Exxon has announced that it will be updating one of its refineries located in Baton Rouge. The refinery currently does not comply with particulate matter pollution standards set by the EPA but due to a loophole allowing older refineries to continue operating, it was allowed to keep polluting. Now ...
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In The News
EPA to Consider Strengthening Health Protections for Soot Pollution
In December 2020, the Trump administration refused to strengthen the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). This decision was made despite the nearly 54.4 million Americans living in counties that experienced unhealthy spikes in particulate matter air pollution. The EPA is now reconsidering ...
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“Death by a thousand cuts”: How Congress continues to whittle away at a critical environmental policy
A transportation bill currently passing through congress is set to revitalize American infrastructure with increased funding and reductions to red tape hindering projects. This red tape, though, is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and rollbacks to its authority could be disastrous for ...
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NEPA Litigation Update
In July 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued its final rule updating its regulations for federal agencies to implement the National Environmental Policy (NEPA) for the first time since its creation in 1978.
These changes have been contested and have been brought to federal ...
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In Two Opposite Decisions on Alaska Oil Drilling, Biden Walks a Difficult Path in Search of Bipartisanship
On Tuesday, the Biden Administration announced that it would be suspending oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR). Leasing began in 2017 when the Trump administration opened the wildlife refuge to oil and gas development in an effort to generate revenue. $1.1 billion was ...
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Twombly and Iqbal, and the sudden dismissal of a lawsuit
Twombly and Iqbal––or “Twiqbal” as the cases are sometimes known in legal circles––can often make or break a plaintiff’s litigation. Courts around the country have vigorously enforced this doctrine on case dismissal, sometimes dismissing even those complaints with lengthy and detailed factual ...
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Big Step Forward for $50 Billion Plan to Save Louisiana Coast
The next phase of a $50 billion plan to protect the Louisiana coast from erosion and rising sea levels has cleared an important hurdle, with the Army Corps of Engineers delivering a long-awaited environmental impact statement for a key part of the project.
The report, issued Thursday evening, ...
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This major Louisiana coastal project just received a positive report from the Corps of Engineers
One of the most expensive, ambitious and controversial projects in Louisiana’s 50-year, $50 billion bid to save the southern third of the state from disappearing like a modern-day Atlantis passed a major milestone Thursday night when the Army Corps of Engineers gave it a mostly positive ...
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A glimmer of hope in environmental civil rights law
In 2015, the nation was horrified by the news coming out of Flint, Michigan. The small industrial city about an hour’s drive north from Detroit was poisoned by the reckless indifference of their public officials, and the contaminated water those officials allowed to course through the corroded pipes ...
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What to expect at your deposition in a personal injury lawsuit
If you filed a lawsuit for the injuries you suffered as the result of a wreck, or from toxic chemical exposures, it is likely that the other side will want to take your deposition. Depositions involve the taking of sworn, out of court oral testimony in order to discover the facts ...
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