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Inflation Reduction Act
The Waters of the United States Rule
Sara Burgin provides a breakdown on administrative and judicial developments and speculation related to the future of WOTUS.
Continuing Review of New Pipeline Projects
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) officially announced that it is going to review its policy framework for certification of new interstate natural gas and LNG pipelines in the U.S. and issued a Notice of Inquiry (Notice or NOI)...
Force Majeure, Now What?
As discussed in our last alert , the possibility of parties turning to force majeure clauses as an excuse for performance in the face of steel and aluminum tariffs has become a reality. While the government deals with numerous applications...
DOJ’s Environmental Enforcement Priorities and Expectations – Refocusing on the Rule of Law
In recent months, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ” or the “Department”) has issued a series of memoranda from the Department’s highest levels to its various component divisions, which includes the Environment and Natural Resources Division (“ENRD”). The ENRD is...
IRS Provides Issuers Of Tax-Advantaged Debt with New "DIY" Tools to Fix Nonqualified Use
On April 11, 2018, the IRS released Revenue Procedure 2018-26 (“Rev. Proc. 2018-26”), which provides an expansion of the remedial actions available to issuers of tax-advantaged bonds. Specifically Rev. Proc. 2018-26 provides: Additional options for issuers seeking to remediate private...
The CFTC and Virtual Currencies: Amidst All the Hype, Don’t Forget “Commodity” is still a Defined Term
The Internet recently erupted with news reports and law firm legal alerts broadcasting the endorsement by a federal court of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) position that virtual currencies (a/k/a cryptocurrencies) are commodities subject to CFTC oversight pursuant to...
The New Partnership Audit Rules, Part 3: The Push-Out Election
This is the third installment of Bracewell Tax Report articles describing the new rules applicable to partnership audits under the Internal Revenue Code and the related proposed and final Treasury regulations. Each installment focuses on certain aspects of these rules...
FERC Approves Settlement of Alleged Market Manipulation Suit
On April 10, 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) approved a stipulation and consent agreement (the “Settlement Agreement”) between FERC’s Office of Enforcement (“Enforcement”) and ETRACOM LLC and Michael Rosenberg [1] (“Respondents”). The Settlement Agreement brings...
Differing Objectives and Consequences of Recent MLP Conversions to Corporations
In recent weeks, two more master limited partnerships (MLPs) have announced their intention to convert to corporations for federal income tax purposes. Such transactions will take different forms and are driven by different considerations, including, in large part, tax considerations...
Federal Agencies Agree to Speed Project Permitting
The U.S. DOT and 10 other federal agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on April 9, 2018, which became effective on April 10, 2018. The MOU [1] is intended to implement Executive Order 13807 (Aug. 15, 2017), which established...
“Why Matters” – In Texas, Proving Same-Sex Harassment “More Complicated” than Proving Opposite-Sex Harassment
On April 6, 2018, the Texas Supreme Court issued a decision assessing what evidence is necessary to support an actionable same-sex sexual harassment claim. In an opinion totaling over 100 pages, the six-justice majority and two-justice dissent sparred over the...
Final Gas Mega Rules Expected to be Issued in 2019
The Gas Pipeline Advisory Committee (GPAC) convened in Washington D.C. at the end of March, 2018, to continue discussions from May and December 2017 regarding PHMSA’s proposed gas and gathering pipeline mega rule (“Safety of Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipelines”...
U.S. Futures Exchanges Disciplinary Actions Alert: March 2018
The Bracewell U.S. Futures Exchanges Disciplinary Actions Report is a monthly report that provides summaries of certain disciplinary notices by U.S. exchanges during the prior month. The report has a particular focus on notices potentially relevant to energy commodities and...
Court Provides Further Clarity Regarding Scope of FERC’s Enforcement Authority
On March 30, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio issued an opinion granting in part and denying in part motions to dismiss the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“FERC”) action seeking to enforce its assessment of...
Trade Wars and Trading Cards
Josh and Liam discuss the latest news on steel and aluminum tariffs and trade war threats as well as what these tariffs mean politically, specifically for the upcoming Midterms in November. We wrap up on the lighter topic of baseball...