The 2011 Regular Session of the West Virginia Legislature began and progressed in the midst of a frenzy of media attention focused on natural gas production activities in the Marcellus Shale formation and allegations of inadequate regulatory programs to assure proper State oversight of these operations ...
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently provided additional support for calculating unpaid overtime compensationunder the Fair Labor Standard Act (“FLSA”) by paying damages to misclassified employees at 50% of the regular rate ...
On May 26, 2011, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America v. Whitingin which petitioners had challenged a 2007 Arizona law imposing sanctions on businesses that hire unauthorized aliens. Petitioners claimed that the Arizona law, the Legal Arizona Workers Act, was expressly, or alternatively, impliedly preempted by the Federal Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) ...
as published in West Virginia Executive magazine, June 2011The past few years have been an exciting time for oil and gas operators. The Marcellus Shale, previously uneconomical to produce, has been unlocked through the deployment of advanced drilling techniques, namely horizontal drilling and large-volume hydraulic fracturing ...
Are you already using E-Verify for all of your new hires? If not, you will soon be required to. The North Carolina legislature passed "An Act to Require Counties, Cities and Employers to Use the Federal E-Verify Program to Verify the Work Authorization of Newly Hired Employees" (the "Act"), which was signed into law by Governor Beverly Perdue on June 23, 2011 ...
It's been a long time coming, but the EEOC has finally published the official regulations for Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). (Title I addresses non-discrimination in the context of health insurance, and regulations for that Title will be issued by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury.) GINA was originally enacted on May 21, 2008, by, President George W. Bush, and became effective November 21, 2009 ...
The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), Pennsylvania Department of Environmental of Protection (“PADEP”), and environmental groups have quickly answered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) summons to ensure new energy extraction complies with environmental laws ...
In the recent decision of Davies v. Alcan Rolled Products, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals continued its recent trend of reviewing claims decisions based on the medical management guidelines in W. Va. C.S.R. § 85-20-1, et seq. (“Rule 20”). At issue in Davies was the calculation of permanent impairment for carpal tunnel syndrome (“CTS”) claims. In W.Va. C.S.R. § 85-20-64 ...
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (“ADAAA”) has created new liability concerns for employers since it was enacted a few years ago. Specifically, the ADAAA protects, among other persons, “qualified individuals with a disability” from unlawful discrimination or harassment. It further requires employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” to such employees to enable them toperform essential job functions, with various exceptions ...
The Employee Free Choice Act (“EFCA”), the bill that would have altered the way in which unions are allowed to organize workers, was introduced in both chambers of the United States Congress on March 10, 2009 ...
In an Order entered on June 14, 2011, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission ("PUC") remanded to the administrative law judge a request for a Certificate of Public Convenience filed by Laser Northeast Gathering Company, LLC ("Laser") to act as a "public utility" within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. With the order, however, the PUC did find that Laser may be subject to PUC jurisidction ...
On July 22, 2011, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission in Harrisburg, Pa. forwarded to the Governor several recommendations to allow Pennsylvania to develop a comprehensive, strategic proposal for the responsible and environmentally sound development of the Marcellus Shale. Back in March 2011, the Governor created the Commission to address changes to the laws and rules for gas drilling in Pennsylvania ...
There has been much discussion about building one or more ethane cracking plants within the Marcellus gas footprint. However, there has not been as much discussion of building downstream manufacturing facilities that use products produced at the ethane cracking facility. Recently, the West Virginia Legislature enacted revisions to the tax code to stimulate development of downstream manufacturing facilities in West Virginia ...
It is hard to believe that the Dodd-Frank Act (“Act”) celebrated only its first birthday on July 21, 2011. It seems like it has been around a lot longer than that sometimes. Although the Act has already reshaped the regulatory regime for both financial and many non-financial entities, in actuality, its impact is just now beginning to be felt. This is the first of what is sure to be many articles examining the Act and its impact on community banks ...
Although the concept of a limited liability company has been around since 1977 when Wyoming enacted a limited liability company act, the popularity of the limited liability company has primarily grown during the last 15 years. In August 1994, the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act was adopted by the National Conference of Commissioners in an effort to create more uniformity among state limited liability company legislation ...
By way of follow-up to our January 2011 article on the NC Lien Law Legislation and relevant case law, we want to report two recent developments. On July 19, 2011, the North Carolina Court of Appeals again addressed lien priority issues when it reversed the trial court’s entry of judgment on the pleadings in favor of Preserve Holdings, LLC (which purchased property out of foreclosure in January 2008 from the original plaintiff, Wachovia) ...
Is the Marcellus shale that underlies a significant part of western and central Pennsylvania itself a “mineral”? Is Marcellus shale gas the type of natural gas contemplated in prior Pennsylvania case law, or something different? Is the Marcellus shale similar to coal, so that whoever owns the shale owns the gas that is embedded in that shale? In reversing and remanding the decision by the Susquehanna County Court of Common Pleas, a three judge panel of the P
In a somewhat surprising turn of events in the question of potential Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission ("Pa. PUC" or "Commission") regulation over midstream Marcellus Shale development entities, on September 8, 2011, Laser Northeast Gathering Company, LLC ("Laser") petitioned the Pa. PUC to withdraw its pending application for Certificate of Public Convenience to act as Public Utility ...
Activists opposed to natural gas drilling are taking a unique approach in an attempt to ban hydraulic fracturing in Peters Township, which is located in Washington County, Pennsylvania. The Peters Township Marcellus Shale Awareness group is attempting to have township residents vote on a referendum that amends the home rule charter to ban hydraulic fracturing ...
As leases are negotiated, permits are filed and shales are fractured across America, energy companies encounter the public. Some of these interactions are direct, while others are through the actions of a contracted service provider or partner. Still, the vast majority of first impressions will be presented to the public through the lens of the media, whether traditional or social ...
Last quarter we focused on claims that can be asserted under the debt collection provisions of the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act, W. Va. Code §§ 46A-1-101 et seq. (the “WVCCPA”). This article will focus on the basic defenses available to creditors under the WVCCPA ...
The cost of energy—particularly the cost of electricity—comprises a significant portion of the total cost of production for industrial and manufacturing companies ...
On November 8, 2011, three municipalities in western Pennsylvania put direct democracy to the test with referendums that would essentially ban natural gas drilling in their communities. Two of the referendums were overwhelmingly defeated while one succeeded with overwhelming support ...
The Joint Select Committee on Marcellus Shale (the “Committee”) reported a 121 page bill governing horizontal wells that utilize 210,000 gallons of water or more per month or that involve surface disturbance of 3 acres or more. The final version of the bill was posted to the West Virginia Legislature’s website on November 18, 2011 (the “Bill”) ...
On November 15, 2011, the Pennsylvania Senate passed S.B. 1100, a fairly comprehensive legislative effort aimed at increasing governmental oversight of the development and production of Marcellus Shale resources ...
