Shifting the E-Discovery Solution: Why Taniguchi Necessitates a Decline in E-Discovery Court Costs

The amount of electronically stored information in the United States doubles every 18-24 months, and 90 percent of U.S. corporations are currently engaged in some kind of litigation. These factors, combined with the new way we store our information, have turned discovery into a complicated and expensive process. In response, parties have attempted to pass these costs off to the non-prevailing party as court costs under 28 U.S.C § 1920 ( Section 1920 ), which enumerates six items that can be awarded as court costs. The U.S. Courts of Appeals are split regarding the interpretation of Section 1920. If the statute is interpreted broadly, a variety of ediscovery tasks, ranging from hiring outside counsel to creating litigation-related databases, can be properly awarded as costs. If the statute is read more narrowly, however, courts will limit the type of ediscovery costs that can be awarded under the language of the statute, which will reduce e-discovery court costs. This Comment will describe the current state of the circuit split and discuss the various approaches to interpreting Section 1920. This Comment will then describe the Taniguchi v. Kan Pacific Saipan, Ltd. case in detail and analyze how the case\u27s dicta might affect the ediscovery court costs debate. Finally, this Comment will propose a judicial test for interpreting Section 1920 in a uniform manner. This Comment ultimately urges the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and mandate such a test

Rural livelihoods, empowerment and the environment: Going beyond the farm boundary

The 15th International Symposium of the Association for farming Systems Research-Extension (AFSR-E) was held at the University of Pretoria between 29 November and 4 December 1998 with the theme of "Rural livelihoods, empowerment and the environment: Going beyond the farm boundary". The conference was sponsored by twenty organisations involved in farming systems research (a list of sponsors is attached as Appendix 1) and was attended by 560 delegates from more than seventy countries (delegate list attached as Appendix 2). The Symposium addressed five sub-themes: ecological sustainable development and farming systems; short term farmer survival versus long term sustainability; empowerment through capacity building; the institutional environment and farming systems; and methodological issues and challenges

A Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of the 8-Mile Project, Brazoria County, Texas

Perennial Environmental Services, LLC (Perennial), on behalf of Phillips 66 Pipeline LLC (P66), conducted an intensive cultural resources survey of the proposed 8-Mile Project located in Brazoria County, Texas . The proposed Project will consist of an approximately 1,275.3-acre (ac) (516.1-hectare [ha]) facility designed to service the transportation of Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) and will include a railroad track loop, storage, railcar offloading tracks, an administrative building, and other structures necessary for operation of the facility. The proposed Project is located within the jurisdictional boundary of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Galveston District. The Project may require the usage of a Nationwide Permit (NWP) issued by the USACE, and as such, a cultural resources survey was conducted for the 1275.3 ac (516.1 ha) Project area in accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (36 CFR Part 800). The survey was designed to inventory and assess cultural resources across the Project. These efforts involved both surface and subsurface archaeological survey. The area of potential effect (APE) is considered the entirety of the Project area. The APE measures approximately 1275.3 ac (516.1 ha). Perennial conducted the intensive Phase I cultural resources survey within the boundary of the Project APE. Zachary Overfield served as the Principal Investigator (PI) for the Project and supervised all aspects of the cultural resources survey. The fieldwork was conducted by Tessa Noble, Mary Noell, Jacob Cumberland, Patrick Gainey, Anne Marie Fraley, and Allyson Walsh on December 4-12, 2014 and Amy Goldstein, Kirsten Atwood, and Zachary Overfield on February 22-24, 2016. The background review identified two National Register listed properties (Marmion’s gazebo and Palapa table) northwest of the Project area. Both properties are located upon the historic James Richard Marmion Estate, which has not been evaluated in its entirety for its NRHP eligibility (Atlas 2016). The gazebo and Palapa table were created by noted sculptor Dionicio Rodriguez and qualify under criterion C as the work of a master. The gazebo is located 0.4 mi (0.7 km) northwest of the Project area and the table is located 0.6 mi (1.0 km) northwest of the Project area. The properties do not lie in the Project viewshed as bottomland hardwood forest obscures the northwestern boundary. Additionally, rail facilities will not drastically alter the character of the viewshed due to the prior establishment of a railroad and rail facilities in the immediate area. These properties are a sufficient distance outside of the Project APE and will not be impacted by Project construction activities. The field survey resulted in entirely negative findings with no cultural resources observed along the ground surface or within any of the 395 shovel tests excavated across the Project. Overall, the Project area was found to be dominated by cleared pastureland that was once bottomland hardwood forests. Multiple pipeline corridors bisect the property, and inundation was widespread during the 2014 and 2016 investigations. Based on the extent of the survey efforts and the entirely negative results of the investigation, it is the professional opinion of the Principal Investigator that the Project will have no adverse effect on significant cultural resources listed on or considered eligible for listing on the NRHP. No further work is recommended for the Project

Cultural Resources Survey of the Proposed CPS Energy Shepherd Transmission Line Project, Bexar County, Texas

SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) conducted a cultural resources investigation on behalf of CPS Energy for the proposed 5.6-mile-long (9-kilometer [km]-long) Shepherd Transmission Line Project in Bexar County, Texas (Project). The Project will involve installing new overhead electric transmission monopoles within west San Antonio. The Project is currently not subject to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) but is subject to the Antiquities Code of Texas (ACT) and Historic Preservation and Design Sections of San Antonio’s Unified Development Code, both closely aligned to NHPA standards. The purpose of the investigation was to identify any substantial cultural resources sites located within the Project area, establish vertical and horizontal site boundaries as appropriate with regard to the Project area, and evaluate the significance of any sites recorded within the property. All work was done in accordance with the Archeological Survey Standards for Texas as set forth by the Council of Texas Archeologists (CTA) and adopted by the Texas Historical Commission (THC). The direct area of potential effects (APE) totals 69.3 acres (28.0 hectare), derived from the approximately 5.6-mile-long (9.0-km-long) proposed Project alignment and its 75- to 100-foot-wide (22.9- to 30.5-meter-wide) corridor. The indirect APE examined was the direct line of sight from planned Project monopoles and wires with the potential to impact the visual viewshed of historic buildings. Prehistoric archaeological site 41BX2270 was newly identified during the investigation. Site 41BX2270 is a diffuse lithic artifact scatter isolated to the ground surface. The artifact assemblage is representative of a lithic procurement site ubiquitous across the region. Due to the paucity of cultural materials, lack of temporally diagnostic artifacts or features, and absence of buried prehistoric materials, SWCA assesses the portion of site 41BX2270 within the Project area as not eligible for the National Register of Historic Places or for designation as a State Antiquities Landmark and no further work is recommended. SWCA has made a reasonable and good faith effort to identify significant cultural resources within the APE. All investigations were conducted in accordance with the regulations and guidelines of the ACT, THC/CTA, and Section 106 of the NHPA

Cultural Resources Investigations for the CrownQuest City of Midland Oil and Gas Project, Midland and Glasscock Counties, Texas

SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) was retained by CrownQuest Operating, LLC, to complete an intensive cultural resources investigation for the proposed CrownQuest City of Midland Oil and Gas Project (Project). The Project includes newly proposed oil and gas well pads, crude oil pipeline, and associated access roads on City of Midland property in Midland and Glasscock Counties, Texas. These new components will be constructed within an existing upstream oil and gas system. The 149.9-acre (60.7-hectare) Project area is located approximately 15 miles southeast of Midland, Texas, immediately south of Highway 158, and is situated along and between Johnson and Pemberton Draws. The Project involves a political subdivision within the state of Texas (City of Midland). The Antiquities Code of Texas (ACT) applies because the Project’s activities occur on property owned by the City of Midland and will involve more than 5 acres / 5,000 cubic yards of land disturbance or may potentially affect known archaeological sites. It is SWCA’s understanding that the Project does not currently have a federal nexus, and it is not subject to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The purpose of this investigation was to identify and assess any cultural resources, such as historic and prehistoric archaeological sites and historic buildings, structures, objects, and sites (such as cemeteries) that might be located within the boundaries of the proposed Project and evaluate their significance and eligibility for designation as a State Antiquities Landmark. The investigations included a background and historic map review of the Project area and immediately surrounding region followed by pedestrian survey with visual examination and shovel test excavations at proposed Project activity areas. All investigations were conducted in accordance with the ACT and standards and guidelines established by the THC and Council of Texas Archeologists. Following the review and acceptance of the final cultural resources report, all records and photographs will be curated with the Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio, per requirements of the ACT in accordance with the CTA guidelines. The cultural resources investigation was conducted under ACT Permit No. 8506. Fieldwork was performed from July 30 to August 4, 2018. The Project setting was mainly eroded and heavily disturbed uplands with occasional exposures of bedrock and caliche. Pedestrian survey was augmented by hand excavating 253 shovel tests and seven auger tests, which were terminated at the maximum reachable depth or at soils likely predating human occupation, typically around 45 cm below surface. The most pervasive land disturbance observed was related to petroleum exploration and extraction activities that have generally impacted ground surface integrity. During the investigation SWCA archaeologists did not observe any prehistoric or historic cultural resources within the Project area. The location near site 41MD4, identified during the background review, could not be visited by SWCA survey staff due to a fire in the facility. The site boundary defined does not extend into a proposed Project activity area and the closest associated Project item is already disturbed. On that basis it is not considered to be a Project concern. Based on the negative findings of the intensive cultural resources survey, SWCA recommends that no further archaeological investigations are warranted within the assessed portions of the CrownQuest City of Midland Oil and Gas Project area