The United States Supreme Court’s opinion in Michigan v. Environmental Protection Agency et al, 576 U.S. ____ (2015) dealt a major blow to the EPA’s efforts to regulate the emission of mercury and other pollutants from power plants. The Supreme Court held in a 5-4 decision, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the majority, that the EPA unreasonably interpreted the Clean Air Act without first considering the costs on industry to do so.
PPGMR’s Brian Ratcliff served the Arkansas Bar Association well this past year. His commitment and devotion has helped the Association to be the best of the best.
PPGMR's Jamie Fugitt will participate as a Mentor in the upcoming MentorCamp Conference to be held in Northwest Arkansas July 21-24, 2015. MentorCamp is an organization that connects startups with mentors who have valuable expertise and insight. Jamie and other mentors will share their knowledge and resources with companies to help their business grow.
Qbox, formerly known as StackSearch, is growing strong three years after being named one of the winners of the 2012 ARK Challenge. The program offered mentoring and seed money for each of the winners to run their business. Qbox continues to flourish while meeting challenges head on. Qbox anticipates its technology service company to substantially increase sales and revenue in the coming years.
The Eighth Circuit's newest Clean Water Act opinion marks a substantial victory for businesses who are required to get a jurisdictional determination from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The decision sets the Eighth Circuit apart from other jurisdictions where the only way to challenge an adverse jurisdictional determination is to either (1) complete the entire permitting process and then seek judicial review, or (2) risk substantial enforcement penalties by conducting activities without a permit and then challenging any enforcement action taken. Rejecting this unfair choice as a "transparently obvious litigation strategy" that "ignores reality," the Eighth Circuit has held that that a judicial determination is a final agency action that is ripe for judicial review.
