On May 12th, EPA issued two rules that will significantly impact the oil and gas industry nationally. The first rule, an outgrowth of the President’s Climate Action Plan, establishes new source performance standards (“NSPS”) to curb emissions of methane, as well as volatile organic compounds (“VOCs”), from new natural gas and oil well sites and from new natural gas production gathering and boosting stations, processing plants, and transmission compressor stations ...
The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 (the Act) was signed into law on 10 December 2015. The Act comprises of a framework designed to achieve a low carbon, climate resilient, and environmentally sustainable economy by 2050. The Act provides for two statutory plans which will guide policy in relation to greenhouse gas emission reduction and climate change adaption. The plans are: 1) National Mitigation Plan; and 2) National Adaption Framework (NAF) ...
The May 2016 issue of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) included an international briefing article entitled “PPPs and the election ban.” The article was contributed by SyCipLaw partner Aaron Roi B. Riturban.Read the article online at the IFLR website ...
In the late 1980s, stories of garbage hauled in the same trucks regularly used to transport fruits and vegetables caused public outrage. Outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, including a salmonellosis outbreak that affected 224,000 consumers, have been attributed to contamination of transportation vehicles. Recently, a major U.S. foodservice distributor was penalized after its practice of storing seafood, milk and raw meat in unrefrigerated sheds was uncovered ...
Responding to a Supreme Court mandate, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA” or “the Agency”) yesterday published a final supplemental finding that it is necessary and appropriate to regulate hazardous air pollutants emitted from coal- and oil-fired power plants under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act. 81 Fed. Reg. 24,420.Read the full alert ...
Entities that file disclosures with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) should be aware of recent actions by regulators and shareholders questioning the sufficiency of opinion statements made in environmental-related disclosures. Most recently, on March 31, 2016, the SEC announced a settlement with Navistar International Corp ...
Macedonia, a country of great natural beauty – and perhaps most famous for its lakes – is reported to be working hard towards further enhancing and widening its tourist offer. The latest activity on behalf of the government in this regard has been a EUR 15 million investment in the road and utility infrastructure related to Lake Prespa ...
It has been reported recently that EPS Distribucija has successfully obtained a building permit from the Ministry of Construction Transportation and Infrastructure for the EUR 1.13 billion project of constructing a new electrical substation – along with accompanying office space – near Autokomanda in Belgrade ...
The use of a nominee corporationThe Act Respecting Duties on Transfers of Immovables (the ?Act?) imposes transfer duties (also known as the ?welcome tax?) on the transfer of immovables in Quebec.Since transfer duties are only payable from the time the transfer is registered in the land register (section 6 of the Act), some property structures make it possible, in practice, to avoid paying them ...
Even though the arrival of the German company "Lidl" in Serbia has been in the media since 2012, the construction of its first store in Smederevo was completed only in late 2015. However, further construction has recently begun on an additional four locations, namely, Belgrade, Bor, Zrenjanin, and Šabac ...
As the summer season draws closer, a stream of news continues to come our way from the Adriatic coast of our region. Montenegro is the source of updates this time around, as there have been reports about the Stratex Group taking full control over Budvanska Rivijera Hotel Group – a company in which they already hold a 30% ownership stake. The deal would include all of Budvanska Rivijera's assets excluding the St ...
Last January 14, the Communications and Transportation Ministry published the prequalification rules pertaining the international open tender number PO-009000988-N1-2015 awarding the construction of a high speed train project that will run in the route Mexico, D.F. - Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro, including the definitive executive program, construction, supply, set up and extended testing of a railway track, rolling stock, equipment, systems and other components ...
1. Introduction On 21st January 2016, the Italian Cabinet gave the green light for the “Reorganization, rationalization and simplification of Port Authorities” decree (the “Ports Decree”), which reviews a system which has been in place for over 20 years. The Ports Decree is part of the re-launch of ports and logistics in Italy promoted by the Ministry for Infrastructure and Transport (“MIT”) ...
After a number of previously made announcements regarding the starting date of construction for the first IKEA store in Serbia, a seemingly final one was made last week by the Ikea's Director of Regional Development, Vladislav Lalić, as he stated that the construction is set to begin this month at the Bubanj Potok location, just outside Belgrade. The completion of this project would then be expected in 2017, with the store set to open in late spring/beginning of summer ...
The High Court has delivered judgment in the case of Minch v The Commissioner of Environmental Information (CEI) (16 February 2016) concerning the scope of access to environmental information ...
Over the past two years, various media outlets have been reporting on increased investor interest for the Serbian real estate market, with a particular focus on Belgrade. Goran Vesić, the city manager, recently substantiated these reports by claiming that Belgrade's Public Land Development Agency made a total of 772 business deals with investors over the course of last year alone ...
Termination of electricity supply due to non-payment of an electricity account A landlord may not, without a court order, terminate the supply of electricity to premises leased to a tenant who is in arrears with monthly electricity payments. This is according to the recent High Court judgment in the matter of Anva Properties CC vs End Street Enterprises CC (22109/2014, 14 April 2015) ...
The confusing definition of “instalment sale agreements” in the Act In terms of the National Credit Act (“the Act”), an instalment agreement is defined as a sale of movable property. From the definition, it would seem that instalment sale agreements over immovable property are excluded from the Act; however, this is not the case ...
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the United States Department of the Treasury issued a “Geographic Targeting Order” on January 13, 2016, aimed at curbing money laundering in the real estate sector. The targeting order is an expression of the Treasury’s power under 31 U.S.C. § 5326 of the Bank Secrecy Act and will affect all-cash purchases of real estate valued at $3 million or more in Manhattan and $1 million or more in Miami-Dade County ...
In February 2015, the report on the public enquiry of the fire commissioner concerning the fire that occurred on January 23, 2014, at the Résidence du Havre at L’Isle-Verte, which resulted in the death of thirty-two residents, was tabled1 ...
Under Minister of Transportation of the Republic of Indonesia Regulation No. PM 3 of 2015 dated 7 January 2015 on the Implementation of One-Stop Integrated Services in the field of Transportation at the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) (“Regulation 3/2015”), the Minister of Transportation has now delegated its authority to issue transportation business licenses for capital investment to the Head of BKPM. The Business Licenses which have been delegated are: 1 ...
WWII deeply modified the Canadian economy1. The concentration of resources toward the war effort brought about, among other things, a shortage of rental premises2. Hence, the law governing leases was adapted3. and the existing liberal vision of free negotiation of contracts and consent made way for a stricter one ...
The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) is embarking on a compliance initiative to ensure that sources that handle hazardous waste are complying with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) requirements, particularly that sources are operating within their correct generator status, disclosing certain hazardous waste activities, and submitting required reports ...
Although the Czech real estate market has recently witnessed several significant deals (see Attractive Real Estate Business in the Czech Republic), there is definitely still great potential in the Czech Republic for future investors. Correspondingly, according to the latest figures, it seems that even a forecast of a 6% price increase will be surpassed in 2015 ...
After eight years of operation, the International Registry established pursuant to the Cape Town Convention and the Aircraft Protocol (in force in Quebec since April 1, 2013) has undergone a significant update. The Registry’s website has undergone a complete overhaul in two phases, the first of which was launched in September 2013 ...
