Energy Law

EPA Grants Reconsideration of Certain Oil and Gas Storage Tank NSPS Provisions Issued in August 2012

Posted on April 22, 2013
By Stephen W. Wiegand On August 16, 2012, EPA issued new source performance standards (NSPSs) for the oil and gas sector. The standards applied to various sources including storage tanks used in crude oil and natural gas production. On April 12, 2013, EPA announced proposed amendments to the rule pertaining to storage tanks...

OCS Operators Need to Consider EPCRA Reporting in their Release Reporting Plans

Posted on March 07, 2013
By Robert E. Holden The recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Center for Biological Diversity, Inc. v. BP America Production Co., et al, no. 12-30136 (5th Cir. Jan. 9, 2013) ('CBD'), reversed in part the district court's dismissal of citizen suit claims against BP in connection with the Deepwater Horizon incident, upholding the citizen suit cause of action seeking to have BP submit EPCRA reports regarding the Macondo spill...

Air Permitting Update: EPA Ignores Summit Outside Sixth Circuit

Posted on January 10, 2013
By Lesley Foxhall Pietras On December 21, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a policy announcement addressing how it will deal with source aggregation following the Sixth Circuit's decision in Summit Petroleum Corp. v. EPA, 690 F.3d 733 (6th Cir...

DOI Promulgates a New Final Rule for Increased Safety Measures on the OCS

Posted on January 02, 2013
By Sarah Y. Dicharry and Robert E. Holden After Deepwater Horizon, the President directed the Secretary of the Interior to develop a report concerning safety on the Outer Continental Shelf ('OCS'). In response, the Secretary of the Interior drafted a report entitled, 'Increased Safety Measures for Energy Development on the Outer Continental Shelf,' which recommended a number of actions to increase safety...

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Implications of NTL 2012-N06 on OSRP Preparation and Review

Posted on December 28, 2012
By Sarah Y. Dicharry and Robert E. Holden In August 2012, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement ('BSEE') published a Notice to Lessees ('NTL') seeking to clarify a number of ambiguities regarding BSEE's interpretation and application of the Oil Pollution Act ('OPA') regulations that require offshore lessees to prepare and submit regional Oil Spill Response Plans ('OSRPs')...

Fifth Circuit Reverses District Court's Imposition of Attorneys Fees on DOI for Reissuance of Drilling Moratorium in GOM Following Deepwater Horizon Incident

Posted on December 28, 2012
By Sarah Y. Dicharry and Robert E. Holden Following the Deepwater Horizon incident in May 2010, the DOI imposed a six-month moratorium on the issuance of new drilling permits in deep water and directed then-operating lessees to stop operations at the soonest time practicable...

EPA Finalizes NPDES Permit for Oil and Gas Facilities in the GOM OCS

Posted on October 09, 2012
by: Robert E. Holden and Carlos J. Moreno On October 1st, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency ('EPA') released the final NPDES general permit for discharges from oil and gas facilities in the western and central portion of the Outer Continental Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico (the 'final permit')...

EPA Seeks Rehearing En Banc of D.C. Circuit Panel Decision on Cross-State Air Pollution Rule

Posted on October 08, 2012
By Lesley Foxhall Pietras On October 5, 2012, EPA filed a petition for en banc rehearing of the D.C. Circuit's August 21, 2012 panel decision vacating EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). The panel, in a 2-1 decision authored by Judge Kavanaugh, held that CSAPR exceeded EPA's statutory authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA) in two independent respects...

Texas Supreme Court Holds JOA Exculpatory Clause Applicable to All Activities of Operator

Posted on September 04, 2012
By Jana Grauberger:  The Texas Supreme Court distinguished several Texas appellate court decisions and held the exculpatory clause in a joint operating agreement ('JOA') applicable not just to operational activities undertaken by the operator, but to all activities of the operator under the JOA...

D.C. Circuit Vacates EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule

Posted on August 24, 2012
By Stephen W. Wiegand On August 21, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). EPA issued CSAPR in August 2011 pursuant to Sec. 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) of the Clean Air Act (the 'good neighbor' provision) which requires that State Implementation Plans contain adequate provisions to prevent a state's emissions from affecting another state's air quality...

Fifth Circuit Vacates EPA's Disapproval of the Texas Flexible Permits Program

Posted on August 21, 2012
By Carlos J. Moreno On August 13, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated the Environmental Protection Agency's ('EPA') disapproval of revisions to the Texas State Implementation Plan ('SIP') dealing with the state's Flexible Permits program...

New Air Standards for Oil & Gas Industry May Force HAP Area Sources into Major Source Status

Posted on August 20, 2012
By Robert E. Holden and Carlos J. Moreno On August 16, 2012, EPA published a new rule that revises the NESHAP Subpart HH standards for the oil and gas industry. 77 Fed. Reg. 159 (Aug. 16, 2012). The Final Rule wassigned on April 17, 2012, but publication in the Federal Register did not occur until August 16, 2012, making the rule effective on October 15, 2012...

Air Permitting: Sixth Circuit Vacates Single Stationary Source Aggregation Determination for E&P Facilities Due to EPA's Unreasonable Interpretation of Adjacent

Posted on August 16, 2012
By Lesley Foxhall Pietras On August 7, 2012, in a 2-1 decision in Summit Petroleum Corp. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) determination that a natural gas sweetening plant and sour gas production wells commonly owned by Summit Petroleum Corporation (Summit) but dispersed over forty-three square miles constituted a single stationary source under the Clean Air Act Title V permitting program...

Louisiana Legislature Modifies Oilfield Cleanup Legislation

Posted on June 04, 2012
By Rob McNeal   Significant revisions and amendments to Louisiana's oilfield cleanup legislation, La. R. S. 30:29 (commonly known as Act 312) obtained final legislative approval on May 31, 2012 and are expected to become law shortly. Procedures have been added to expedite the remediation of oilfield contamination, the procedures for the formulation of remediation plans by the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources have been modified, and new provisions have been added to deal with various issues, including the admission of remediation evidence at trial...

EPA Issues New Air Regulations for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry

Posted on April 20, 2012
By Stephen Wiegand   On April 17, 2012, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for natural gas wells that are hydraulically fractured...

Supreme Court of Texas Revises Opinion in Pipeline Common-Carrier Case

Posted on April 12, 2012
By Carlos Moreno: The Supreme Court of Texas recently delivered a revised opinion discussing the power of eminent domain exercised by a common carrier CO2 pipeline. In Texas Rice Land Partners, LTD v. Denbury Green Pipeline-Texas, LLC, No. 09-0901, 2012 Tex...

EPA Proposes Significant Changes to NPDES Permit for Oil and Gas Facilities in the GOM OCS

Posted on April 12, 2012
By Carlos J. Moreno On March 7, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency ('EPA') published in the Federal Register a proposed NPDES general permit for discharges from oil and gas facilities in the western and central portion of the Outer Continental Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico (the 'proposed permit')...

Fifth Circuit holds purchase and sales agreement complies with Statute of Frauds

Posted on February 20, 2012
By Joanna Nelson:  Preston Exploration Co., L.P. v. GSF, L.L.C., Cause No. 10-20599, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 1873 (5th Cir. Tex. Feb. 1, 2012)   The Fifth Circuit recently vacated a judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, holding that the lower court had improperly conflated 'two distinct principles – whether parties come to a meeting of the minds as to the subject matter of a contract with whether a writing's legal description is sufficient to meet the statute of frauds...

Texas case holds seller bound to terms of forged document

Posted on February 08, 2012
By James T. Kittrell The Texas Court of Appeals for the Eleventh District of Eastland has recently held that a seller of an oil and gas property may be held to the terms of a forged purchase agreement if the seller properly signs an assignment that specifically incorporates the terms of the forged document...

Update to the December 20, 2011 Liskow & Lewis E-Newsletter

Posted on January 09, 2012
By Megan Spencer In our December 20, 2011 E-Newsletter, we reported on the status of: (1) EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule; and (2) the EPA Inspector General's report, 'EPA Must Improve Oversight of State Enforcement.' Some recent developments in those areas merit an update:  (1) On December 30, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the D...

EPA Proposes Modifications to Oil & Gas Air Pollution Standards

Posted on October 03, 2011
By Carlos J. Moreno: On August 23, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal Register a proposed rule that significantly expands the applicable air emissions standards for the Oil and Natural Gas Sector. See 76 Fed...

EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Will Have A Dramatic Impact on Texas and Louisiana

Posted on September 15, 2011
By: Lesley Foxhall Pietras On August 8, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a far-reaching Clean Air Act rule intended to address the interstate transport of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from upwind to downwind states...

Texas employers will welcome the decision in Marsh USA Inc. v. Cook

Posted on August 03, 2011
 By Andrew Wooley           The Supreme Court of Texas' recent decision in Marsh USA Inc. v. Cook, 54 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 1234, 2011 WL 2517019, 2011 Tex. LEXIS 465 (Tex. June 24, 2011), will make it easier for employers to enforce a Texas employee's post-termination covenant not to compete...

Parties May Agree to Expanded Judicial Review Under Texas Arbitration Act -- Nafta Traders, Inc. v. Quinn

Posted on May 27, 2011
One of the prominent features of arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act ('FAA')[1] and the arbitration statutes of most states is a stringently limited right of appeal, which is integral to the goal of expeditious and economical dispute resolution...

EPA and Army Corps of Engineers Issue Draft Guidance on Waters Protected by Clean Water Act

Posted on May 17, 2011
By Lesley Foxhall Pietras On April 27, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) released new proposed guidance on how the agencies will identify waters protected by the Clean Water Act (CWA) in light of Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v...

Latest Chapter in the "EPA v. Texas" GHG Permitting Saga: EPA Publishes Final Rule Partially Disapproving Texas SIP and Promulgates FIP for GHG Emissions

Posted on May 05, 2011
by: Carlos J. Moreno On May 3, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated a final rule partially disapproving the Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) and issuing a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) for Texas. The action prolongs EPA's authority to issue Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permits for Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) emissions in Texas...

Supreme Court of Texas Reverses Appeals Court in Oil and Gas Waste Injection Well Permitting Case

Posted on April 27, 2011
By: Carlos J. Moreno In Railroad Commission of Texas v. Texas Citizens for a Safe Future and Clean Water, No. 08-0497, 2011 WL 836827 (Tex. Mar. 11, 2011), the Supreme Court of Texas reversed the Austin Court of Appeal's finding that the Railroad Commission (the 'Commission') has to consider broad public safety concerns in the permitting of proposed oil and gas waste injection wells...

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Posted on February 03, 2011
Thanks to you, our readership, Liskow's Energy Law Blog has been nominated for the LexisNexis Top 50 Environmental Law & Climate Change Blogs!  If you like what you see on our blog, please let the ELCCC (LexisNexis Environmental Law & Climate Change Community) know by commenting 'here' (go ahead and do it now, nomination support ends February 14)...

EPA Denied Extension to Promulgate Boiler MACT Rule

Posted on February 03, 2011
By: Megan J. Spencer EPA first issued its Boiler MACT Rule on September 13, 2004. However, these standards were vacated by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit after the Court found EPA's definition of 'commercial or industrial waste' conflicted with the language of the Clean Air Act in NRDC v...

Fifth Circuit Reverses District Court Ruling Protecting Mineral Owner's Rights of Ingress and Egress Over National Park Service Land

Posted on January 18, 2011
by: Megan J. Spencer               In its decision, filed January 7, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed, vacated and remanded the opinion of a Texas district court that had found that the National Park Service's Oil and Gas Management Plan was invalid under the Administrative Procedure Act ('APA') because it denied Plaintiffs rights of ingress and egress established in the state and federal law creating the park...

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