On April 17, 2012 the federal government announced its Plan For Responsible Resource Development, setting out further details on steps to implement proposals for streamlining the federal environmental assessment (“EA”) process. This Plan follows on the heels of the federal budget and the Statutory Review of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act,[1] which both suggested that these streamlining reforms would be forthcoming ...
In order to comply with a court-ordered schedule, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on April 17, signed final rules that subject additional oil and gas operations, including hydraulic fracturing, to air quality regulation under the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) programs, and impose new and amended requirements under both programs ...
On 29 March,the Ministerial Order No. 84/2012 that declared the Tribunal for Competition,Regulation and Supervision (“TCRS” or “Tribunal”) operational was finally published in the Official Journal. Said Ministerial Order constitutes the final phase of the legislative procedure initiated with Law No. 46/2011, of 24.6.2011, and further developed by Decree-Law No. 67/2012, of 20.3.2012 ...
International anti-corruption conventions to which international anti-corruption conventions is your country a signatory? Chile is a signatory to and has ratified the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, and the United Nations Convention against Corruption ...
In response to a court order, EPA has announced proposed rules that would establish new source performance standards (“NSPS”) applicable to greenhouse gas emissions from new, fossil fuel-fired power plants (“power plants”). The proposal is a highly controversial one, which will effectively prohibit the construction of coal-fired power plants that do not capture carbon ...
On March 26, 2012, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (“the Court”) vacated and remanded EPA’s disapproval of Texas’s request for approval of the minor source standard permit for pollution control projects (“PCP”) as part of its air quality state implementation plan (“SIP”). The Court’s reasoning may also affect other pending disputes between EPA and Texas regarding air quality permitting and other issues ...
On Wednesday, March 22, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a compliance order issued under EPA’s Clean Water Act enforcement authority to individuals for allegedly filling part of their property without the necessary “dredge and fill” permit could be challenged in federal district court. The ruling marks a major loss for EPA’s enforcement practices under the Clean Water Act ...
On March 13, 2012, the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development issued recommendations for improving the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) process (click on Print Format for the complete report). The recommendations focus on: improving timeliness; decreasing duplication with provincial processes; improving aboriginal consultation processes; and improving outcomes ...
On March 21, 2012, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in the much-publicized case of Sackett v. EPA (No. 10-1062), less than three months after oral argument, holding that the Sacketts were not precluded from judicially challenging EPA’s issuance of an administrative compliance order ...
The Government issued Law No. 2 of 2012 on Land Procurement for The Public Interest (“Law”) on 14 January 2012. The Law does not revoke Presidential Regulation No. 36 of 2005 (as amended). Accordingly, the former Presidential Regulation remains valid as long as they do not contradict the Law. The Law sets out clear procedures for acquiring plots of land for public purposes and therefore is intended to provide legal certainty and expedite the acquisition process ...
On February 24, 2012, two years after oral argument, the Texas Supreme Court issued its watershed decision in Edwards Aquifer Authority (the “Authority”) v. Day. The Court’s long-awaited decision included two significant pronouncements on groundwater that are likely to have ripple effects throughout the water community and could open the flood gates to a wave of litigation ...
Serbia - Delays in Issuance of Regulations Necessary for Implementation of the New Energy Law As we reported back in August 2011[1], the Serbian Parliament adopted the new Energy Law in July 2011 introducing very important changes in the area of renewable energy sources (RES) ...
On November 15, 2011, existing facilities subject to the federal Spill Pollution Control and Countermeasure Rule (“SPCC Rule”), 40 C.F.R. Part 112, were required to finalize and implement a plan—known as an “SPCC plan”—detailing the equipment, workforce, procedures and steps to be taken to prevent, control and provide adequate countermeasures to a discharge of oil to navigable waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines ...
Article 41 of the Queretaro Treasury Law for Municipalities regulates the procedure to calculate the real estate tax and providesan annual rate based on the following criteria: Under such Article, the municipalities will determine which of the two rates may apply each year, incorporating the relevant rateto their respective Revenue Law ...
2011 saw significant developments in the courts in relation to the issue of directors’ liability for the costs of remediation of waste sites, an issue which is particularly crucial where the company which disposed of the waste is not in a position to pay ...
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EPA recently made an announcement of interest to those in the oil field services sector as well as in the energy sector itself. On November 23, the agency announced that it was granting in part a petition by Earthjustice to initiate rulemaking under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), relating to chemical substances and mixtures used in oil and gas exploration or production ...
The Breach of a Promise to Purchase – Liability of the Third Party Purchaser - The sale of real estate assets usually starts with a preliminary contract, more specifically, a promise to purchase signed by the seller and the purchaser, which sets out most of the terms and conditions of the deed of sale to be entered into. However, it may happen that an owner will go back on his word and choose to sell to a third party whose offer for the assets is more favourable ...
The Joint Select Committee on Marcellus Shale (the “Committee”) reported a 121 page bill governing horizontal wells that utilize 210,000 gallons of water or more per month or that involve surface disturbance of 3 acres or more. The final version of the bill was posted to the West Virginia Legislature’s website on November 18, 2011 (the “Bill”) ...
November 8, 2011- The Minister of Finance and Economic Development delivered his Budget Speech on the 4th of November 2011. The Budget aims at providing for innovative measures to support key economic sectors (such as ICT/BPO, Tourism, Financial Sector...) and new markets (renewable energies...). The Budget also provides for a National Resilience Plan to support the economy in a global economic downturn ...
Under the Hungarian Civil Code, neighbours are required to refrain from any conduct that would needlessly disturb others, especially their neighbours, or jeopardize the exercise of their rights. Well-established judicial practice lies behind the above-cited provision of the Civil Code, the most important features of which we briefly summarize in the following ...
Many commercial property owners and occupiers whose businesses have been destroyed or impacted during this summer's riots are just beginning to come to terms with the true cost of the damage caused. A number of individuals whose homes have been affected also face the severity of the impact ...
President Obama recently sent to Congress proposed legislative language and analyses of his proposed deficit-reduction plan. Among the proposed legislative changes is a change to the formula used for calculating the cap on the amount that the federal government will reimburse federal contractors for executive compensation ...
The long anticipated America Invents Act (the “Act”) was signed into law today. However, given that certain provisions of the Act are now in effect while others do not come online until March 16, 2013, innovating companies and individuals should consider the impact and timing of those provisions on their overall patent strategy. Below is a link to some practice pointers and strategic tips you may want to consider when operating under the Act ...
