Skip to main content
Insights
Inflation Reduction Act
Significant New Safety Requirements Proposed For Natural Gas Pipelines
On March 17, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a major proposal to revise the safety standards for onshore natural gas pipelines. The proposed rule follows years of study as well as specific...
OSHA Announces National "Step-Up for Safety" Campaign for Upstream Industry
On February 19, 2016, OSHA announced the 2016 Step-Up for Safety Campaign to raise awareness about hazards in the oil and gas industry. The campaign is a joint effort among OSHA, the STEPS Network, and NIOSH. Oil and gas drilling...
U.S. Department of Justice Expands Worker Endangerment Initiative
On December 17, 2015, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates issued a memorandum to all 93 U.S. Attorneys urging federal prosecutors to work with the Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resource Division (ENRD) to pursue worker-endangerment violations. The announcement culminated...
EPA Hits Oil and Gas Industry With a Flurry of Proposed Methane Regulations
EPA took major steps on August 18, 2015 to curtail methane emissions from the oil and gas industry by simultaneously releasing four new proposed rules. These actions are part of the Obama Administration’s larger climate action plan, which focuses primarily...
EPA's "Next Generation" Enforcement Hitting Region 6 Facilities Now
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s RCRA compliance sweep though Region 6 in the first half of 2015 captured a series of violators sharing the common problem of underreporting their hazardous waste volumes. Particularly noteworthy is the prevalence of companies working...
EPA Updates Its Audit Policy with "eDisclosure"
On June 10, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hosted a webinar describing a plan to modernize the implementation of its April 11, 2000 Audit Policy. The plan – called eDisclosure – attempts to provide a streamlined, web-based approach for...
A $6 Million Reminder to Observe Corporate Formalities: Environmental Prosecutors Pierce Another Corporate Veil with Ohio Decision
With ever-growing concern about environmental liability exposures, many shareholders rely on corporate structures – both simple and complex – to help insulate themselves from direct responsibility for the acts and omissions of the companies they own. Establishing that structure is...
Election 2014: Impact of a New Congress on Environmental and Energy Policy
Energy and environmental concerns were major issues in a number of campaigns leading up to the 2014 midterm elections. In this interview, founding PRG partner Scott Segal discusses how Congress and agencies are expected to deal with a wide range...
Texas Railroad Commission Proposes Regulation to Address Earthquake Risks from Disposal Wells
To listen to the podcast, please click here . In the August 29, 2014 issue of the Texas Register (39 Tex. Reg. 6775), the Railroad Commission of Texas proposed several amendments to the regulations governing saltwater and other oil and...
EPA's NY/NJ EPCRA Sweep Points to Broader Enforcement Effort
Last week's announcement by the US EPA of EPCRA violations at 17 facilities comes as part of the Agency's heightened scrutiny of chemical storage facilities in the aftermath of the West, Texas explosion and the Charleston, West Virginia release into...
Supreme Court Upholds EPA's Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR)
To listen to the podcast, please click here . In a 6-2 decision, the United States Supreme Court upheld EPA's justification for the Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), breathing life back into the rule that had been vacated by...
First Texas GHG Permit Upheld by EPA's Environmental Appeals Board
To listen to the podcast, please click here . On March 14, 2014, the Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) within EPA issued an order denying review of the first petition for review of a Texas greenhouse gas (GHG) prevention of significant...
New Spotlight on Spill Prevention and Emergency Response
Two high-profile industrial accidents in the last year have focused public attention on compliance with often-overlooked federal standards for spill prevention and emergency response planning. As legislatures contemplate stricter standards and agencies dial up their enforcement, industrial facilities may wish...
Salinas v. Texas: Your Silence May Be Used Against You
On June 17, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an opinion with important ramifications for anybody who may be interviewed in connection with a criminal investigation. In Salinas v. Texas , 570 U.S. ___ (2013) (Slip. Op...
TCEQ "Compliance History" Rule Change to Affect Regulated Facilities in Texas
At the direction of the Texas Legislature, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has for the last decade provided "compliance history" regulations that generate a score for each regulated facility in the state based generally on the number and...