News & Articles

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.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its 20th Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks yesterday. The results show a 2% increase in greenhouse gas emissions in 2013 from 2012 levels but a 9% decrease since 2005. EPA attributes the increase in emissions from 2012 to 2013 to increased emissions from electricity generation, an increase in miles traveled by on-road vehicles, an increase in industrial production and emissions, and changes in weather.

On April 2, 2015, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service published its final listing and interim 4(d) rule that designate the Northern Long-Eared Bat as a Threatened Species under the Endangered Species Act. This is partial retreat from a previous notice that proposed listing the species as an Endangered Species. The interim rule incoporates restrictions on both purposeful and incidental bat takes that will become effective as to both current and new operations on May 4, 2015.