In Tuesday's environmental law news, the US Department of Transportation's Surface Transportation Board official website] has announced it has upheld a petition by railroad company CSX Co. that contends a Washington DC City Council prohibition on hazardous materials within two miles of the Capitol building should be ruled invalid . The Board's ruling has no [...]

The insurgency in Iraq increasingly is made up of organized crime and hired criminals, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Myers said Tuesday after visiting the country. Myers said that Saddam Hussein loyalists and insurgents from other countries are still a threat, but more of those arrested by US and Iraqi forces are criminals. [...]

Paul Clement is awaiting confirmation by the Senate after President Bush nominated him Friday as US Solicitor General, a position he has filled on an acting basis ever since predecessor Theodore Olson's departure for the private sector eight months ago. Clement has been with the US Solicitor General's Office since 2001, and served as deputy [...]

Leading Tuesday's corporations and securities law news, the SEC has filed a lawsuit against former Qwest Communications International Inc. CEO Joseph Nacchio and six other former executives alleging they filed false financial statements that led to a massive financial fraud on investors. The scheme caused Qwest to fraudulently report about $3 billion of revenue and [...]

At the opening of the new Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem Tuesday, Israeli President Moshe Katsav warned of increasing anti-Semitism and called on European leaders to confront the problem. The ceremony was attended by leaders of about 40 countries, including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was also present, and said the [...]

The PA Superior Court has dismissed clergy abuse lawsuits filed by 17 adults in the state because the statute of limitations had run on the claims. The alleged abuse dated between 1957 to 1983, but the plaintiffs argued that it could not be known that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was negligent in overlooking the abuses [...]

The Environmental Protection Agency Tuesday issued new mercury regulations for power plants that are designed to reduce emissions to 70 percent of 1999 levels once fully implemented. The Clean Air Mercury Rule uses a market-based cap-and-trade program similar to that in the recently announced Clean Air Interstate Rule to cut emissions of coal-fired power plants. [...]

The number of federal appeals cases filed in 2004 was a new all-time high, according to a report released Tuesday by the Administrative Office of the US Courts . There were 62,762 appeals filed last year in federal Courts of Appeals, up 3 percent from the previous year. 2004 was the ninth year in a [...]

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) issued its final indictment on Tuesday, after over a decade of bringing war criminals to justice. A spokeswoman for the court said that the indictments against former Macedonian Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski and a former senior police officer would be the last from the tribunal, established [...]

AP is reporting that former WorldCom chief Bernard Ebbers has been convicted on all counts at his fraud trial. 12:51 PM – Reuters now has a story here. The Manhattan jury found Ebbers guilty of fraud, conspiracy, and filing false documents with regulators. When sentenced June 13 he could face up to 85 years in [...]