News & Articles

Preparing for the Drone Revolution By Micah Goodwin Arkansas is on the cusp of a drone revolution. Many of our state’s businesses have already begun using drones for agriculture, energy development, advertising, social media and journalism. In fact, economists anticipate drones will become a multi-billion dollar industry by the mid 2020’s, with Arkansas expected to reap millions in economic benefits.

The Supreme Court of the United States has declined to review a lower court decision to uphold the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule while the EPA was completing a court ordered cost review. More than twenty-five states and multiple industry groups petitioned the Court to vacate the controversial rule.

On June 7, 2016, a Texas federal district court granted a Delta Air Lines Inc. motion to dismiss a lawsuit claiming Delta’s ban on transporting safari hunting “trophies” was discriminatory, constituted “tortious interference” and violated certain statues and regulations relating to the Federal Aviation Administration (F.A.A).

On June 7, 2016, the U.S. Senate passed the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act. The Act is a long-awaited update of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Chemical companies and public health and environmental groups alike have been championing for an update to the TSCA for years.

On June 1, 2016, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) published its proposal to reissue existing nationwide permits (NWPs), general conditions, and definitions, with some modifications, in the Federal Register. The proposal introduced two new NWPs and one new general condition that would apply to all NWPs.