Comments for FERC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Fuel Cell Energy Output (“NOPR”) are due tomorrow, November 25, 2020. [1] In the NOPR, FERC proposes to modify its regulations for qualifying facility (“QF”) status under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, as amended, (“PURPA”) to allow Solid Oxide Fuel Cell systems with integrated natural gas reformation equipment to be eligible for PURPA QF status. This post provides an overview of the NOPR itself. The Bracewell team will follow up next week with an overview of the comments that are posted in this docket. QF owners enjoy...

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals (covering Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah) issued an opinion on Tuesday (10/27/2020) that expands the applicability of OSHA’s process-safety-management standard to interconnected processes—even when the interconnected process does not contain any highly hazardous chemicals. The Tenth Circuit reached its decision based upon a plain reading of the regulatory definition of “process.” In doing so, the court also rejected Wynnewood Refining’s argument, under Kisor v. Wilkie , that the court should consider the “text, structure, history,...