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Inflation Reduction Act
Congress Amends NEPA in Effort to Reform Federal Permitting
On June 3, 2023, President Biden signed into law the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The law increased the debt ceiling and, among other things, amended the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA is a bedrock environmental law that has not seen...
Offshore Wind Litigation: Court Declines to Halt Vineyard Wind Construction
A federal court has denied a request by members of the fishing industry to pause offshore construction of the Vineyard Wind Project (Project), the first modern utility-scale offshore wind project in the United States to receive all permits and approvals...
Treasury Department and IRS Release Guidance on the New Domestic Content Bonus Credit
The domestic content bonus credit (the DC Bonus), which was introduced by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the IRA), provides an enhanced tax credit for renewable energy and storage projects constructed with sufficient US-sourced materials and components (the Domestic...
Offshore Wind Litigation: Court Denies Challenge to Major Offshore Wind Project
The federal government has successfully defended its approvals of the Vineyard Wind project offshore Massachusetts (Project), setting the stage for further decisions as other challenges proceed. Vineyard Wind is the first modern utility-scale offshore wind project to reach the construction...
Warhol Decision May Lead to Copyright Licensing Spike
Artists beware—it’s not how hard you work but how differently you use the art that really matters. In the majority decision that governs, and as such, artists and copyright owners must now keep in the forefront of their minds the potential future uses of a work when evaluating whether the new creation is fair use or unlawfully derivative.
Supreme Court Rules Andy Warhol’s Famous “Orange Prince” May Be Copyright Infringement
Today, in an opinion that purports to be narrow but will have sweeping implications, the Supreme Court ruled that Andy Warhol’s well-known “Orange Prince” illustration is not a transformative fair use of Lynn Goldsmith’s photograph of Prince.[1] Discounting the new...
FINRA Facts and Trends: May 2023
Welcome to the latest issue of Bracewell’s FINRA Facts and Trends, a monthly newsletter devoted to condensing and digesting recent FINRA developments in the areas of enforcement, regulation and dispute resolution. This month, we report on FINRA’s appearance at SIFMA...
SEC Adopts New Repurchase Disclosure Rules
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted a package of amendments, originally proposed in late 2021, to the disclosure requirements for corporate issuers’ share repurchases. The SEC stated that the new rules are designed to provide investors with more...
EPA’s Proposal to Grant Class VI Primacy to Louisiana – Availability of Application Documents
On May 4, 2023, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its proposal to approve revision of Louisiana’s Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Underground Injection Control (UIC) program to add Class VI injection well primary enforcement responsibility (primacy) for Class...
Eight Key Amendments of the 2022 ICSID Arbitration Rules
The fourth amendments to the ICSID Arbitration Rules are the most extensive since their inception.[1] Unless an underlying treaty or agreement provides otherwise, the revised 2022 Arbitration Rules of the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) apply...
SLGS Window Closing May 2, 2023
The US Department of the Treasury announced the suspension of sales of US Treasury Obligations – State and Local Government Series (i.e., SLGS), effective 10:00 a.m. ET, May 2, 2023. New subscriptions for SLGS received after such time will not...
Unlikely Allies: Oil and Gas Companies Embrace Renewables and Battery Storage to Meet Global Climate Commitments
Renewable energy has taken center stage in the national energy discussion. Technology and innovation are continuing to progress in the energy sector, and traditional oil and gas companies are embracing clean energy alternatives to assist in powering O&G operations. The...
Use It or Lose It: US Supreme Court Unanimously Holds in MOAC Mall Holdings LLC That 363(m) Protections Can Be Waived
The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued its latest bankruptcy opinion in MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC, holding that the Bankruptcy Code’s rule against invalidating 363 sales after appeal is not an iron-clad jurisdictional bar, but rather a...
Behind the Scenes of US Banking: Regulators, Challenges and the Future, Part II
In the second of a two-part episode of The Bracewell Sidebar, host Matthew Nielsen is joined by guests Will Anderson and Bob Clarke to discuss recent bank failures, including SVB Financial Group and Signature Bank.
Treasury Department and IRS Update Energy Community Bonus Guidance
On April 10, 2023, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), without a formal announcement, released a revised version of Notice 2023-29 (the Revised Notice) on the IRS website. The Treasury Department and the IRS released the initial...