Eric Groten(L) and Taylor Holcomb(R) of Vinson & Elkins.Courtesy photos
On Aug. 10, a Texas federal district court compelled the owner of a manufacturing plant to produce arguably privileged emissions information to an environmental activist group suing it for alleged Clean Air Act violations. Unless this ruling is changed or clarified on appeal or in other cases, it cautions against generating confidential information in reliance on the privilege from disclosure created by the Texas Environmental, Health and Safety Audit Privilege Act (the “Texas Audit Act”), at least under circumstances in which there is a meaningful risk of federal court litigation.
