Monthly Archives: <span>December 2015</span>

FAA Releases Hobby Drone Registry Rules

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has unveiled its registration process for owners of small unmanned aircraft (UAS), or small drones used for hobby or recreation. The registration requirement applies to UAS weighing more than 0.55 pounds and less than 55 …

Massachusetts Bill Offers Two-Tiered Driver’s License Identification System

Among the many issues that Massachusetts lawmakers may deal with after returning from recess in January is whether to bring the state into compliance with REAL ID, a federal program that sets new requirements for driver’s licenses and other identification …

California Invisible Spill Spewing the Gases of 500,000 Cars

Call it the invisible spill. You can’t see it, but it’s there — a steady stream of natural gas seeping out of the pipe casing in a well in Southern California that may spew as much greenhouse gas into the …

High Court to Consider Challenges to Drunken Driving Test

The Supreme Court will decide whether states can criminalize a driver’s refusal to take an alcohol test even if police have not obtained a search warrant. The justices on Friday agreed to hear three cases challenging laws in Minnesota and …

Report Finds 241 Plane Drone Near Collisions

There has yet to be a confirmed U.S. collision between a drone and a manned aircraft, but there’s a growing number of close calls as drones fly where they least belong – near airports. A report released Friday counted at …

Survey: Supply Chain Disruptions Impact Clean Tech Profits

Nearly two-thirds (61%) of clean tech companies experienced a supply chain disruption in the past three years, and in the vast majority of cases (84%) the event had a material impact on the bottom line, according to the 2015 Global …

When is a Claim For Reimbursement of Defense Costs Ripe?

The California Court of Appeals recently considered the question of when an insurer’s claim for reimbursement of defense costs is ripe. In Centex Homes v. St. Paul Fire and Marine Ins. Co., 237 Cal.App.4th 23, 187 Cal.Rptr.3d 542 (4th Dist., …

Energy Firms Want Oklahoma Judge to Toss Earthquake Injury Suit

Two energy companies asked a judge Wednesday to throw out a lawsuit by an Oklahoma woman who claims she was injured in an earthquake caused by the injection of wastewater deep into the ground – a long-used method to dispose …

India Flood Damage Caused $3B Damage, Insurance Payouts Estimated at Just $300M

An enhanced North East Monsoon – almost certainly impacted by current El Niño conditions – brought weeks of torrential rainfall to southern India and Sri Lanka for much of November and early December, killing at least an estimated 386 people …

Massachusetts to Receive $120M in Disaster Aid for Last Year’s Blizzard-Related Costs

Gov. Charlie Baker said Massachusetts is expecting to receive $120 million in federal disaster assistance following last winter’s record snowfall. That’s the most ever awarded to the state as the result of a single natural disaster. Half of the money …