BLM finalized a rule to reduce the waste of natural gas from venting, flaring, and leaks during oil and gas production activities on federal and Indian leases and to ensure that, when federal or Indian gas is wasted, the public and Indian mineral owners are compensated for the wasted gas through royalty payments.
United States v. Abex Aerospace, No. 2:16-cv-02696 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 29, 2024). Under a third amendment to a proposed consent decree, additional settling CERCLA defendants must pay $20,500,000 toward cleanup of environmental contamination at the Omega Chemical Corporation Superfund Site in Los Angeles County, California.
United States v. Intercontinental Terminals Co., LLC., No. 4:24-cv-01207 (S.D. Tex. Apr. 2, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree, a settling CERCLA defendant must pay $6,645,000 to restore, replace, rehabilitate, or acquire the equivalent of those resources injured by the releases of hundreds of thousands of barrels of a mixture of petrochemical products and firefighting foam and water into the environment as a result of a fire that ignited at a terminal facility in Deer Park, Harris County, Texas.
United States v. Kyocera AVX Components Corp., No. 1:24-cv-305 (W.D.N.Y. Apr. 1, 2024). Under a proposed consent decree, a settling CERCLA defendant must perform remedial action at the Olean Wellfield Superfund Site in the City of Olean, the Town of Olean, and the Town of Portville, New York, and reimburse EPA for its past and future costs regarding the remedial action.
Concerned by methane’s potent climate-altering emissions, a growing number of states and municipalities have embraced the phaseout of natural gas as a tool to mitigate climate change. But in April 2023, the California Restaurant Association successfully petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to overturn the city of Berkeley’s ban on natural gas infrastructure in new buildings. The three-judge panel found the ban preempted by the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act, and in January 2024, the Ninth Circuit denied Berkeley’s petition for rehearing.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that it will follow the First Responder Network Authority’s NEPA procedures on an interim basis with modifications to account for NTIA's internal organization and establish 30 new categorical exclusions in compliance with NEPA, CEQ regulations, and other related authorities.