On December 16, 2016, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (the Service) issued a final rule revising the eagle take permit regulations.  The rule is intended to make the permit process less onerous for wind energy project developers and other companies that engage in activities with the potential to disturb, injure, or kill bald and golden eagles.  On that same date, the Service also published

Husch Blackwell and the Texas Renewable Energies Industries Alliance have teamed up to produce a webinar series focused on the Texas solar industry, titled “On the Horizon”. Register here for the final webinar in the series, in which Husch Blackwell’s Chauncey Lane and Jason Reschly will focus on solar development finance and the investor tax credit.  They’ll give advice on tax requirements to qualify for solar tax credits, discuss tax issues for structuring transactions, identify trends in

President-elect Donald Trump’s appointment of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt confirms that the Trump administration and its appointees will not continue to support attempts by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address climate change.  Pruitt, who has referred to the debate regarding global warming as “far from settled,” has filed several lawsuits against EPA challenging regulations that limit such emissions from the coal, oil, and natural gas industries, including an EPA rule implementing the Clean Power Plan by requiring states to

On December 16, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its widely anticipated final report on the impacts to drinking water sources from hydraulic fracturing. In its final report, the EPA backed away from its earlier conclusion that fracking has not caused “widespread, systemic” impacts to drinking water, instead concluding that fracking activities can impact…

On November 16, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the proposed Renewables Enhancement and Support Growth Rule, which proposes changes to EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program and other renewable fuel regulations designed to encourage market growth of ethanol and renewable fuels in the U.S. and provide

Last week, OSHA published its new “Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs,” which advises employers to establish comprehensive internal safety and health programs and provides extensive guidelines and resources for doing so. In releasing the updated recommendations, OSHA argues that employers adopting such programs could reduce injuries and illnesses and promote sustainability.

Husch Blackwell and the Texas Renewable Energies Industries Alliance have teamed up to produce a webinar series titled, On the Horizon, focused on the Texas solar industry.  The latest installment focused on solar leases and mineral right issues and is now available on-demand. The panelists discussed recommended provisions for solar leases including steps solar project developers can take to anticipate mineral estate operations and lessen the potential impact of right of access under the Texas’ Accommodation Doctrine.

Register here for the final two webinars of the year:

As discussed in our client alert, the Supreme Court of Texas issued an opinion on May 27, 2016, extending the accommodation doctrine to groundwater owners. The City of Lubbock (the City) filed a Motion for Rehearing on August 2, 2016 requesting clarification of certain language in the opinion. Specifically, the City argues that as written, the opinion would allow the limitations of the accommodation doctrine to govern a groundwater lessee’s rights to the surface to extract groundwater, in spite of the express rights granted by the deed between the parties, on the grounds that:

Missouri Public Service Commission (Commission) Rule 4 CSR 240-4.020(2) provides that any “regulated entity” that intends to file a case likely to be a contested case must file a notice with the Commission a minimum of sixty days prior to filing such case. Until the Commission’s rejection of Grain Belt Express’ application for a certificate of convenience and public necessity (CCN) for its proposed Clean Line project, it was arguably unclear which applicants were “regulated entities” subject to the notice requirement.