Dakota Access Pipeline
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of June 28, 2021
Biofuels: U.S. Supreme Court Allows Non-Continuous Small Refinery Renewable Fuels Standard Blending Obligation Waiver Extensions ⚡
On June 25, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an opinion holding that a small refinery that previously received a waiver from Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) blending obligations may still receive an “extension” of the waiver even if it did not acquire a continuous waiver in previous years and allowed a previous exemption to lapse. HollyFrontier Cheyenne Refining, LLC, et al., v. Renewable Fuels Association, et al., No. 20-472. The court found that the term “extension,” which is undefined in […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of May 24, 2021
GHG Emissions: Supreme Court Remands Baltimore Climate Change Suit Back to Court of Appeals ⚡
On May 17, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion remanding back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit a Maryland climate change suit brought by the Mayor and City of Baltimore against multiple oil companies, including BP, Chevron, CITGO, ConocoPhillips, Marathon Petroleum, and Shell Oil. BP P.L.C., et al., Petitioners v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, No. 19-1189. The oil companies had petitioned for a writ of certiorari after unsuccessfully attempting to remove the case from Maryland state […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of May 17, 2021
Air Quality: EPA Rescinds Clean Air Act Benefit-Cost Rule ⚡
On May 14, 2021 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted in the Federal Register an interim final rule titled, “Rescinding the Rule on Increasing Consistency and Transparency in Considering Benefits and Costs in the Clean Air Act Rulemaking Process” (86 FR 26406). The recission retracts the December 2020 rule promulgated by the previous administration (85 FR 84130). The December 2020 rule required the agency to include in the preamble of all proposed “significant” Clean Air Act regulations the results of a benefit-cost analysis demonstrating “a clear causal or […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of May 10, 2021
Pipelines: North Carolina DEQ Reissues Clean Water Act Certification Denial for Mountain Valley Pipeline’s Southgate Project ⚡
On April 29, 2021, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Division of Water Resources announced its second denial of 401 Water Quality Certification and Jordan Lake Buffer Authorization for the Southgate Extension of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). DEQ’s reissuance of denial follows the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit’s March 2021 vacatur and remand of the agency’s August 2020 denial, which instructed DEQ to “explain why the Department chose denial over conditional certification.” […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of February 1, 2021
Pipelines: Court of Appeals Affirms Lower Court’s Decision to Vacate Easement for Dakota Access Pipeline
On January 26, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling vacating the subsurface easement used by Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) to traverse beneath Lake Oahe. (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 20-1597). Previously, on July 6, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia vacated the DAPL easement and ordered that the Dakota Access Pipeline be emptied and shut down within 30 days. (District Court Case No. […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – February 25, 2020
Water Quality: Study Examines Hydraulic Fracturing and Pennsylvania Watersheds
On February 3, 2020, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published a study that focused on shale gas development in 25 watersheds over a two-year period. The Pennsylvania State Forests (PASF) area was chosen for the study because the area has “few other potential anthropogenic stressors” on streams while containing a “gradient of shale gas development under a consistent regulatory structure.” The researchers found no chemical or microbial impact or connection between hydraulic fracturing and the watersheds. The study, however, did identify a possible relationship between sediment caused by […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – November 19, 2019
State Regulation: Pennsylvania Governor Signs Bill Allowing Horizontal Cross Unit Drilling
On November 7, 2019, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed a new law which amends the Oil and Gas Lease Act and authorizes operators to drill horizontally across multiple units. This law would apply only where the operator has a lease with the landowner of each tract, and the operator is required to allocate production among the various landowners. The new law does not allow drilling where the lease terms specifically prohibit cross unit drilling. This law will be codified as section 2.2 of the Oil and Gas Lease Act. Previously, in […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – October 7, 2019
GHG Emissions: Pennsylvania Joins Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
On October 3, 2019, Governor Tom Wolf signed Executive Order Commonwealth Leadership in Addressing Climate Change through Electric Sector Emissions Reductions. The order directs the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and create a similar carbon dioxide budget. RGGI reduces greenhouse gas emissions with a cap-and-trade program for electric power plants. Each of the 9 states in the initiative sets a cap on total allowable emissions, and power plants in these states must purchase credits […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – July 29, 2019
Production and Operation: Pennsylvania Court Upholds Most, But Not All, Unconventional Well Regulations
On July 22, 2019, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court upheld most of Pennsylvania’s unconventional well regulations while also ruling that one regulation was void and unenforceable (Marcellus Shale Coal. v. Dep’t of Envtl. Prot. of Pennsylvania, No. 573 M.D. 2016, 86-88). The unconventional well regulations found in Title 25, Chapter 78a of the Pennsylvania Code were promulgated in October 2016. The Marcellus Shale Coalition (Coalition) then filed suit against Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection and Environmental Quality Board requesting that the regulations be found invalid. Ultimately, the […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – July 15, 2019
Infrastructure: Environmental Group files Lawsuit Against Washington State for Issuing Permit for LNG Facility
On July 9, 2019, the Advocates for a Cleaner Tacoma (ACT) filed a Petition for Judicial Review of Agency Action against the Washington State Department of Ecology for issuing a permit for a liquified natural gas (LNG) facility (Advocates for a Cleaner Tacoma v. Washington State Dep’t of Ecology). According to the Petition, the Department issued Administrative Order 13764, granting water quality certification for Puget Sound Energy, Inc.’s proposed LNG facility. ACT contends that the Department violated the State Environmental Policies Act by issuing […]
