Utilities

Update on U.S. Sanctions Relating to Ukraine

UN-US-NKOREA

Please find below a summary of recent development regarding U.S. sanctions against Russia and a summary of the U.S. sanctions to date.

U.S. Sanctions
On September 12, the United States, in coordination with the EU, imposed additional sanctions against Russia in connection with events in Ukraine. Specifically,

the Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of the Treasury (“OFAC”): (i) placed additional Russian persons on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (“SDN”) list; (ii) placed additional Russian persons on OFAC’s Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List (“SSIL”); (iii) amended the bar on activities by U.S. persons relating to debt of SSIL-listed persons from the Russian financial services sector to cover new debt of more than 30 days maturity (previously the bar related to debt of 90 days or longer); (iv) imposed a bar on activities by U.S. persons relating to new debt of more than 30 days maturity of SSIL-listed persons from the Russian defense and related materiel sector; and (v) imposed a bar on activities by U.S. persons in support of deepwater, Arctic offshore, or shale exploration or production projects that have the potential to produce oil in Russia and that involve any person designated on the SSIL in connection with the bar; and
the Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce (“BIS”): (i) added five entities from the Russian defense or related material sector to the BIS Entity List; (ii) added five entities from the Russian energy sector to the BIS Entity List, which are now subject to an export licensing requirement for certain energy projects; and (iii) imposed an export licensing requirement on certain Commerce Control List items known to be destined to Russia for a military end use or user (expanding the current licensing requirement for such exports to China to also cover Russia).

Under the Dome: Inside the Maine State House

Schwarzenegger Holds Press Conference On Passing Of California Budget

Under the Dome: Inside the Maine State House provides a high-level overview of recent activity at the Maine State House. If you would like more specific information regarding an item in this newsletter or related to government relations, please contact a member of our Government Relations Practice Group: John Delahanty, Andrea Cianchette Maker, or Avery Day.

Team AlvimedicaStatue of LibertyNew York City

With little notice, compliance officers, in-house counsel, and other legal professionals for organizations in the oil and gas industry may be required to hand over sensitive files in response to compliance, regulatory, or investigative requests. The continual increase in volumes and disparate types of electronically stored information (ESI), coupled with heightened government oversight and intervention, means the stakes and costs of complying with these requests have never been higher. When managed inconsistently, these requests pose a great risk.

As e-discovery—which involves identifying, collecting, reviewing, and producing responsive data in an investigation or litigation—converges with compliance, corporations must understand how to manage these processes to minimize exposure to costs and risks while maximizing the value of their data for business purposes. The best methodology consists of five steps that will incorporate e-discovery as a repeatable business process into the larger corporate compliance program.

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But a former Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspector disagrees.  An advanced seismic study conducted by utility PG&E to determine the safety of California’s Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant has found that the facility is “designed to withstand and perform [its] safety functions during and after a major seismic event.” The Central Coastal California Seismic Imaging Projectreport was submitted to the Nuclear… Keep reading →

The EPA Proposes Stricter Standards For Smog Limit

On August 29, 2014, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) released “Evaluation of Risk-based Decision Making,” a report prepared by CDM Smith under contract to the state. DEEP has now announced that it will accept public comments until September 30, 2014, and will take the report and comments into account in formulating next steps in the multi-year initiative to “transform” Connecticut’s approach to remediating contaminated sites.

The report was prompted by a controversial proposal in the 2013 legislative session to lower the thresholds for requiring “significant environmental hazard” reports concerning contaminated properties. Although a version of that proposal was enacted as part of Public Act 13-308, the General Assembly also directed DEEP to “engage independent experts” to evaluate and recommend best practices in risk-based decision making for site remediation. DEEP must consider the resulting report and make recommendations for statutory and regulatory changes, specifically including the significant environmental hazard statute.

Trial Judge Concludes The Deepwater Horizon Spill Caused By BP’s Gross Negligence And Willful Misconduct

A BP station in downtown Chicago - at th

Maritime

New Development

On September 4, 2014 the federal district judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill issued long-awaited rulings as to liability. The court concluded that BP is subject to enhanced civil penalties under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) because the discharge of oil was the result of the company’s “gross negligence” and “willful misconduct.”

Action Items: In light of this ruling, offshore leaseholders, operators, and contractors will likely be held to an increased standard of care because the severity of the potential harm from a well blowout, explosion, and oil spill is great. Accordingly, leaseholders, operators, and contractors in the offshore industries should review their safety and environmental compliance policies and procedures to ensure they meet or exceed the high standard of care that may be applied to complex, high-risk drilling operations.

Background

Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on April 20, 2010, multidistrict litigation was consolidated in the district court in New Orleans, Louisiana. The current trial, which involves two key cases filed against BP and the other entities involved in the drilling of the Macondo well, is being heard by the court without a jury pursuant to the court’s admiralty jurisdiction.

The consolidated trial’s first phase in early 2013 was to determine the liability of BP, Transocean, Halliburton, and other companies, and to assess, for the purposes of penalty calculation, whether the companies acted with gross negligence and willful misconduct with respect to the loss of well control and the resulting explosion, fire, and sinking of the rig.

The trial’s second phase, which occurred during the fall of 2013, addressed the post-incident efforts to control the spill and the quantity of oil that spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. The judge has not yet issued a ruling with respect to the issues presented in the second phase. The third phase, which is scheduled to begin in January 2015, will focus on all other liability issues arising from the oil spill cleanup, including containment issues and the use of dispersants.

British Bombing Suspect Studied Chemistry In U.S.

The New York Power Authority recently posted a series of interviews with their female engineers. This entry features a Q&A session with NYPA Chemical Engineer Kaela Mainsah. 1. How did you enter the engineering field? How did you decide on your specialty? I decided on chemical engineering because I like chemistry and was interested in the industrial processes that… Keep reading →

Germany Invests Heavily In Solar Energy

It is now clear the utility business model is changing with the growth of distributed renewable energy sources, policies that support renewables, demand management technology and energy efficiency initiatives, but how these changes develop and how utilities adapt remain open questions. A new report from Black & Veatch sheds some light on these emerging trends.… Keep reading →

Drone Photography Raises Questions About Privacy And Safety

With an almost eagle-eye-view of the Rocky Mountains from his office in Denver, Robert Attai advises clients on the emerging field of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), otherwise known as drones. A partner in the law firm of Husch Blackwell, his clients sometime seek advice after acquiring a smaller firm that is using UAS in their… Keep reading →

Greenspan Warns Of Danger Of High Natural Gas Prices

A theory emerged to explain the appearance of a massive crater in Russia’s hydrocarbon-rich Yamal Peninsula that has climate-change observers extremely concerned. Analysts have long known that Russia’s energy future lies beneath the frozen ground of Yamal and independent producer Novatek is building a large LNG export project now with the help of French oil… Keep reading →

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