A district court held that individual ingredients of hydraulic fracturing formulas are trade secrets and do not need to be publicly disclosed. The Wyoming Public Records Act does not define trade secrets, but the Wyoming oil and gas commission's policy for evaluating trade secrets is reasonable and ...
The Second Circuit held that an environmental group has standing to bring an action to compel FDA to finalize its regulation of triclosan, but not triclocarban, both of which are used in over-the-counter antiseptic antimicrobial soap. As to triclosan, standing may be based on exposure to a potential...
The Fifth Circuit held that Transocean's primary and excess-liability insurers must cover BP's pollution-related liabilities deriving from April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Under Texas law, the umbrella insurance policy—not the indemnity provisions of Transocean's and BP's contract—con...
The Fourth Circuit vacated a biological opinion the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) prepared as part of EPA's reregistration process for three pesticides—chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and malathion. The biological opinion concluded that the pesticides would jeopardize the viability of certain P...
The Fifth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court decision dismissing an environmental group's CWA, CERCLA, and EPCRA claims against BP and Transocean Ltd. following the Deepwater Horizon disaster. BP leased the mobile offshore drilling unit known as Deepwater Horizon from Transo...
A California appellate court affirmed a lower court decision prohibiting the inclusion of styrene and vinyl acetate as possible carcinogens on the state's Proposition 65 list. The Proposition 65 list is limited to chemicals for which it has been determined, either by the Office of Environmental Heal...
A Wisconsin appellate court reversed in part a lower court judgment declaring that an excess umbrella policy issued to an electronics company provided coverage for the company's liability for PCB contamination of the Lower Fox River in Wisconsin. The lower court correctly chose to apply Wisconsin, r...
A district court held that the FDA violated the APA and the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) when it denied two petitions requesting that it withdraw approval of some uses of certain classes of antibiotics in food-producing animals. The petitions, submitted by environmental groups in 1999 and...
A district court held that the FDA must reconsider its approval of certain antibiotics used in animal feed unless, after a hearing, the drug uses at issue are determined to be safe. In 1977, the FDA issued notices of an opportunity for hearing (NOOHs) on proposals to withdraw penicillin and tetr...