The Texas Supreme Court recently released its opinion in Van Dyke v. Navigators Grp., No. 21-0146, 2023 WL 2053175 (Tex. Feb. 17, 2023), in which it re-affirmed the axiomatic principle that a text retains the same meaning in the present day as when it was drafted. In the context of antiquated oil and gas
In its February 23, 2023 ruling in Mexican Gulf Fishing Co. v. United States Dep’t of Commerce, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a National Fisheries Management Services (“NFMS”) rule requiring owners and operators of charter boats in the Gulf of Mexico to equip their boats with approved GPS tracking devices that
In Crooks v. State of Louisiana through the Department of Natural Resources, 22-0625 (La. 1/1/23), ___ So. 3d ___, 2023 WL 526075, the Louisiana Supreme Court rejected a writ of mandamus that would have compelled the LDNR to satisfy a $4.7 million judgment for reimbursement of mineral royalties. In doing so, the Court further
Stay tuned for fireworks coming from the Louisiana legislature this year on CCUS. The legislative session begins April 10, and one bill has already been filed to remove expropriation authority from all CCUS activity.[1] Many more bills are expected to be filed. A lot of media attention has focused on a CCUS project related
A Regulatory Increase to the Limits of Liability for Oil Pollution and an Amendment Exempting Small Passenger Vessels from the Limitation of Liability Act Present New Challenges for Vessel Owners
U.S. maritime law experienced two significant changes on December 23, 2022—one pertaining to liability for oil pollution, the other concerning small passenger vessels.
First, the
The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) recently released its 2023 draft Coastal Master Plan, which is required by law to be updated every six years. The most recent draft is the fourth update since it was first adopted by the Louisiana Legislature in 2007 following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.[1]
In advance of holding an offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, which is expected this summer, the Department of Interior recently took several steps to update the offshore wind regulatory framework. First, Interior issued a Final Rule, which reassigns the responsibilities for certain regulations governing offshore wind from BOEM to BSEE. This reassignment aligns
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), signed into law on November 15, 2021, amended Section 40307 of the Outer Continental Shelfs Act (OCSLA) to provide authority to the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) to grant leases, easements, or rights of way that “provide for, support, or are directly related to the injection of a
Over the past year, the U.S. Department of Interior has taken several important steps toward making wind energy development a reality in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the first in a series of articles in which Liskow’s offshore team will discuss the regulatory framework for wind energy projects in federal waters and highlight legal
On September 14, 2022, the 19th Judicial District Court revoked air permits issued by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (“LDEQ”) under Louisiana’s Prevention and Significant Deterioration (“PSD”) regulations[1] for a Formosa Plastics facility (“FG LA”) planned to be built in St. James Parish.[2] The court ruled that LDEQ erred in issuing