Inflation Reduction Act
Litigation and Enforcement Impact of the SEC's Proposed Rules on Climate-Related Disclosure
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Proposed Rules on Climate-Related Disclosure, released March 21, 2022, represent a significant change in public company disclosure requirements and, if adopted, will have far-reaching effects not only on all public companies but also on those...
Knock-for-Knock Indemnities: Risk Allocation in Offshore Energy Contracts
What are knock-for-knock indemnities? A knock-for-knock clause is a reciprocal agreement to apportion liability for certain losses (usually, death or injury to personnel and damage to property) between contracting parties, supported by mutual indemnities. A knock-for-knock regime replaces the fault-based...
FERC Issues Proposal to Overhaul Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation
On April 21, 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) issued a much-anticipated Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) proposing changes to its transmission planning and cost allocation policies that are intended to promote the more efficient and cost-effective...
CCS and the Role of Project Finance
The UN Climate Change Conference in 2021, known as “COP26”, highlighted the scale of global carbon emissions and the speed with which they must be addressed in order to meet net zero targets by 2050. Carbon capture and storage (“...
Corporate Governance Considerations Under the SEC's Proposed Climate Disclosure Rules
As we have noted previously , the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently proposed rules governing climate-related disclosures, if adopted as proposed, would represent a sea change to the existing public-company disclosure regime. We focus here on the corporate-governance aspects...
The 411 on 420: Can Employers Still Test for Marijuana?
Manufacturers understandably are concerned about how new laws protecting employee off-duty marijuana use may undermine their efforts to avoid workplace injuries and deaths. Understanding the changing legal landscape and the tools still available to employers to protect against safety risks...
Hurdles Ahead for the SEC's New Climate Disclosure Proposal
On March 21, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its much-anticipated proposed rule on climate-related disclosure and accounting, “Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors.” The scope and obligations of the 140-page proposal are gradually becoming clearer—and...
Marijuana and Workplace Safety: Managing the Risk of Occupational Accidents as Cannabis Use Increases and Legal Prohibitions Are Relaxed
More Americans are smoking or ingesting marijuana in one form or another and the potency of the product in many instances is increasing. At the same time, many states are relaxing or repealing marijuana prohibitions. Additionally, more of these jurisdictions...
Attestation: Practical Reflections on What the SEC Climate Proposal Will Require
Among the many changes set forth in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed rules governing climate-related disclosures are the attestation requirements 1 covering registrants’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions disclosures. This article provides a general overview of these attestation requirements...
Hazardous Waste Update for Texas Facilities
Effective in February, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality finally adopted EPA’s Generator Improvements rule for generators of hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The most consequential piece of the new rule is the “episodic generator” standard...
Going Green in the Brownfields: Michael Borkowski and the Community Power Group
On this episode of the Bracewell Environmental Law Monitor, host Daniel Pope talks with Jason Hutt , and Mike Borkowski about the development of renewable energy resources on properties that may have historical environmental liabilities. Jason Hutt is a partner...
FCPA Alert: Lessons Learned From Last Week's Trial Conviction of Roger Ng Relating to the 1MDB Malaysian Bond Deals
On Friday, after a two-month trial and just over three days of deliberation, a jury in the Eastern District of New York returned its verdict in the case against Roger Ng, finding the international banker guilty on all counts. Bracewell...
Summary Outline of SEC's Proposed Rule on Climate-Related Disclosure and Accounting
The SEC’s proposed rule on climate-related risks includes amendments to both the financial reporting requirements (Reg S-X) and the narrative disclosure requirements (Reg S-K). The proposal interlinks the new requirements, drawing aspects of the required narrative disclosures into the financial...
Navigating Domestic and Cross-Border Data Privacy Risks, With Lucy Tyson and Brittney Justice
On this episode of Bracewell Sidebar, Lucy Porter and Brittney Justice join hosts Seth DuCharme and Matthew Nielsen to talk about data privacy. Lucy advises clients in a variety of matters related to the structuring and negotiating of services agreements...
Merchant Risk and the Energy Transition: Tensions in the Capital
Debt vs. Equity As part of the series of articles on the expansion of merchant risk in the traditional project finance market and its interplay with the energy transition, this article will explore the tensions between equity and debt providers...