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Inflation Reduction Act
Fifth Circuit Condemns Texas Transmission ROFR Law on Constitutional Grounds
On August 30, 2022, the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion condemning a far-reaching Texas law on electric transmission right-of-first-refusal (“ROFR”). The decision concerns a 2019 Texas law that restricted the ability to build, own, or operate new transmissions lines to...
Mistakes Pipeline Companies Make With PHMSA-Required Substance Testing
Under the Biden administration, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), like other federal regulatory enforcement agencies generally, is taking a more active approach to regulatory enforcement. One element of PHMSA regulation where covered operators are not uncommonly falling...
CSB Releases Guidance on Accidental Release Reporting
On August 30, 2022, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (“CSB” or the “Agency”) issued a guidance document aimed at helping owners and operators of stationary sources and similar stakeholders understand and comply with CSB’s Accidental Release and...
EPA Proposes Changes to Risk Management Plan Rules
On August 19, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted the pre-Federal Register publication of its latest effort to revise the Risk Management Plan (RMP) rule – this time titled the “Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention” or SCCAP rule...
Recent Crypto Bills
On this episode of Crypto Bits, Anne Termine and Sam Folb discuss two different pieces of legislation recently proposed that are intended to provide a regulatory framework for digital assets. The first bill is the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, proposed...
Your Word Is Your Bond: Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Determines Surety Bonds Are Not Executory Contracts Even Through Multiparty Approach in In re Falcon V, LLC
Following an August 11, 2022 opinion from the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, certain irrevocable surety bonds will not be considered executory contracts in bankruptcy, even when a court applies a functional multiparty approach to the traditional Countryman...
General Overview of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
On Tuesday, August 16, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the Act) into law, which includes material changes to various sections of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code). The following is a general...
Quick Hit: Search Warrants
On this episode of The Bracewell Sidebar, hosts Matthew Nielsen and Seth DuCharme discuss how one goes about getting a search warrant in light of recent events, including what is required and what inferences can be fairly drawn from the...
California Sets Ambitious Offshore Wind Planning Goals
California’s updated planning goals for offshore wind: between 2 to 5 GW by 2030 and 25 GW by 2045. The California Energy Commission (“CEC”) formally adopted the foregoing planning goals pursuant to its obligations under Assembly Bill No. 525 (“AB...
New Saudi Companies Law 2022: Key Changes, and Next Steps for Companies in KSA
Background On 28 June 2022, the Saudi Cabinet of Ministers approved the New Companies Law, and it was published in the official gazette (Umm Al Qura newspaper) on 4 July 2022 pursuant to Royal Decree No. (M/132) dated 01/12/1443H (the...
The Major Questions Doctrine and Agency Rulemaking
In West Virginia v. EPA, the US Supreme Court struck down an Obama-era regulation known as the Clean Power Plan, which sought to mandate the construction of wind and solar plants by limiting the amount of electricity that could be...
The UK National Security and Investment Act: Key Implications for the Energy Sector
Background The UK’s National Security and Investment Act 2021 (the “Act”) entered into force on 4 January 2022, introducing a new investment control regime for acquisitions in the UK, with the aim of protecting the UK’s national security. These new...
Crypto Assets in the Voyager Bankruptcy: Can Customers Recover?
The crypto winter has overcast the summer for many Voyager customers. Upon the commencement of Voyager’s chapter 11 filing in July, customer accounts were frozen. Unable to trade their own crypto assets, some frustrated customers rushed to consult with legal...
After West Virginia, What’s Next at EPA?
The Biden Administration has said that the Supreme Court’s recent decision in West Virginia v. EPA will not keep them from taking aggressive "executive actions" to address climate change. Outside groups (including most recently a group of state attorneys general)...
Better Late Than Never: Delaware Bankruptcy Court Determines That 546(e) Avoidance Safe Harbors Are Available to Defendants That Only Qualify as Financial Participants Several Years After the Subject Transaction in In re Samson Resources Corp.
Following an August 4, 2022 memorandum opinion from Judge Brendan L. Shannon of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, a party to a safe harbored contract can qualify as a “financial participant” under section 546(e) of...