Memo Boy Age

[Octaviano Collars]

TodayNational Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum to all Field offices providing updated guidance regarding her position that certain Players at Academic Institutions (sometimes referred to as student athletes), are employees under the National Labor Relations Act, and, as such, are afforded all statutory protections.

Established in 1935, the National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency that protects employees from unfair labor practices and protects the right of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve wages, benefits and working conditions. The NLRB conducts hundreds of workplace elections and investigates thousands of unfair labor practice charges each year.

As you can see, my dinner with Dave was a seminal event; his approach was clearly the one for me. (Incidentally, I want to share that after decades of not having been in touch, Dave was among the many kind people who wrote in recent months to encourage me vis--vis my health issue. This is a great example of the many personal dividends my career has paid.)

At the time I adopted that saying, my partners and I were primarily high yield bond investors. And since non-convertible bonds have little upside potential beyond their promised yield to maturity, it truly was the case that our main job was to avoid the non-payers, with the assumption that some subset of the payers would likely give us exposure to positive developments that occurred. It was an appropriate way to sum up our approach as bond investors.

Most people would have sold part or all of their Apple holding by the time the price reached $15 in the summer of 2013. What would you have done when it hit 40 times your original cost after 10 years?

The theory assumes investors are rational and objective, but psychological excesses violate that assumption. Take, for example, the investment environment during the Global Financial Crisis. As I described in my July memo Taking the Temperature, in late 2008, investors were so worried about a financial sector meltdown that they panicked and sold securities aggressively as their prices collapsed. Excessive risk aversion causes the risk/return line to steepen (increasing the return for each incremental unit of risk borne) and perhaps even to curve upward (rendering the compensation for making investments at the risky end of the spectrum disproportionately generous). Thus, in periods of excessive risk aversion, the riskier part of the curve can be the smarter place to be (and in periods when risk bearing is too eagerly embraced, the safer part can offer a superior proposition).

This memorandum expresses the views of the author as of the date indicated and such views are subject to change without notice. Oaktree has no duty or obligation to update the information contained herein. Further, Oaktree makes no representation, and it should not be assumed, that past investment performance is an indication of future results. Moreover, wherever there is the potential for profit there is also the possibility of loss.

Click on the titles below to learn more about each issue area and check back every week for a new memo outlining Trump or Harris' threats to our freedoms and what the ACLU will be doing to fight back.

Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) sets out the policy of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to simplify and streamline the leasing process to alleviate unnecessary impediments and burdens, to expedite the offering of lands for lease, and to ensure quarterly oil and gas lease sales are consistently held in accordance with the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 226), Executive Order 13783, and Secretary Order 3354. This IM supersedes existing policy announced in IM No. 2010-117, Oil and Gas Leasing Reform - Land Use Planning and Lease Parcel Reviews, issued on May 17, 2010, and replaces any conflicting guidance or directive found in the BLM Manual or Handbook.

Policy/Action: The following policy applies to the leasing of Federal minerals under Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administered surface,[1] state-owned surface, and private surface estates.[2] The BLM does not manage leasing on Indian lands; therefore, this policy does not apply to Indian lands.

This policy (1) addresses land use planning, lease parcel review, lease sales and lease issuance, and IM implementation; and (2) directs the BLM to incorporate the revised policy, as appropriate, into affected BLM handbooks and manuals.

As outlined in the BLM Handbook H-1601-1, Land Use Planning, the Resource Management Plan (RMP) underlies fluid minerals leasing decisions. Through effective monitoring and periodic RMP evaluations, state and field offices will examine resource management decisions to determine whether the RMPs adequately protect important resource values in light of changing circumstances, updated policies, and new information (H-1601-1, sections V.A and B). The results of such reviews and evaluations may require a state/field office to update resource information through land use plan maintenance, amendment, or revision. It is BLM policy that existing land use plan decisions remain in effect until an amendment or revision is complete or approved. Therefore, the BLM will not routinely defer leasing when waiting for an RMP amendment or revision to be signed. Rather, when making leasing decisions, the BLM will exercise its discretion consistent with existing RMPs and the State Director should consult with the Washington Office (WO) before deciding to defer leasing of any parcels. When necessary, state/field offices will maintain or amend RMPs to accommodate changes in lease stipulations in accordance with guidance found in H-1610-1, Land Use Planning, sections VI.H and VII.B.

The state/field offices will continue to determine appropriate stipulations for parcels offered for lease, consistent with the applicable RMP. Each state/field office has the discretion to form Interdisciplinary Consistency Review Teams (IDCR Team) for lands under its jurisdiction. The primary purposes of IDCR Teams are to prepare lease stipulations that are written in a BLM approved format and are consistent within each state for the protection of similar resources or resource settings,[3] and with the goal to edge-match across administrative boundaries including consideration of the management directives of surface management agencies (SMAs) of adjacent lands.

In applying an Adaptive Management approach[4] to oil and gas related activities to address changing resource conditions, RMPs and associated lease stipulations must conform to the BLM instruction memorandum entitled, Exceptions, Waivers, and Modifications of Fluid Minerals Stipulations and Conditions of Approval, and Associated Rights-of-way Terms and Conditions (WO-IM-2008-032, dated November 27, 2007).[5] As appropriate, stipulations will use Adaptive Management principles to incorporate the best available science, and address changing resource conditions.

The BLM conducted the review required by Executive Order 13783 and Secretarial Order 3354 and determined that Master Leasing Plans (MLPs) have created duplicative layers of NEPA review. This policy, therefore, eliminates the use of MLPs. The MLP procedures in Chapter V of BLM Handbook H-1624-1, Planning for Fluid Minerals Resources, are hereby rescinded. The BLM will not initiate any new MLPs or complete ongoing MLPs under consideration as land use plan amendments.

The purpose of a lease parcel review by the state/field offices is to determine the conditions under which leasing is allowed to proceed, and to ensure conformance with the approved RMP. Lease parcel reviews will be conducted and documented simultaneously with the NEPA compliance process for lease sales.

The BLM accepts Expressions of Interest (EOI) in lands for potential leasing through the National Fluids Lease Sale System (NFLSS). Members of the public submit EOIs electronically to the BLM using NFLSS. Once submitted, the public can view all EOIs submitted to the BLM. The EOI submitter can track its EOI status using the EOI-specific tracking number provided by NFLSS. NFLSS can display the dates when the EOI was submitted to, and accepted by, the BLM, and its status, such as pending review by the state office, field office, or surface management agency. The BLM also uses the NFLSS to describe lands that the BLM has identified for leasing consideration. NFLSS provides a link to upcoming lease sales. The BLM will identify in NFLSS a deadline for receiving EOIs for each upcoming sale. The deadline will be six months prior to the lease sale month. This EOI deadline also will be posted on the state office website along with the upcoming lease sale schedule.

The timeframe for parcel review for a specific lease sale is to be no longer than 6 months. This will include adjudicating and creating the preliminary parcel list from all timely received EOIs and the other lands identified for leasing consideration in the NFLSS, recognizing there will be exceptions due to unforeseen circumstances, including delays associated with SMA consent.

Field offices have the discretion to form an Interdisciplinary Parcel Review (IDPR) Team of resource specialists to review lease sale parcels as part of compliance with NEPA and other legal and policy requirements for adequate review of parcels.

State/field offices will gather and evaluate existing environmental resource information and compile documentation of compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and executive orders (e.g., NEPA analysis, Endangered Species Act (ESA) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq.) resource data and consultation, and socioeconomic data pursuant to Executive Order 12989). The field offices will determine the need for additional information and develop strategies to obtain any data that may be required to support a leasing decision.

3a8082e126