Laws & Regulations

Deadlines for Plans To Reduce Regional Haze Finally Established

On Nov. 9, 2011, EPA signed a consent decree that requires the agency to receive from and approve a State Implementation Plan for DC, VI, and 43 states that don't have a fully approved one. Each state can determine how it wants to reduce haze. In some cases, the plan will rely on actions already taken, such as reductions in emissions from power plants or vehicles.

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Justice Dept. Ditches Its Proposal To Lie About Existence of FOIA Records

The regulatory proposal was part of a large package of revised FOIA regulations, which will go forward without it. The Justice Department did not rescind the 1987 Meese memo the proposal was based on; instead it identified ways in which agencies could be unresponsive and uninformative without actually lying.

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"Admiral To Oversee U.S. Offshore Drilling Safety"

"A Coast Guard admiral who led the government's response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster is taking over as the nation's chief overseer of offshore drilling safety, the Obama administration said Monday. Rear Adm. James Watson begins his post as director of the Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement on Dec. 1."

Source: Houston Chronicle, 11/15/2011

Does Government Regulation Really Kill Jobs? Economists Say Hardly

As Republican politicians pound the narrative theme that government regulations are killing jobs, employment data show that the GOP story simply isn't true. Economists who are used to this argument don't expect the facts to change many people's minds.

Source: Wash Post, 11/15/2011
November 17, 2011

Wind Energy, Wildlife, and Endangered Species

Co-sponsored by Patton Boggs LLP and the Environmental Law Institute, this seminar in Washington, DC will address the issues of wind power's adverse effects on birds and other wildlife, and related legal issues, from several points of view, including developers, environmental groups, and the federal government.

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Obama Administration Trying To Speed up Transmission Line Approvals

As part of its push to improve the nation's power system, the Obama administration is trying to expedite construction of 7 transmission lines, in various stages of planning and design, spanning 3,100 miles in 12 states.

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Controversial Pesticide Rule Might Protect Waterways

US EPA, under a court-ordered deadline of Oct. 31, 2011, is to release a final rule establishing a Pesticides General Permit process, which would establish ways to reduce certain pesticide applications on or near waterways for control of mosquitoes, other flying insects, weeds, algae, animals, and forest canopy pests.

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"Court to Rule If Abuses Abroad Can Lead to Suits"

"The Supreme Court said Monday it will consider a lawsuit against Royal Dutch Shell PLC to decide whether corporations can be sued in U.S. courts for allegedly aiding human-rights abuses overseas. The case examines whether corporations can be held liable under a 1789 law passed by the first U.S. Congress. The law, the Alien Tort Statute, allows foreign citizens to file U.S. lawsuits based on alleged violations of international law."

Source: Wall St. Journal, 10/18/2011

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