- 12.08.09 Armando Benincasa
Energy Law Update: EPA Finds Greenhouse Gases a Threat to Public Health and the Environment
As expected, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA) issued its final Endangerment Finding, which asserts that the emission of greenhouse...
- 12.02.09 Kathy Milenkovski
EPA Finalizes Nonattainment Designations for 24-Hour PM2.5 NAAQS
Thirty-one areas across the country, including portions of West Virginia, Ohio
- 11.18.09 Jeffrey Phillips
On November 9, 2009, the Department of the Interior determined that Jag Energy, LLC (Jag) possessed valid existing rights to maintain a coal haul road within the boundaries of the Daniel Boone National Forest located in Leslie County, Kentucky, under an...
- 11.13.09 George Carenbauer
SENATOR BYRD TO SET HISTORIC MILESTONE – THEN CELEBRATE BIRTHDAY
According to the U.S. Senate Historian, on Wednesday, November 18, West Virginia's senior Senator, Robert C. Byrd, will become the longest-serving member of the United States Congress in...
- 11.12.09 Melanie Norris & Kristian White
Energy Law Update: CDC Proposes Rule for Air-Purifying Particulate Respirators
Of interest to the mining community, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has proposed a new rule that would impact respirators used by miners and...
- 11.10.09 James J.A. Mulhall
CDC Leads Imported Drywall Complaint Investigation
In order to satisfy building demands within recent years, drywall was imported from China and installed at various construction projects. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...
- 11.09.09 Robert Pollitt
Energy Law Update: Draft Air Permit for Coal-to-Liquids Plant Issued by WV DEP
On Tuesday, October 27, 2009, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP) announced that it was issuing a draft permit to construct for air...
- 11.05.09 Kathy Milenkovski
Energy Law Update: EPA Greenhouse Gas Rule to Become Effective December 29, 2009
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued its final rule regarding the mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, which will become effective on December...
- 10.26.09 Timothy McKeen
Energy Law ALERT: Potential OSHA Oilfield Sweep
The Ohio Oil and Gas Association recently reported that Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) officials will soon begin inspections of Ohio oilfield operations due to a recent fatality in...
- 10.22.09 Kathy Milenkovski
Energy Law Update: Court Decision Allows Significant Climate Change Litigation to Proceed
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently ruled that a public nuisance lawsuit against six electric power companies based on greenhouse...
- 10.20.09 Patricia Proctor
Energy Law Update: North Dakota Follows Majority View of "At the Well" Leases
as Allowing Deduction of Post-Production Expenses
The North Dakota Supreme Court recently joined the majority of jurisdictions in finding that lease language that provides...
- 10.13.09 J. Kevin Ellis
Energy Law Update: EPA Adopts Stricter Rules for Coal Preparation and Processing Plants
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has adopted a final rule regarding coal preparation and processing plants after receiving and reviewing...
- 10.08.09 Susan Pauley
Privacy Practice Alert: HHS Issues Interim Regulation on HITECH Act's Security Breach Notification Requirements
On August 24, 2009, the Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued its interim final rule requiring...
- 10.07.09 Armando Benincasa
Energy Law Update: New York Proposes More Stringent Regulations for Marcellus Shale Drilling
On October 1, 2009, the State of New York released its long-awaited and heavily anticipated supplemental general environmental impact statement (SGEIS)...
- 9.24.09 Kathy Milenkovski
Energy Law Update
Greenhouse Gas Emissions: EPA Issues Final GHG Reporting Rule;
Common-Law Nuisance Suit Against GHG Emitters Can Proceed
The U.S. EPA finalized its greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting rule on September 22, 2009, mandating reporting...
- 8.20.09 D. Eric Lycan
Energy Law Update: Kentucky Circuit Court Holds Coalbed Methane in Mine Void Can Be Produced by Non-Coal Owner; Leaves Unchanged Prior Holding That CBM is Owned by Coal Owner While in Coal Seam
The Hopkins County Circuit Court ("the Court") issued an...
- 8.13.09 Walter Williams & Charles Sinsel
Health Care Client ALERT: CMS Implements Requirement to Report Claims Payment Information
Under the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 ("MMSEA"), "applicable plans" will have to register with and report claims payment information to...
- 8.12.09 J. Kevin Ellis
Energy Law Update: OSM Gives Interim Approval to Proposed Increase & Extension of the West Virginia Special Reclamation Tax
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement ("OSM") has given interim approval to proposed amendments to the...
- 8.05.09 William D. Wilmoth
Energy Law Update: MSHA Issues New Final Rule Regarding Mine Rescue Teams
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) recently issued a final rule that will impose new requirements upon mine-site and state-sponsored mine rescue teams for training...
- 7.29.09 Kathy Milenkovski
Energy Law Update: Government Offering Payments in Lieu of Tax Credits to Companies Installing Renewable Energy Production Facilities
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of the Treasury ("Treasury") and the U.S. Department of Energy announced a...
- 7.28.09 J. Greg Goodykoontz
Toxic Tort Alert: NIOSH Releases Coal Dust and Emphysema Study
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has recently completed a study in which they conclude that "coal mine dust exposure is a significant predictor of emphysema...
- 7.22.09 Armando Benincasa
Energy Law Update: SRBC Proposes Amendments to Project Review Regulations
On July 2, 2009, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) issued proposed revisions to its rules, some of which will impact oil and gas operations in the Susquehanna River...
- 7.16.09 Patricia Proctor
Energy Law Update: Kentucky Federal Court Holds that "At the Well" Language in Oil and Gas Leases Unambiguously Allows Deduction of Post Production Expenses from Royalty
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky recently...
- 7.15.09 David Morrison
Energy Law Update: Court of Appeals Clarifies Standard for NLRA Injunction
In its recent ruling in Muffley v. Spartan Mining Co., - F.3d -, 2009 WL 1875781 (4th Cir. July 1, 2009), the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit announced...
- 7.09.09 Jeffrey K. Phillips
Energy Law Update: Sixth Circuit Upholds Extension of Oil Lease by Paying Delay Rental in Northup Properties, Inc. v. Chesapeake Appalachia, L.L.C.
Oil and gas leases may now be extended indefinitely even if the lessee fails to produce oil or gas. The...
- 7.01.09 Katerina Milenkovski
Energy Law Update: Ohio Public Utilities Commission Adopts Rules to Implement Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard - Petitions for Reconsideration Pending
On April 15, 2009, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ("PUCO") adopted a set of rules to...
- 6.30.09 James J.A. Mulhall
Toxic Tort ALERT: Research of Nanotechnology & OSHA PELs Continues
Nanotechnology is the use of matter that has a dimension of less than 100 nanometers (or one billionth of a meter.) A nanometer is 100,000 times thinner than a strand of hair. Due...
- 6.24.09 Walter Williams
Health Care Client ALERT: Update on Stimulus Bill & Changes to HIPAA
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, generally known as the "Stimulus Bill," modified portions of the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, and imposed new security breach...
- 6.23.09 J. Kevin Ellis
Energy Law Update: EPA Proposes Supplemental Action to the Proposed Amendments to New Source Performance Standards for Coal Preparation and Processing Plants.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed to supplement its April...
- 6.19.09 Armando Benincasa
Environmentalists File Petition to Revoke State Water Permitting Program; War on Coal Will Now Impact All Permit Holders
On June 17, 2009, the Sierra Club, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Coal River Mountain Watch, and the Ohio Valley...
- 6.18.09 Robert Pollitt
On June 11, 2009, the federal government announced that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of the Interior (DOI), and the Army Corps of Engineers (COE) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and "Interagency Action Plan"...
- 6.10.09 Robert D. Pollitt
Energy Law Update: Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Denies Request for Rehearing En Banc in Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition v. Aracoma Coal Company
On May 29, 2009, by a vote of 4-3, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the plaintiffs'...
- 6.05.09 Armando Benincasa
Energy Law Update: Marcellus Well Permits: PA Addendum Out; Susquehanna & Delaware River Basin Rules Still Apply; Update for WV & NY
In a victory for the industry, Pennsylvania has eliminated its Marcellus well permit addendum. The elimination...
- 6.02.09 Sarah L. Hinkle
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), also known as the Federal Stimulus Package, is predicted to create more than 600,000 new government jobs and 3 million jobs across both the public and private sectors. Many struggling employers are eager...
- 5.29.09 Misty Heitz
Toxic Tort Alert: NIOSH Examines Mesothelioma Death Rates
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) analyzed death certificates from 1999-2005 for persons aged 25 years and older and reported that 18,068 deaths were related to...
- 5.29.09 Ryan Morgan
Energy Law Update: W.Va. Law Clarifies Notice Requirements for Coalbed Methane Development
On May 6, 2009, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin signed Senate Bill 613 into law, making several clarifications to the notice process for permitting and...
- 5.04.09 Kristian E. White
Owners and lessees of oil and gas underlying the surface owned by the state can explore, drill and produce with no greater burden than if the surface was owned by private party. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ("Court") recently upheld the rights of an...
- 4.29.09 William H. Smith
Whether Pennsylvania's Minimum Royalty Act ("MRA") permits deductions of "post production" costs from a one-eighth royalty payment under an oil and gas lease remains unclear. In separate decisions, the Court of Common Pleas in Susquehanna County,...
- 4.24.09 Sharon Flanery
Supreme Court of Virginia Gives Green Light for Dominion Power Plant
The Supreme Court of Virginia has affirmed that the construction and operation of coal-fueled generation facilities in Virginia is in the public interest. In rejecting challenges...
- 4.08.09 Robert D. Pollitt
Energy Law Update: Southern District Court Decision Toughens Surface Mining Permit Requirements
Nationwide permits (NWP 21) for discharge of dredged and fill material associated with mountain top removal surfacemining will become more difficult to...
- 4.07.09 Russell Jessee & Nora Price
Significant declines in retirement accounts and investments due to our troubled economy have prompted plaintiff firms to advertise that people may have luck recovering their financial losses if they sue for professional misconduct (a.k.a. "bad advice")....
- 3.27.09 Walter Williams & Charles Sinsel
In our last health care alert on the Stark law, we addressed the revisions to the federal self-referral regulations under the 2009 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems Final Rule (2009 IPPS) that went into effect on October 1, 2008. In this...
- 3.25.09 Larry Chafin
The Iowa City Press-Citizen reported on March 4, 2009 that the University of Iowa Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute (UINNI) received a $389,303 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study potential health and environmental...
- 3.25.09 Diane E. Burke
In 2007, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) issued several new rules relating to patent applications that caused a strong uproar within the patent community. The four rules at issue relate to the filing of continuation applications (Final...
- 3.23.09
On Thursday, March 19, 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a "Notice of Availability of Model Health Care Continuation Coverage Notices Required by ARRA" (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009). The Department's notice, with links to...
- 3.13.09 Gordon Copland
Whether an "investigation" has "ended" can be a critical factor in determining whether a report on a physician's resignation is due to the National Practitioner Data Bank ("NPDB"). In a recent decision, a Federal Court of Appeals for the first time...
- 2.27.09 James J.A. Mulhall
The West Virginia state legislature is currently in session and is considering a bill that would require disclosures related to bankruptcy trust recoveries sought by plaintiffs who are currently litigating an asbestos-related lawsuit. West Virginia Senate...
- 2.20.09 Jeffrey Tour, Sara Hauptfuehrer, Jamie Leary
New Law Suspends 2009 Required Minimum Distribution Rules for Certain Qualified Retirement Plans
On December 23, 2008, President George W.
- 2.04.09 Diane E. Burke
Cases involving trademark parody are not new. Tommy Hilfiger sued over cologne for pets called "TIMMY HOLEDIGGER." Jordache sued a manufacturer of plus-sized jeans labeled "LARDASHE." Hormel brought suit against Jim Henson over a wild boar Muppet named...
- 2.02.09 James J.A. Mulhall
The Center for Disease Control released a report on December 12, 2008 entitled Asbestosis-Related Years of Potential Life Lost Before Age 65 Years - United States, 1968-2005. The CDC states that "asbestos still is used in the United States (approximately...
- 1.16.09 Walter Williams & Charles Sinsel
In the last year and a half, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued final rules with substantive revisions to the federal Stark self-referral law under Stark II, Phase III (Phase III), which had a general effective date of December 4,...