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Inflation Reduction Act
NLRB Revises Test for Evaluating Workplace Policies
On August 2, 2023, in Stericycle, Inc. (Stericycle), the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) revised the test for determining whether an employer’s workplace policies comply with the National Labor Relations Act (the NLRA). Stericycle reverses the Board’s 2017 decision...
The Multi-Sector Fuel Dilemma
Confusion persists among industry stakeholders regarding the correct structuring approach to renewables. The truth is that renewables traverse sectors and is not a sector itself. Electrical power generated through sustainable means is a service, much like fossil fuel powered power...
FERC Finalizes Interconnection Queue Reforms
On July 28, 2023, following up on its June 2022 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“Generator Interconnection Reform NOPR”), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) issued its long-awaited rulemaking order, Order No. 2023, requiring reforms to FERC’s pro forma...
What Once Was Old Is New Again: DOJ and FTC Issue Draft New Merger Guidelines
On July 19, 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a draft version of new Merger Guidelines (Merger Guidelines), which would replace the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines and the 2020 Vertical Merger Guidelines (the...
Voluntary Carbon Credits – A Free Market Solution
OVERVIEW In February of this year, the International Emissions Trading Association (“ IETA ”) published a comprehensive set of standardised agreements for the sale and purchase of voluntary carbon credits (“ VCCs ”). The international market for VCCs has been...
BOEM Releases Proposed Rule on Supplemental Financial Assurance for OCS Lease and Grant Obligations
On June 29, 2023, the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published a proposed rule that, if adopted, would substantially revise the financial assurance requirements applicable to offshore oil and gas operations. [1] The proposed rule is...
Texas UIC Class VI Update: Proposed Amendments to 16 TAC Ch. 5
In Volume 48, Number 26 of the Texas Register , the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) published proposed amendments to 16 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 5 (relating to Carbon Dioxide and related storage activities). These proposed rules are essential to...
Supreme Court “Clarifies” Employer Duty to Make Religious Accommodations
On June 29, 2023, in Groff v. DeJoy , the US Supreme Court unanimously adopted a new interpretation of the standard for when an employee’s religious accommodation poses an “undue hardship” for an employer under Title VII of the Civil...
DSAs: Calculating Security and the Role of Expert Determination
Decommissioning. A word familiar to all of those who are involved in oil and gas exploration and production around the globe. It is defined in the Cambridge English Dictionary as “ taking a factory or other industrial building out of...
Treasury Department and IRS Issue Additional Guidance on the New Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program
The low-income communities bonus credit (the LIC Bonus), which was introduced by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the IRA), provides an enhanced tax credit for certain wind and solar facilities located in designated low-income communities. On February 13, 2023...
FTC Proposes Sweeping Changes to US Merger Filing Requirements
On June 27, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in concurrence with the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ), announced a proposal to drastically overhaul the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) premerger notification process. The proposed rulemaking is yet another...
Endangered Species Act Developments: Court Finds Species Do Not Get The “Benefit Of The Doubt” & Agencies Propose Compensatory Mitigation Under ESA Section 7
Two recent developments may have meaningful impacts on the implementation of Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). First, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Maine Lobstermen’s Association v. National Marine Fisheries Service and held...
Treasury Department and IRS Release Long-Awaited Guidance on Credit Transfers
On June 14, 2023, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released long-awaited guidance (the Credit Transfer Guidance) regarding the transfer of energy transition tax credits under Section 6418, [1] which was enacted under the Inflation Reduction Act...
Treasury Department and IRS Release Additional Guidance for the Advanced Energy Project Credit Allocation Program
On May 31, 2023, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2023-44 (the Notice). The Notice provides additional guidance for the new program under Section 48C(e) created by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the IRA)...
Congress Amends NEPA in Effort to Reform Federal Permitting
On June 3, 2023, President Biden signed into law the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The law increased the debt ceiling and, among other things, amended the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA is a bedrock environmental law that has not seen...