The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (known as “OPA 90”) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (known as “CERCLA”) are two federal environmental laws with significant effects on businesses and individuals across the nation. OPA 90 provides a remedial scheme that apportions the liability and costs of oil spills among responsible parties. CERCLA does the same but for spills of “hazardous substances,” a term of art that is defined in the statute. But what if there is a spill that is a mix of oil and hazardous substances? Which law governs, OPA 90 or CERCLA? That ..read more

Most litigants in Louisiana know that the usual tort claim has a prescriptive period (i.e., statute of limitation) of one year. This one-year clock begins ticking from the day injury or damage is sustained.[1] But when exactly someone sustains an injury can be a tricky question to answer. If I am unknowingly exposed to a harmful chemical, did I sustain damage then, even if I didn’t know it at the time? If so, what if I don’t find out until over a year later? Although the clock on my tort claim has reached zero, it seems harsh to foreclose my cause of action before I even knew it existed. Ente ..read more

On Tuesday, May 16, 2023, the D.C. Circuit denied in part and dismissed in part a petition for review filed by environmental groups, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Sierra Club (collectively, “Petitioners”). Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. FERC, D.C. Cir., No. 20-01379, 5/26/2023. The petition sought a review of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“FERC”) approval of a controversial $39 billion liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) project in Alaska. This Alaska LNG project would build liquefaction facilities on the Kenai Peninsula to uptake gas and ready it for transportation t ..read more

For traditional manufacturers, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) offers a mixed bag of carrots and sticks to support its green energy goals. Signed by President Biden on Aug. 16, 2022, the bill includes numerous tax credits and other incentives promoting clean energy investment. One of the IRA’s stated purposes is to incentivize and revitalize domestic manufacturing, and many of its tax credits and incentives are focused on clean energy manufacturing. The IRA directs some specific tax outcomes, like tax credits for manufacturing green components. Other outcomes may be consequential or ..read more

The U.S. Interior Department recently announced that it is awarding Louisiana with about $47 million to be used to plug and abandon the orphaned well sites throughout the state.  This is part of phase one of many under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed by President Biden in November. Louisiana first turned its attention to orphaned well sites in 1993, when the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (LDNR) created the Louisiana Oilfield Site Restoration Program (“OSR Program”) to address a growing number of unrestored orphaned oilfield sites throughout the st ..read more

On December 22, 2021, Taylor Energy Company LLC (“Taylor Energy”), a Louisiana based oil and gas company, and the United States Department of Justice reached a settlement concerning Taylor Energy’s role in the longest running oil spill in United States history. The oil spill began in September 2004 when Hurricane Ivan crossed the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane caused a seafloor shift that toppled one of Taylor Energy’s oil and gas production platforms in the Mississippi Canyon Area, Block 20 (“MC-20”), approximately 10 miles off the coast of Louisiana, initiating an oil discharge ..read more

Throughout Joe Biden’s campaign, he made clear that climate change, the environment, and “Clean Energy” were going to be anchors of his Presidential platform. What was less clear was how his administration would treat oil and gas beyond the expected counterbalance to the Trump Administration’s regulatory rollbacks – especially with respect to GHG emissions. On the big ticket items – drilling, fracking, leasing on federal lands, etc. – the campaign messages were mixed. Between Biden’s election and his inauguration, the speculation only increased about how moderate or progressive his approach w ..read more

On December 21, 2020 Congress passed the lengthiest piece of legislation in its history—nearly 5600 pages. While most Americans are focused on the provisions of the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021” related to coronavirus response and recovery, it also included provisions that will directly impact pipeline operators. The “Protecting Our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act of 2020” appears at page 2634. The Act contains two provisions which will expand federal regulation of the natural gas pipeline industry. First, the Act requires PHMSA to, “Not later than 90 days after ..read more

On October 20, 2020, the Louisiana Supreme Court issued a major decision in an ad valorem (property) tax case involving oil and gas wells.  D90 Energy, LLC v. Jefferson Davis Parish Board of Review, 2020-C-200 (La. 10/20/2020). D90 Energy, an independent oil and gas operator, purchased from Goldking two gas wells and one salt-water disposal well for $100,000.  Facing an assessment of over $3 million, the producer paid over $100,000 in taxes under protest for two of the tax years and appealed the Assessor’s decision.  The Louisiana Tax Commission reduced the assessed value to $2 ..read more

Pipeline companies may not exercise their powers of eminent domain granted under the federal Natural Gas Act (NGA) in federal courts when seeking to acquire state-owned lands.   On September 10, 2019, in In re: PennEast Pipeline Company, LLC, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled in favor of New Jersey finding that its sovereign immunity under the 11th Amendment prohibited PennEast Pipeline from condemning property owned by the State of New Jersey. PennEast Pipeline Company, LLC obtained federal approval to construct a pipeline through Pennsylvania and New J ..read more