by Christopher W. Payne On February 25, 2016, the United States Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) published proposed amendments to its land use planning rules as a part of its “Planning 2.0” initiative that was launched in May 2015. The purpose of the Planning 2.0 initiative is to modernize the BLM’s planning process and increase public […]
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by Megan H. Tracy The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) obtained a judgment against William Arnett for $1.3 million for underground storage tank (UST) law violations that stem back to the late 1980s. A Maricopa County Superior Court held that Arnett, the owner of property in Tucson that contained a UST, was liable to […]
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by Jason Gellman Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Survey showed that $271 billion is needed for the Nation’s Wastewater Infrastructure, including for investor-owned utilities regulated by state public utility commissions.[1] The U.S. EPA is currently conducting a survey for water infrastructure[2] – but water service professionals have been sounding the alarm for years about an […]
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by Sean M. Sherlock The World Logistics Center is a massive project – 41 million square feet of logistics facilities located on 2,300 acres in Moreno Valley, California. The project has undergone environmental review for years, culminating in an Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”) that was approved by the Moreno Valley City Council on August 19, […]
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By Denise A. Dragoo On January 15, 2016, Interior Secretary Jewell halted federal coal leasing on public lands. Western coal companies are attempting to sort out the implications of the moratorium and exemptions set out in Secretarial Order 3338. The Order places a “pause” on leasing for an indefinite period while the Secretary undertakes a […]
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by Michael Patten and Jason Gellman The Arizona Corporation Commission recently reviewed a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility (CEC) issued by the Arizona Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee for the SunZia transmission line project (SunZia). ACC Docket No. L-00000YY-15031800171. SunZia includes the construction of two new 500 kilovolt interstate transmission lines (and related facilities) […]
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by Patrick J. Paul On January 14th, the State of New Mexico provided the legally required notice under the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to sue the United States Environment Protection Agency (EPA), the State of Colorado, and others for violating 42 U. S. C. § 6972(a)(1)(B) alleging that it had created an […]
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by Patrick J. Paul Although likely to survive a presidential veto of a joint resolution seeking to nullify the June 29, 2015 rule submitted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers amending the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act, this rule is starting […]
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by Mitch Klein The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were recently amended. Amongst the changes, perhaps the most significant are the changes to discovery under Rule 26. Previously, parties were entitled to conduct discovery regarding anything that might be “reasonably calculated” to lead to relevant and admissible evidence. In practice, this led to some parties […]
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by Mark D. Johnson Under CERCLA activities to clean up hazardous substances are characterized as either “removal actions” or “remedial actions.” Generally, removal actions are interim actions to clean up or remove hazardous materials. 42 U.S.C. § 9601(23). Remedial actions are efforts to permanently remedy the presence of hazardous materials. Id. § 9601(23). A claim […]
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