December 2009

The ZINO Society, a Seattle-based angel investment group, announced last week that its annual “ZINO Green Investment Forum” would be held on March 4, 2010, at the McKinstry Innovation Center in Seattle.   Up to fifteen early-stage companies in “green tech, clean tech, and sustainable products or services” will be selected by the ZINO Green screening board to…

United State District Court Judge Roger W. Titus recently issued an injunction halting the construction of the Beech Ridge wind project in Greenbrier County, West Virginia to protect the Indiana Bat, a species listed as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”). The ruling is the first of its kind in the law developing around …

The goal of the award-winning Evergreen production team is to document, promote and present the clean technology story to audiences of decision makers, regulators, citizens and students in Washington State, the Pacific Northwest and international markets.

In December 2009, the Evergreen team traveled to Copenhagen to document the efforts of the Washington delegation at the…

An update on intellectual property issues from my colleague, John Rafter:

On December 7, 2009 the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") announced the launch of a pilot program to accelerate the examination of certain green technology patent applications.

Under the Green Technology Pilot Program, patent applications pertaining to environmental quality, energy conservation, development…

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department ("WGFD") has extended the public comment period on a draft document:  "Wind Energy Issues:  Impacts and Mitigation for Wildlife in Wyoming" from December 18, 2009 to February 1, 2010.  The document provides recommendations for assessing impacts to wildlife from wind energy projects, for collecting data, and for mitigating effects on…

On December 7, 2009, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the issuance of a final rule amending the October, 2007 Final Regulations implementing the Loan Guarantee Program under Section 1703 of Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (the "Section 1703 Program").  The amendments implemented through the final rule were first identified in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Opportunity for Comment  issued by the Department of Energy ("DOE") on August 7, 2009.  The comment period for the proposed amendments ended on September 22, 2009; the comments received by the DOE from the industry and other interested parties were largely supportive of the proposed amendments.

In a nutshell, the amendments to the regulations outlined in the final rule are designed to:

  • provide flexibility in the determination of an appropriate collateral package to secure the guaranteed loan obligations;
  • eliminate the requirement that the Secretary receive a first priority lien on all project assets as a condition for obtaining the loan guarantee;
  • facilitate collateral sharing and related intercreditor arrangements with other project lenders; and
  • provide a more workable interpretation of certain statutory provisions regarding DOE’s treatment of collateral that is more consistent with the intent and purposes of Title XVII.

Continue Reading U.S. Department of Energy Announces Final Rule Amending Regulations for Loan Guarantee Program

 

On December 2, House Ways & Means Chairman Rangel and Ranking Member Camp introduced a tax technical corrections bill (H.R. 4169).  We will likely see an identical version introduced in the Senate very soon.

Included among the technicals are changes to the Grant in Lieu of ITC under section 1603 of ARRA.  The most

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Stoel Rives partner Tom Wood reports:

Minutes ago EPA announced its long awaited “endangerment” and “cause or contribute” findings in relation to six key greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride.  While technically this announcement is of limited significance (applying only to motor vehicle emissions), the policy import of…

In an earlier blog post, Debra Frimerman reported that the U.S. Department of Energy was seeking applications for grants to help promote the construction and operation of pilot, demonstration, and commercial scale integrated biorefinery projects. Today, DOE announced the selection of 19 projects to receive up to $564 million in grant money authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.Continue Reading Show me the Money: $564 Million Awarded to Integrated Biorefinery Projects