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Expert Analysis

• 3 Key Environmental Takeaways From Biden's First 30 Days

  

  President Joe Biden has heavily prioritized environmental policy during his first month in office, with three key themes emerging that will immediately change enforcement practices and affect regulated industries, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

• The State Of Asylum Law After Trump — And What's Next

  

  Kevin Gregg at Kurzban Kurzban discusses the impact of asylum decisions issued during the Trump administration's final year, the uncertainty underlying President Joe Biden’s tranche of immigration-related executive orders and reasons for cautious optimism within the immigration community.

• What Energy Sector Should Expect From Biden's Tax Policies

  

  The energy sector may find new investment opportunities or the need to adjust holdings, depending on whether company goals align with the Biden administration's potential rollback of Trump-era tax reforms, and push for clean energy, reduced carbon emissions and increased domestic manufacturing, says Gregory Matlock at Mayer Brown.

• Unresolved Issues In Calexico Inverse Condemnation Ruling

  

  A California federal court's recent decision in Calexico Auto Dismantlers v. City of Calexico, dismissing a business's inverse condemnation suit as untimely, does not properly address questions surrounding eminent domain notice and the statute of limitations, say Debra Garfinkle and Brad Kuhn at Nossaman.

• As Superfund Turns 40, Courts Are Still Puzzling Over It

  

  The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act just turned 40, but a review of several Superfund cases from 2020 demonstrates that courts are still regularly confronted with novel questions and issues related to the law, says Peter Keays at Hangley Aronchick.

• How To Reliably Value Income-Producing Real Estate

  

  Amid the pandemic-fueled surge in tax appeals and loan workouts, using the income approach to calculate the present worth of a property's future income provides the most reliable indication of value and does not rely on subjective adjustments, say Mark Dunec at FTI Consulting and Anthony DellaPelle at McKirdy Riskin.

• IRS Continuity Safe Harbor Will Aid Renewable Projects

  

  Recent Internal Revenue Service guidance expanding the continuity safe harbor to protect tax credit eligibility for qualified offshore and federal land renewable energy projects will provide certainty for developers who often face significant construction and permitting delays, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

• Buyers May Be Wary Of Climate-Driven PG&E Asset Sale

  

  PG&E's plan to sell its Pleasant Creek natural gas storage field will allow the utility to avoid decommissioning and remediation costs, and it aligns with regulators' desire to see the company move in a climate-friendly direction — but buyers may be leery of such assets for the same reasons, say Vidhya Prabhakaran and Patrick Ferguson at Davis Wright.

• NY Tax Talk: 2020 In The Rearview

  

  Craig Reilly at Hodgson Russ highlights New York City's and state's notable tax updates from the last year — many of them related to budget shortfalls due to COVID-19 — and wishes good riddance to 2020.

• Alaska Enviro Suit Shows Gov't Is A Tough Tort Defendant

  

  The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Nanouk v. U.S. concerning environmental contamination near an Alaska military installation highlights the fact that discretionary government action that yields an unfortunate result does not necessarily give rise to a tort claim, says Brandon Matsnev at Manko Gold.

• Streamlining Power Transmission Siting To Help Renewables

  

  It can take years and cost millions of dollars to secure state regulatory approval for electric transmission system upgrades needed to facilitate clean energy development, so it is important for states to create abbreviated siting processes for projects with limited anticipated impacts, says Andy Flavin at Troutman Pepper.

• FERC Nod To Energy Storage As Transmission Has Caveats

  

  While the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently approved the Midcontinent Independent System Operator plan to treat some electric storage facilities as transmission-only assets eligible for full cost-of-service rates, entities seeking similar approval will need to develop workable rules governing use of storage resources, say Mark Perlis and Bud Earley at Covington.

• EB-5 Ruling Shows Viability Of SEC Disgorgement Challenges

  

  In the first appellate decision applying the U.S. Supreme Court’s Liu decision, the Ninth Circuit recently reversed a large disgorgement award over an EB-5 visa scam in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Yang, demonstrating several ways companies and individuals facing investigations may be able to challenge SEC penalties, say attorneys at Cadwalader.