EPA Administrator Pruitt recently issued another policy to help streamline the New Source Review (NSR) Program. After receiving comments from many industry sources that the NSR Program should be reformed given its heavy time and cost burden, the Trump EPA has made reforming the NSR Program a priority ...
On April 12, 2018, President Trump issued a memorandum to Administrator Pruitt to promote domestic manufacturing and job creation through policies intended to streamline implementation of national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) ...
Earlier this year, revisions to the requirements for new and existing indirect heat exchangers contained in 401 KAR 59:015 and 401 KAR 61:015 became effective. Indirect heat exchangers with a heat input capacity greater than one million Btu/hour (MMBtu/hour) are subject to either 401 KAR 59:015 (new sources) or 401 KAR 61:015 (existing sources). The classification as new or existing depends upon when the indirect heat exchanger was installed ...
Earlier this year, Mexico´s Senate approved the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (“CPTPP”) formerly known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership ("TPP"). The CPTPP will enter into force once six of its members ratify the Treaty pursuant to their internal legal procedures. Mexico is the first member to ratify the Treaty ...
The manufacturer of a product generally has a duty to warn the end-consumer of any serious risks associated with that product. In the context of prescription drugs and medical devices, however, the “learned intermediary” doctrine holds that the manufacturer need not warn the end-consumer (i.e., patient). Instead, the manufacturer discharges its obligations by warning the prescribing physician ...
An increased number of corporate transactions and mergers have been observed in the oil and gas sector on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) in recent years. Several oil majors and traditional utilities and downstream companies have reduced their presence and, to some extent, been replaced by smaller companies, including start-ups backed by private equity ...
When a half-mile from the nearest body of water, must you obtain a federal permit when discharging treated wastewater to groundwater? According to a recent Ninth Circuit decision, the answer may be yes.[1] This alarmed many because the Clean Water Act regulates discharges to navigable waters from "point sources" like pipes or ditches ...
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has published the Creative Industries Sector Deal aimed at making the UK the best place in the world for businesses in the creative industries. This is the latest sector deal to flow from the government's Industrial Strategy White Paper after sector deals for life sciences and the automotive industry were announced in late 2017/early 2018, respectively ...
H.B. 4270 Passed - March 10, 2018 Signed by Governor - March 27, 2018 Effective - June 8, 2018 The Information Reporting and Payments to Owners bill (H.B. 4270) is a companion bill to the Cotenancy Modernization bill ...
Population growth has become the be-all and end-all for economic prosperity, but how on Earth can we cope with the extra billions of people? While “leafing” – or should I instead say “scrolling” in today’s need to sound tech savvy – through the news websites, the two subjects seemed to have captured the media’s attention: immigration and plastic ...
On March 15, 2018, the National Center for Energy Control (“CENACE”) announced the fourth long-term auction for the purchase and sale of power, capacity, and clean energy certificates. The term of the contracts for power and capacity will be 15 years while the term for clean energy certificate contracts will be 20 years. The standard commercial operation date of the power generation projects awarded under the auction is scheduled for January 1, 2021 ...
This article provides a brief review of MSHA enforcement data and a look at MSHA’s regulatory agenda. MSHA Enforcement Data (data from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017) MSHA issued 104,412 enforcement actions to mine operators in 2017, an increase of approximately 11,793 or 11.3 percent from 2016. Of these, 58,083 (or 55.63 percent) were issued to metal/nonmetal operators while 46,329 (or 44.37 percent) were issued to coal operators ...
On February 12, 2018 the Mexican Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (“SCT”) published the draft of Mexican Environmental Standard PROY-NOM-036-SCT3-2017 in the Official Daily Gazette, which sets forth the maximum allowable limits of noise generated by aircraft. Within the next 60 calendar days, any interested party may provide comments to the National Consultation Committee of Air Transportation Standardization ...
On February 22, 2018, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) sent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a notice of intent to sue letter for failure to approve Kentucky’s air quality plan for limiting fine particulate (PM2.5) emissions in the Louisville, Kentucky area. Kentucky’s Energy and Environment Cabinet submitted a revision to the Jefferson County portion of the Kentucky State Implementation Plan (SIP) to EPA December 21, 2016 ...
On February 13, 2018, Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission (“CFE”) announced the bidding process for its Ixtepec Potencia – Yautepec Potencia Transmission Line in Oaxaca (“Project”). The transmission lines will cross the following states: State of Mexico, Morelos, Puebla, Oaxaca, Mexico City and Veracruz. The estimated investment is US$1.7 billion and it will have a transmission capacity of 3,000 MW at a voltage level of 500 kV ...
Earlier this year, and five years after being presented before the National Congress, Law 21,064 that “Introduces modifications to the regulatory framework that rules water on inspection and sanctions matters”, was enacted and published in the Official Gazette (Bulletin 8149-09) (the Law). The main modifications introduced by the Law to the current regulatory framework are the following: 1 ...
On February 9, 2018, the Ministry of Energy (“SENER”) published in the Official Federal Gazette the “Guidelines for Interconnection of Power Plants and Connection of Load Centers” (Manual para la Interconexión de Centrales Eléctricas y Conexión de Centros de Carga) ...
Strong contracting processes and communications which establishes clearly the expectations of each of the parties reduces disputes and costs and strengthens relationships. The key to strong contracting processes is to approach contracts in a holistic manner making sure all documents interconnect in a logical uniform manner. Because manufacturing processes can be complex, this is often not as easy as it sounds ...
On January 31, 2017, the First Appellate District Court in the case Santa Barbara Channelkeeper v. City of San Buenaventura found that an allegation of excessive water diversion to protect endangered fish species under the rule of reasonableness and the public trust doctrine, could not be resolved without consideration of all competing water users in the system ...
On January 31, 2018 the National Hydrocarbons Commission (“CNH”) conducted the long-awaited event for submission and opening of bids for the Deep Water “Round 2.4” E&P license contracts. The bid round comprised 29 offshore deep waters blocks and the overall result was very successful for Mexico ...
In a major departure from over 20 years of practice, the EPA announced on January 25 that it is withdrawing the “once in, always in” (OIAI) interpretation of the hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) program. The OIAI required sources of HAPs to permanently comply with Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards applicable to major sources of HAPs, even when those sources’ emissions are below major source levels ...
The National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) published the call for the second bid of Round 3 on January 25, 2018. This new bid round (Round 3 ...
