Thomas Dinapoli News

A U.S. appeals court said BP Plc, which in July reached a $18.7 billion settlement of federal, state and local claims over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, must face one of two proposed class-action lawsuits claiming that the oil company defrauded shareholders over the disaster. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said investors who bought BP's American depositary shares in a 33-day period soon after the spill may pursue group claims that BP initially "lowballed" the oil flow rate, and that the share price tumbled as the crisis' magnitude became known.

New York Assembly Bill 5175 (AB 5175), sponsored by Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli (D), requires the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to develop, draft and implement a regulatory program to address the prevention of oil spills on state waterways. The existing regulations provide DEC a degree of discretion which permits the agency to consider federal and local programs that may address issues related to oil spills, such as pre-deployment of booming equipment, contingency plans, oil spill response resources, and notification procedures. AWO commented many, if not all, the requirements in AB 5175 are already part of federal regulations implemented in the last decade.