts of attention and spur job growth at least in the world of ballot campaigns. The California Public Policy Institute is predicting that proponents and opponents of the initiative (which …
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CONTINUE READINGU.S. Supreme Court Issues Decision in Monsanto case
The U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision today in Monsanto v. Geertson Seed Farms, a case involving Monsanto’s efforts to introduce Roundup Ready Alfalfa, a genetically modified crop engineered to tolerate the herbicide Roundup. The Court, on a 7-1 vote (Stevens dissenting, Bryer recused), held in favor of Monsanto but did so in a way …
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CONTINUE READINGMore on Today’s U.S. Supreme Court Property Rights Decision
As fellow Legal Plant contributor, Sean Hecht, reported earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the most important environmental law case on its current docket: Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection, No. 08-1151. The Court’s opinion can be found here. The issue in the Stop the Beach Renourishment case is …
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CONTINUE READINGSupreme Court issues decision in Florida beach sand takings case
UPDATE: Rick Frank has published some insighful analysis here of the decision discussed below, including discussion of the impacts of the changing Supreme Court composition on the development of doctrine in the so-called “judicial takings” area. The U.S. Supreme Court just issued its decision in Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection …
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CONTINUE READINGNewsHour Segment: Can Obama Require BP to Form an Escrow Fund?
Steve Yerrid, a Florida trial lawyers, and I discuss this with Ray Suarez on the NewsHour. Bottom line: the answer isn’t very clear, although OPA sec. 1005(a) does require BP to establish a process for “the payment or settlement of claims for interim, short-term damages” that might encompass an escrow and independent decision-makers. It will …
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CONTINUE READINGReflections on the BP disaster and today’s Bhopal criminal verdict
As Dan has pointed out, there has been discussion of possible criminal liability for BP for its conduct leading to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. David Uhlmann of the University of Michigan, a former federal environmental criminal prosecutor, has expressed optimism that a robust criminal prosecution of BP would appropriately punish BP, make it more likely …
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CONTINUE READINGDC Circuit upholds air pollution standards for lead
The Legal Planet team has been so busy fretting over the Gulf oil spill (not to mention getting our grading done) that we’ve skipped over some important environmental law developments. Here’s one. In May, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, upheld EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for lead against an …
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CONTINUE READINGComer craziness: Appellate nuisance victory overturned, despite lack of quorum (!)
Question: If an 3-judge panel on an appellate court unanimously reverses a D Ct opinion, and the full Circuit lacks a quorum to reconsider the substance of that appellate panel decision, what happens? If you answered “the appellate panel decision survives,” you’d be supported by a certain (which is to say, all) logic — but …
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