By Jay Carr on Posted in EnergyOhio’s Seventh District Court of Appeals recently held once again that fee oil and gas interests are subject to possible extinguishment under Ohio’s Marketable Title Act (MTA). See Stalder v. Bucher, 2019-Ohio-936. In Stalder, the mineral owners advanced two arguments against extinguishment. First, they claimed that the MTA no longer applies to mineral interests. In… Continue Reading
By Ryan Elliott on Posted in Energy,EnvironmentOn March 29, 2019, U.S. EPA finalized a New Owner Clean Air Act (CAA) Audit Program for new owners of upstream oil and natural gas exploration and production facilities – i.e. well sites, tank batteries, and vapor control systems (the “Program”). The Program encourages new owners voluntarily to conduct a self-audit of newly acquired facilities,… Continue Reading
By Michael Vennum on Posted in EnergyOn March 15th, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court issued its opinion in Anadarko Petro. Corp. v. Pennsylvania, No. 60 C.D. 2018 (Pa. Commw. Ct. March 15, 2019), holding that the Pennsylvania Attorney General could file action for unfair lease negotiations under Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (the “Unfair Trade Law”), but could not… Continue Reading
By Ryan Elliott on Posted in Energy,EnvironmentOn February 21, 2019, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a petition for review of air permits issued by Ohio EPA for two compressor stations to be constructed along the NEXUS pipeline in Ohio. The Court dismissed the petition for review for lack of jurisdiction, holding the environmental groups that filed the petition for… Continue Reading
By Jay Carr on Posted in EnergyOhio’s Seventh District Court of Appeals was recently asked to analyze whether a fee oil and gas reservation can be extinguished under Ohio’s Marketable Title Act (the “MTA”). In Miller v. Mellott, 2019-Ohio-504, two different groups claimed ownership over the oil and gas. The surface owners claimed title under the MTA. The mineral owners claimed… Continue Reading
By Ilya Batikov on Posted in EnergyLast week, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court decision upholding the constitutionality of Ohio’s statutory unitization procedures. See Kerns v. Chesapeake Exploration, L.L.C., 6th Cir. No. 18-3636 (Feb. 4, 2019). Read more about that decision in our Client Alert.… Continue Reading
By Ilya Batikov and Jay Carr on Posted in EnergyOn December 13, 2018, the Supreme Court of Ohio clarified the preservation of interests under the Ohio Marketable Title Act (OMTA). See Blackstone v. Moore, Slip Opinion No. 2018-Ohio-4959. In its decision, the Court held that under the OMTA, a deed reference to a previously reserved royalty interest is sufficiently-specific to preserve that royalty interest where the… Continue Reading
By Ryan Elliott on Posted in Energy,EnvironmentOn December 11, 2018, USEPA and the Army Corps of Engineers proposed a new rule defining “water of the United States” (WOTUS) subject to USEPA/Army Corps jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. The proposed rule would replace the 2015 WOTUS rule, which has been the subject of litigation across the country, with a more narrow… Continue Reading
By Jay Carr on Posted in EnergyEarlier this week, Ohio’s 7th District Court of Appeals again addressed the amount of diligence required to identify the holders of severed mineral interests under the 2006 version of Ohio’s Dormant Mineral Act (2006 DMA). In Sharp v. Miller, 2018-Ohio-4740, the Court reaffirmed its earlier ruling in Shilts v. Beardmore that the 2006 DMA only… Continue Reading
By Ryan Elliott on Posted in Energy,EnvironmentU.S EPA recently issued a draft guidance document titled Revised Policy on Exclusions from “Ambient Air” (Draft Guidance) in which the Agency revises its 1980 policy on the exclusion of certain areas from the scope of “ambient air” under the Clean Air Act. Under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) program, “ambient air” is… Continue Reading
By Ryan Elliott on Posted in Energy,EnvironmentOn October 15, 2018, USEPA proposed amendments to the new source performance standards (NSPS) for the oil and natural gas sector at 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart OOOOa (“Subpart OOOOa”). The proposed amendments to Subpart OOOOa are a result of USEPA’s reconsideration of certain aspects of Subpart OOOOa in 2017. Specifically, the proposed amendments address… Continue Reading
By Ryan Elliott on Posted in Energy,EnvironmentOn October 1, 2018, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of claims for civil penalties for violations of the Clean Air Act’s (“CAA”) major source Preconstruction permit requirement (CAA § 165(a); 42 U.S.C. § 7475(a)) because the claims were filed more than five years after the claim accrued, but held that the… Continue Reading
By Natalia Cabrera on Posted in Energy,EnvironmentOn September 21, 2018, the Ohio Supreme Court held in State ex rel. Twitchell et al. v. Saferin et al., that the Lucas County Board of Elections (BOE) did not abuse its discretion in denying a writ of mandamus to place a proposed amendment to the Toledo City Charter on the November ballot. Slip Opinion… Continue Reading
By Jay Carr on Posted in EnergyYesterday, September 25, 2018, the Supreme Court of Ohio issued the decision of Dundics v. Eric Petroleum Corporation, 2018-Ohio-3826, which could have broad implications for third-party landmen, land companies and oil and gas producers in Ohio. In that decision, the Court held that the Ohio Real Estate Brokers’ statute, R.C. Chapter 4735, applies to transactions… Continue Reading
By Jay Carr on Posted in EnergyUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, employees who are covered by the Act’s overtime provisions must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek at a rate of not less than time and one-half their regular rate of pay. An employee who prevails in his or her lawsuit for unpaid overtime… Continue Reading
By Jay Carr on Posted in EnergyThe Supreme Court of Ohio held last week that a proposed voter initiative creating a Community Bill of Rights for the City of Columbus was properly excluded from the upcoming November 2018 ballot. State ex rel. Bolzenius v. Preisse, Slip Opinion No. 2018-Ohio-3708. The initiative, had it been included on the ballot and enacted into law,… Continue Reading
By Mac Taylor on Posted in EnergyOn August 6, 2018, the U.S. District Court in Wyoming upheld the vast majority of a Obama-era rule issued by the Department of Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue against a challenge by the American Petroleum Institute (API). The Rule related to enforcement of noncompliance and civil penalties for parties that are subject to the Federal… Continue Reading
By Michael Vennum on Posted in Energy,EnvironmentOn August 3, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court vacated another municipal zoning decision favorable to oil and gas development. In its per curium order of Delaware Riverkeeper Network v. Middlesex Township (N0. 270 WAL 2017), the Supreme Court directed the Commonwealth Court to reconsider its previous decision upholding a local zoning ordinance that permitted oil… Continue Reading
By Ilya Batikov on Posted in EnergyIn Browne v. Artex Oil Co., Case No. 17 CA 20, the Fifth District recently determined that an action to declare an oil and gas lease terminated due to a lack of production was subject to a breach of contract statute of limitations period of either eight or fifteen years (for more, see here). On… Continue Reading
By Ilya Batikov on Posted in EnergyOn June 13, 2018, a federal district court rejected a takings challenge to a unit order issued by the Ohio Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management under the state’s statutory unitization law, R.C. 1509.28 The court found that “the statutory unitization procedure set forth in R.C. § 1509.28 operates to protect the correlative rights… Continue Reading
By Ilya Batikov on Posted in EnergyA newly filed collective action in Ohio federal court against an oil and gas company highlights the importance of wage-hour law compliance and the potential ramifications for failing to do so. The case, Casarez v. Producers Service Corp., pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, involves the proper calculation of… Continue Reading
By Michael Vennum on Posted in EnergyOn June 1, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in a 4 to 3 decision, held that, without first establishing a sufficient evidentiary record, a Township cannot permit oil and gas drilling in a zoning district unless that use is specifically authorized by the municipal zoning ordinance. In Gorsline v. Fairfield Twp. Board of Supervisors, the… Continue Reading
By Ilya Batikov on Posted in EnergyIn Browne v. Artex (May 31, 2018), Ohio’s Fifth District Court of Appeals held that a claim that an oil and gas lease expired for lack of production is governed by Ohio’s statute of limitation for contract claims—not the state’s longer statute of limitations for recovery of possession of real property. In Browne, the plaintiffs… Continue Reading
By Ilya Batikov on Posted in EnergyOn May 25, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a district court’s decision that Sabine Oil & Gas Corporation could reject certain gathering service agreements in bankruptcy. The agreements, with Nordheim Eagle Ford Gathering, LLC, provided that Nordheim would supply Sabine with certain gathering, transportation and treatment services for… Continue Reading
