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Legal questions raised on NY's gas-drilling rules
Topics | 2011/07/12 16:23
While an energy industry economist says New York's proposal to place large areas off-limits to gas drilling is overly restrictive, an environmental lawyer says the proposed watershed protections don't go far enough.

The Department of Environmental Conservation posted its 700-plus-page blueprint for hydraulic fracturing in the lucrative Marcellus Shale region on its website on Friday, allowing industry and environmental groups to start dissecting the proposed plan to allow gas drilling in an area where it's been on hold since 2008.

More than 3,300 gas wells have been drilled since 2005 across the border in Pennsylvania, bringing new jobs and economic benefits as well as environmental problems such as accidental chemical spills, gas-tainted well water and river pollution. New York state regulators have upheld permitting for three years while they conduct an environmental review and draft new regulations.

The proposed New York rules include a section describing several gas-drilling operation accidents in Pennsylvania and outlining New York's measures designed to mitigate such incidents.

"Our biggest concern is the restrictions that have been added," said John Felmy, chief economist for the American Petroleum Institute. "In particular, the New York City and Syracuse watersheds, and taking state lands off the table. Those are big areas."

Felmy said natural gas development in New York's economically depressed Southern Tier would bring billions of dollars in economic activity, thousands of jobs, and new tax revenues. But a coalition of 47 health and environmental groups has called for a statewide ban on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, saying it poses unacceptable risks.


Court: Gov't must state position on gay troop ban
Legal Network | 2011/07/12 16:23
A federal appeals court that has called for the immediate halt of the military's ban on openly gay troops issued an order Monday requiring the U.S. government to state whether it will continue to defend the policy's constitutionality in court.

Monday's order comes less than a week after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco told the Obama administration to immediately cease enforcing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which could speed up its repeal.

The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by the Log Cabin Republicans against the Department of Justice.

The gay rights group last year persuaded a lower court judge to declare the ban unconstitutional after a trial that put the Obama administration in the position of defending a policy it opposes.

DOJ attorneys have said they are defending the policy in court as they do with any law that is being challenged. They also have said the issue should be decided by Congress and not the courts.

The three-judge merits panel of the 9th Circuit said after reviewing briefs from both parties in the case, that it appears the government is not prepared to defend the policy's constitutionality.

The order was not signed by the judges and it was not known if the three jurists were the same ones who ruled last week on stopping its enforcement.


Illinois Supreme Court upholds public works plan
Court Watch | 2011/07/11 16:23
The Illinois Supreme Court has unanimously upheld a law that created a $31 billion statewide construction program, averting a threat to the thousands of jobs the projects created.

The decision also removes a roadblock to allowing video gambling at bars, restaurants and truck stops across Illinois.

The court on Monday unanimously rejected arguments that lawmakers improperly mixed different issues in a single law.

Lawmakers approved the public works program in 2009, deciding to fund the construction by raising taxes on liquor and candy, as well as legalizing video gambling.

Chicago Blackhawks owner and liquor distributor Rocky Wirtz challenged the law. An appeals court agreed with him that it violated a requirement that laws be limited to one topic. The Supreme Court said it all was connected to the construction program.


Ballard Spahr says Stewart new chair of national law firm
Legal Network | 2011/07/06 15:43
Law firm Ballard Spahr LLP says that Mark Stewart, who helped the firm open six new offices, has been named its chair.

The law firm — its headquarters are in Philadelphia — said Stewart became chair on Friday, succeeding Arthur Makadon who took the position in 2002. He is returning to active practice with the firm.

Stewart joined the firm as a summer associate in 1981.

Ballard Spahr has more than 475 lawyers in 13 offices across the U.S. and offers litigatition, business and finance, real estate, intellectual propery and public finance services.


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