Air Quality
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of June 17, 2024
Methane Emissions: Arkansas and Louisiana Receive $30 Million to Plug and Reclaim Legacy Oil and Gas Wells ⚡
On May 30, 2024, the United States Department of the Interior issued a press announcing Arkansas and Louisiana would receive a combined $30.59 million to be used to plug and reclaim orphaned oil and gas wells. The funds come from the $660 set aside by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Louisiana is receiving most of the funds, $25 million, while Arkansas receives the remaining $5.59 million. With the funds, the states will measure methane emissions from orphaned oil and gas […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of June 10, 2024
Landscape Issues: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Allocates $5.6 Million for Environmental Restoration Projects on Abandoned Mine Lands ⚡
On May 13, 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced it allocated over $5.6 million in grants from funds received through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for eight environmental restoration projects on abandoned mine lands. These funds are being allocated through the Abandoned Mine Lands and Acid Mine Drainage Grant Program. Significant allocations include $2.7 million to the Allegheny Land Trust for restoration of the Chalfant Run watershed in Allegheny County and $1.9 million to the […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of June 03, 2024
LNG Infrastructure: FERC Approves Pre-Filing Environmental Review Process for Gulfstream LNG’s Louisiana Project ⚡
On May 16, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Gulfstream LNG Development, LLC’s (Gulfstream) request for the use of FERC’s pre-filing environmental review process. The new Gulfstream LNG Terminal Project will be in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana (docket number PF24-5). The planned construction includes: “a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility with gas processing facilities; three LNG trains; one LNG storage tank; two marine loading births; and one on-site power generation plant.” Gulfstream states that the project will export 4 million […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of May 20, 2024
National Energy Policy: DOE Announces Actions to Advance American Artificial Intelligence ⚡
On April 29, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy announced several actions intended to advance the use and safety of artificial intelligence across a variety of fields including modernizing the electrical grid, clean energy, national security, climate forecasting, environmental modeling, and emergency response. DOE also published a report titled “AI For Energy: Opportunities for Modern Grid and Clean Energy Economy,” which specifically discusses “AI’s near-term potential to support the growth of America’s clean energy economy and Advanced Research Directions in AI For Energy, a report developed […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 15, 2024
Ag-Gag Statutes: Kentucky Legislature Passes ‘Agricultural Key Infrastructure Asset Trespass Law,’ Overrides Governor Veto 🌾
On April 12, 2024, the Kentucky legislature overrode the governor’s veto to pass into law Senate Bill 16, titled “An Act Relating to Agricultural Key Infrastructure Assets” (with votes totaling 32-6 in the House and 71-26 in the Senate). The law adds three types of facilities to the definition of “key infrastructure assets”—(1) “a commercial food manufacturing or processing facility,” (2) “an animal feeding operation,” and (3) “a concentrated animal feeding operation”—and establishes that a person “commits the offense of trespass upon key infrastructure […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—April 1, 2024
Air Quality: SEC Publishes ‘Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors’ Final Rule 🌾
On March 28, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published in the Federal Register a final rule (89 FR 21668) that will require U.S.-listed public companies “to provide certain climate-related information in their registration statements and annual reports.” Also announced by SEC, the rule will require companies to provide “information about a registrant’s climate-related risks that have materially impacted, or are reasonably likely to have a material impact on, its business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition.” According to the rule, “an agricultural producer or […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of February 19, 2024
Air Quality: EPA Bolsters Soot Pollution Standards Following Air Quality Concerns ⚡
On Tuesday, February 7, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule with new Particulate Matter (PM) standards that were decided on after reconsidering the 2020 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). As stated in the document, the EPA has revised the NAAQS by decreasing the standard for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), otherwise known as soot, from 12 micrograms per cubic meter to 9 micrograms per cubic meter. The EPA explains that this newly lowered standard was agreed upon after reviewing extensive scientific research on the […]
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—January 18, 2024
Ag-Gag Statutes: Eighth Circuit Reverses Injunctions for Two Iowa ‘Ag-Gag’ Laws 🌾
On January 8, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued two opinions in separate cases reversing injunctions against two so-called Iowa “ag-gag” laws for First Amendment violations and remanding each case. Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Reynolds, No. 22-1830 (4:19-cv-00124, S.D. Iowa, filed Apr. 19, 2019) and Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Reynolds, No. 22-3464 (4:21-cv-00231, S.D. Iowa, filed Aug. 10, 2021). In the first opinion (22-1830), the plaintiffs had challenged Iowa’s “Agricultural Production Facility Trespass” law (Iowa Code § 717A.3B), […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of December 25, 2023
State Regulation: Massachusetts Orders Gas Companies to Consider Non-gas Pipeline Alternatives ⚡
On December 6, 2023, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) issued Order 20-80 which, according to the DPU, will guide local gas distribution companies (LDCs) in the Commonwealth’s efforts to reach net zero GHG emissions by 2050. The Order emphasizes the use of “non-gas pipeline alternatives” such as “electrification, thermal networked systems, targeted energy efficiency and demand response, and behavior change and market transformation” by LCDs. Further, the Order requires LCDs seeking cost recovery for the promotion of natural gas to prove that non-gas pipeline alternatives “were […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of December 4, 2023
Pipelines: FERC Authorizes Construction of the Southeast Energy Connector Project ⚡
On November 16, 2023, FERC issued an order authorizing the construction and operation of the Southeast Energy Connector Project (SECP). Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC, 185 FERC ¶ 61133, Docket No. CP22-501-000 (2023). The order authorizes the construction and operation of Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC (Transco)’s pipeline and associated compression facilities in Chilton and Coosa Counties, Alabama. Transco is a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams Gas Pipeline Company, LLC. According to the order by FERC, the SECP is designed to supply energy to Mississippi and […]
