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Inflation Reduction Act
Climate Change: A Policy Driver in Agency Decision Making
Transition to the new Administration brings significant change to the policy and regulatory landscape for environmental attorneys. Bracewell’s Environmental Strategies Group is here to keep you informed. Throughout the month of March, we will host a weekly series of 30-minute...
New SEC Task Force Confirms Commitment to ESG Focus
A series of recent announcements by the SEC underscores the agency’s commitment—and allocation of resources—to its heightened focus on environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) issues. Significantly, on March 4, 2021, the SEC announced the creation of a Climate and ESG...
Texas Governor Lifts Mask Mandate, but Employers Must Still Comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Act
Yesterday, March 2, 2021, the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, issued an order lifting his previously-imposed face covering mandate effective March 10. The order also removes certain other COVID-19 mitigation requirements previously implemented by the Governor. Under his order, the...
The Biden Executive Orders: Implementation at the Agencies
Transition to the new Administration brings significant change to the policy and regulatory landscape for environmental attorneys. Bracewell’s Environmental Strategies Group is here to keep you informed. Throughout the month of March, we will host a weekly series of 30-minute...
Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Sequestration Webinar
The KBH Energy Center hosts a virtual program that will explore the role that carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS) will play in the energy transition by discussing topics within the CCUS umbrella, including economic drivers and Section 45Q tax...
Florida Water System Hack Highlights Challenges for Public Utility Cybersecurity
Earlier this month, fears usually confined to dystopian novels and Hollywood movies were realized in Oldsmar, Florida when an unknown hacker breached the city’s water treatment system by successfully accessing its control systems and increasing sodium hydroxide to deadly levels...
Power Struggles: Maximizing Insurance Recoveries from Winter Storms
Record-breaking winter weather in Texas has had devastating impacts across the state, and challenges still remain. Millions of homes and businesses were without power, water, internet and other services, leaving employees unable to work and businesses unable to operate. Access...
Regulators to Review Market Design and Reliability Following 2021 Polar Vortex
Background Over Presidents’ Day weekend 2021, an unprecedented cold weather event hit the Midwest and South central United States. The storm led to major disruptions to infrastructure throughout the region, including icy road conditions, frozen pipes, and an estimated 3...
Notice of EPA Approved Texas NPDES Oil and Gas Program Authorization Published in Federal Register on February 12, 2021
On Friday, February 12, 2021, Region 6 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published notice in the Federal Register at 85 FedReg 9332 (February 12, 2021) of its January 15, 2021, approval the State of Texas’ October 12, 2020...
Materiality in Review — Probability, Magnitude and The Reasonable Investor
1. INTRODUCTION The crystal ball is an essential tool for compliance, and assessing compliance in hindsight, with the U.S. Federal securities laws, with particular reference to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”), and the Securities Exchange...
Europe’s Pivotal Role in the Global LNG Market
The European LNG landscape Europe’s role in the global LNG market Historically, Asia has been the world’s dominant buyer of LNG, particularly under long-term LNG sale and purchase agreements (SPAs). In recent years, however, as the LNG sector has evolved...
COVID, Climate Change and ESG – The Future of Disclosures, SEC Enforcement, and Securities Litigation
There can be no doubt 2021 is already shaping up to be a watershed year, including on the SEC enforcement and securities litigation fronts. Pressure from all directions has been coalescing to drive change in the way companies report information...
Things Looking Up for Renewable Resources at Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
At the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”), President Joseph Biden selected Richard Glick, one of two Democratic commissioners on the five person commission, as Chairman. The Chair sets FERC’s agenda, so even without a tie-breaker vote or a...
ESG Diligence in Loan Markets
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations are continuing to come under increased scrutiny in the loan markets. Topics such as climate change, composition of corporate boards and treatment of employees by corporations are at the forefront of individual and corporate...
Broad Federal Support for Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage May Lead to Greater Investment
Federal support for carbon capture, utilization and storage (“CCUS”) demonstrated over the last two months has generated even greater enthusiasm for carbon capture projects in the United States. First, in the final weeks of the Trump administration, there were positive...