Signing the transatlantic free-trade agreement could increase Europe’s energy security. The trick is how to compete with American companies that are already using cheaper energy and don’t have to comply with the same restrictions on CO2 emissions. The 10th round of negotiations of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement, or TTIP as it is known, was held in Brussels in July 2015 ...
Quebec mining, oil and gas companies are heceforth subject to the imposing disclosure regime under theact respecting transparency measures in the mining, oil and gas industries(the "act"), which came into force last October 21. This statute echoes theExtractive Sector Transparency Measures Act(Canada),1which took effect on June 1, 2015, and follows a global trend to increase the transparency of mining, oil and gas exploration and development ...
CMS and OIG Finalize Waivers for ACOs in the Medicare Shared Savings Program Effective October 29, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) of the Department of Health & Human Services (“HHS” or “the Department”) finalized the waivers of certain fraud and abuse laws to specified arrangements involving accountable care organizations (“ACOs”) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (“MSSP”) ...
The Interior Board of Land Appeals (“IBLA”) has issued its long awaited decision on an appeal by an offshore service contractor challenging the authority of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (“BSEE”) to issue a citation directly to the service company for a violation of federal offshore regulations. As the first formal opinion issued by any appellate body on the issue, the IBLA decision has widespread implications for the offshore services industry ...
As is commonly held by energy sector experts, the game-changing development of the shales and the resurgence of natural gas as a virtually new, huge, versatile, long-term fuel, with a shrinking environmental footprint, is based upon the synergistic deployment of several key technologies ...
Under Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation No. 23 of 2015 dated 31 July 2015 on the Delegation of Authority to Issue Oil and Gas Business License in the Framework of One-Stop Integrated Services to the Head of BKPM (“Regulation 23/2015”), the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources has delegated its authority to issue oil and gas business licenses for capital investment to the Head of BKPM ...
The issue of decarbonisation of the economies of EU member states, and in particular Poland, generates a lot of heat. Decarbonising the economy was named as one of the EU’s five energy priorities in the Commission communication entitled “A Framework Strategy for a Resilient Energy Union with a Forward-Looking Climate Change Policy.” In European Union documents, decarbonisation means elimination of CO2 emissions because of their harmfulness to the environment ...
It is common knowledge that electricity is a main driver of the economy and a country’s electricity strategy will largely determine the long-term sustainability of an economy. The relationship between the Chinese economic miracle and the science behind the development of its electricity strategy is inseparable. Africa, as the centrepiece of development in the world, will require a practical strategy for electricity in order to guarantee the stable development of its economies ...
On September 25, 2015, the Texas Board of Pharmacy (“TBP”) issued proposed rules that will allow pharmacists to substitute interchangeable biological products for brand name drugs. Currently, Texas regulations only allow for the substitution of lower-priced, generically equivalent drugs instead of certain brand name drugs. In contrast, the proposed rules allow pharmacists to dispense interchangeable biological products ...
Under longstanding regulations governing its risk management program, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) may require an offshore oil and gas lessee or operator operating on the Outer Continental Shelf (“OCS”) to provide additional security, over and above standard security requirements, if BOEM determines that the security is necessary to ensure compliance with OCS lease obligations ...
In a short three-week period, the U.S. Department of Justice announced three large, multi-million dollar False Claims Act settlements involving Stark Law violations. Each of the three cases alleged that health systems compensated physicians in excess of fair market value, and in excess of collections for services personally performed by those physicians, in order to induce referrals ...
On August 18, 2015, the Tribunal administratif du Québec (TAQ) confirmed the decision of a health institution to not renew the status and privileges of one of its physicians after he refused to undergo refresher training to acquire skills that were necessary to perform his new duties.1 The physician in question, a hematology specialist, had been hired as a researcher several years ago ...
In a decision involving claims of underground trespass and tortious interference, the San Antonio Court of Appeals held that a surface owner could grant permission to a third-party to drill through the mineral estate underlying the surface and that the lessee “has no right to exclude others from the earth surrounding the oil and gas hydrocarbons” on the lease. Lightning Oil Co. v. Anadarko E&P Onshore LLC, No. 04-14-00903-CV, 2015 WL 4933439, --- S.W.3d --- (Tex ...
As reported in the July 2015 IOGA News, on June 24, 2015, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (“WVDEP”) filed a proposed legislative rule amending the Horizontal Well Development Rule, 35 C.S.R. 8 (the “Horizontal Well Rule”), which established a public comment deadline on July 27, 2015. Then on June 25, 2015, WVDEP filed three proposed legislative rules implementing the Aboveground Storage Tank Act, as amended, W. Va. Code § 22-30-1, et seq. (“AST Act”) ...
The FDA recently issued final guidance regarding the size, shape, and other physical characteristics of generic-manufactured tablet and capsule dosage forms. The guidance noted that differences in physical characteristics of a dosage form could affect patient compliance and acceptability of medication regimens, or could lead to medication errors. The main reason for the FDA’s guidance appears to be that many patients can experience difficulty swallowing tablets and capsules ...
Entrepreneurs are a special breed. The good ones have that special blend of vision, timing and risk tolerance most others lack. The really good ones find a way to use their special talents to make their communities a better place to live and work. Mike John is a really good entrepreneur. As we all know, the shale plays across the United States have been game changers ...
In a decision rendered on April 30, 20151, the Administrative Tribunal of Québec (the "ATQ") upheld a decision of the board of directors of a university hospital centre that refused to renew the status and privileges of a physician who failed to fulfill the obligations associated with the enjoyment of these privileges. Firstly, it should be noted that the applicant's clinical competence was not questioned in this case ...
On June 6th, 2015, Law No. 20,850, which creates the Financial Protection System for Diagnostics and Treatment of High Costs, and pays posthumous tribute to Luis Ricarte Soto Gallegos, has been published. This law creates a financial protection system for diagnostics and high cost treatments which will be defined by the Ministry of Health by means of a Supreme Decree ...
In keeping with trends in other jurisdictions, Canada has brought into force federal rules requiring businesses in the extractive sector to publish annual reports on payments of $100,000 or more made to governments in Canada and abroad. Payments to Aboriginal governments will be covered by these rules starting in 2017 ...
As part of the implementation of the Mexican Energy Reform, the Mexican government has selected certain fields that will gradually be tendered to foreign and domestic companies for hydrocarbon exploration and production projects. Round One includes 109 blocks for exploration and 60 blocks for production, and covers new areas of different sizes and types of resources, including (i)deepwater, (ii)shallow water, and (iii)onshore fields ...
Following the gradual selection of areas and fields that will be tendered for foreign and domestic companies (including Mexican government production companies), pursuant to the Mexican Energy Reform enacted last year, the National Hydrocarbons Commission (Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos, “CNH”) published a formal call for the third bid of Round 1, “CNH-R01-L03/2015” in the National Federal Gazette on May 12, 2015 ...
Serbia is a contracting party to the Energy Community Treaty (ECT), signed in October 2005 between the European Union (EU) and nine South Eastern European countries. Since then, Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia have ceased to be parties upon their accession to the EU and thus are no longer parties to the ECT, while Moldova and Ukraine have become parties to the agreement. One of the explicit aims of the ECT is to support the development of renewable energy ...
In a judgment handed down on January 30, 2015, the Court of Québec held that the failure to respect the prescribed time limits or the violation of a patient’s fundamental rights and freedoms does not lead to the automatic exclusion of a psychiatric examination report concluding that the patient should be confined ...
On April 10, 2015, the Texas Medical Board (“TMB”) voted in favor of adopting amendments to the rules governing telemedicine. The revised rules, which will significantly limit the ability to treat patients via telephone and video consultation, take effect June 3, 2015. TMB took its first steps to curb telemedicine in January 2015 by passing an emergency measure that prohibited prescribing drugs without an initial in-person visit ...
