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Disclaimer

The materials on this website, and materials posted or distributed throughout all other electronic and hard copy media of The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law, are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal or other professional advice. The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law is not a provider of legal services. The use of this website, and the sending or receipt of other electronic and hard copy information, do not create an attorney-client relationship between you and The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law. Your communication with us through this website or other electronic and hard copy media is not privileged or confidential. The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law does not guarantee the material on this website to be correct or complete. This website contains links to other resources on the Internet; these links are provided solely to assist visitors in locating these resources, and a link to another website does not imply any relationship, affiliation, or approval of the linked resources or their contents.

 

Disclaimer |  Privacy Policy  |  Media Policy  |  Whistleblower Policy  

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THE FOUNDATION FOR NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY LAW PRIVACY POLICY

This Privacy Policy explains how The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law (“the Foundation,” “we” or “us”) may collect, use, share, retain, and safeguard information on www.fnrel.org, mobile websites, microsites, mobile applications, profiles on the Foundation’s social media sites, and any other digital services and platforms officially operated or used by us from time to time (the “Sites” or “Services”). Our policy covers:

1.  What type of personally identifiable information do we collect?

2.  What type of non-personal data do we collect and might third parties collect?

3.  How do we use and share personally identifiable information?

a. We may publish personally identifiable information for membership directories and registration lists.

b. We may share personally identifiable information to perform business functions.

c. We may share personally identifiable information with other non-profit companies for marketing.

d. We may share personally identifiable information when legally necessary or to protect our interests.

e. We may share your email address only in limited circumstances.

4.  How might third parties collect and use your personally identifiable information on their internet sites that are linked to our Sites or email?

5.  How can you access, correct, or delete personally identifiable information?

6.  How do we use and share non-personal data?

7.  How can you manage third party use of non-personal data?

8.  How can you opt out from commercial communications?

9.  What special rights do you have if you are a California resident?

10.  How do we comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”)?

a. What are EU user rights?

b. What are the grounds for processing information under GDPR?

11.  How do we protect your information?

12.  How do you contact us?

As our memberships, products, and services change from time to time, this policy is expected to change as well. We reserve the right to amend this policy at any time, for any reason. The date of the last revision to the policy will be indicated by the "Last updated" date at the bottom of this policy.

1.  What type of personally identifiable information do we collect?

We may collect information (whether online, by phone, or by paper) that identifies you when you: provide such information on our Sites, apply or register for our events, or otherwise interact with us, including applying for membership or purchasing our products or services.

The types of personally identifiable information collected may include your name, address, phone number, gender, age, years in practice, billing and delivery information, email address, and information about your practice or business. 

We collect credit card information when you pay by that method, but we use credit card information only to obtain payment for our courses, publications, and services that you opt to purchase. Credit card information is NOT stored on our Sites or maintained in our office.

We do not knowingly collect personal data online from, or market online to, children under the age of 18.

We may also receive personally identifiable information of individuals from our program partners and co-sponsors.

2.  What type of non-personal data do we collect and might third parties collect?

As you interact with our Sites, we may also collect information about your browsing history or certain other information that is not personally identifiable information through your use of and visits to the Sites and our use of a variety of technologies, including cookies, tags, beacons, Internet Protocol (IP) address, and other tools.

"Cookies" are pieces of code/text placed on your computer when you browse our Sites. “Tags” and web beacons refer to code scripts that are primarily used to track visitors’ activities on our Sites by web analytics software.

The types of non-personal data collected on our Sites through the use of these, and other tools as we may add from time to time, may include the search terms you used, new or returning user, browser information, computer type, operating system, internet service providers, website usage, referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, number of clicks, ads viewed, etc.

Additionally, third parties might use cookies, tags, and other tools to collect other information about you and your visits to Sites and elsewhere on the internet including your industry, company size, job function, seniority level, etc.

3.  How do we use and share personally identifiable information?

Once collected, we may use your personally identifiable information in the following ways:

  • Providing service communications such as bill reminders, order confirmations, program registrations, and customer service messages
  • Responding to your emails or online requests for products, services, or information
  • Delivering and processing surveys
  • Personalizing and improving the usability of the Sites
  • Fulfilling and/or delivering our products and services
  • Publishing membership directories and registration lists as described below
  • Tailoring content, advertising, and marketing to you
  • Marketing our products and services to you
  • On occasion, marketing to you products and services of other non-profit organizations and associations that we work with
  • Sharing with third parties as required by law or to protect us as described below
  • Sharing your email address as described below

Except as described in this policy, we will not intentionally disclose your personally identifiable information or non-personal data that we collect or store to third parties without your consent. We may disclose information to third parties if you consent and in the following circumstances:

a.  We may publish personally identifiable information for membership directories and registration lists.

To allow other lawyers, landmen, and other professionals to find you, your personally identifiable information may be published on the Sites and other print or digital media, in a variety of ways, including, directories, membership lists, and other types of registration lists for our programs and events.

We do not collect, and directory and registration list will not include, sensitive information, such as credit card or bank information, social security numbers, health data, political/religious views, etc.

If you register for one of our programs, the registration list for that program will be shared with other registrants of the program.  Other registrants of a program may use personally identifiable information in those registration lists, including to invite you to events held or sponsored by them in connection with the program. 

Users may request their information be suppressed from registration or directory lists by contacting us as set forth in the section below entitled “How do you contact us?”.

b.  We may share personally identifiable information to perform business functions.

When fulfilling product or service requests initiated by you, we may share your personally identifiable Information with certain third parties to fulfill the requests. We may also share such information with service providers that perform business functions for us. For example, we occasionally hire other companies to provide limited services on our behalf, including packaging, mailing and delivering promotional offers, consulting services, data modeling, printing, sending postal mail, and processing event registrations.  In such cases, we may share your personally identifiable information.

c.  We may share personally identifiable information with other non-profit companies for marketing.

We may share personally identifiable information, except for email addresses, with certain other non-profit companies and associations in order to provide them an opportunity to offer products or services that may be of interest to you.

d.  We may share personally identifiable information when legally necessary or to protect our interests.

We may disclose your personally identifiable information if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to:

  • conform to legal requirements or comply with legal process served on us
  • protect and defend our rights or property
  • protect the personal safety of our personnel or members of the public in appropriate circumstances

e.  We may share your email address only in limited circumstances.

We do not sell or rent e-mail addresses to anyone outside of the Foundation.

Please understand, however, that your email address may be visible to other members, other attorneys, others who have interest or participate in our events, as well as the general public, through registration and directory lists as described above. 

We may also share your email address with third parties:

  • to enable us to take security measures to help protect against unauthorized access to or unauthorized alteration, disclosure, or destruction of data
  • to perform certain services on our behalf, such as packaging, mailing, and delivering products and processing event registrations and to respond to your service requests

4.  How might third parties collect and use your personally identifiable information on their internet sites that are linked to our Sites or emails?

You should be aware that other internet sites, applications, or digital platforms may be linked to our Sites. For example, when you click on “programs/online” from the homepage on our Site at fnrel.org to access our Online Natural Resources Education products, you will be taken to a third party site, http:rmmlf.inreachce.com, which is operated by our third party vendor, InReach. In order to access these Online Natural Resources Education products, you must provide personally identifiable information, including credit card information, to InReach.

The InReach internet site and other sites that are linked from our Sites or from one of our email messages may contain privacy provisions that differ from the provisions of this policy. To ensure your privacy is protected, we recommend that you review the privacy statements of these other linked sites, applications, or other digital platforms.

5.  How can you access, correct, or delete personally identifiable information?

We respect your privacy rights and provide you with reasonable access to personally identifiable information that you may have provided through your membership or use of our products and services. If you wish to access or amend any personally identifiable information we hold about you, or to request that we delete or transfer any information about you that we have obtained for you or from third parties, you may contact us as set forth in the “How do you contact us?” section. At your request, we will have any reference to you deleted or blocked in our database.

Certain areas of the Sites may require the use of a user ID, email address, or password as an additional security measure that helps protect your information.  To help you protect your privacy, the Sites have tools to help you log in and log out.

You may update, correct, or delete your account information on our Sites at any time by accessing your account on our Sites. Please note that while any changes you make will be reflected in our user database instantly or with a reasonable period of time, we may retain information you submit for backups, archiving, prevention of fraud and abuse, analytics, satisfaction of legal obligations, or where we otherwise reasonably believe we have a legitimate reason to do so.

You may of course decline to share personally identifiable information with us, in which case we may not be able to provide to you some of our products and services or membership.

At any time, you may object to the processing of your personally identifiable information, on legitimate grounds, except if otherwise permitted by applicable law.  If you believe your right to privacy granted by applicable data protection laws has been infringed upon, please contact us as set forth below in the “How do you contact us?” section. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with data protection authorities.

6.  How do we use and share non-personal data?

Through the use of various technological tools, we may collect non-personal data to improve the usability of our Sites, products and services and for other business reasons. We may then use the non-personal data to provide advertisements and targeted advertisements to you.

7.  How can you manage third party use of non-personal data?

Third party advertising companies may collect data about your visit to our sites and others to provide you more relevant advertising here and elsewhere on the internet. This type of advertising is known as Online Behavioral Advertising. You can stop this collection and use of data for these purposes by companies participating in the Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”) by visiting the “Opt Out From Online Behavioral Advertising” website. By opting out, the ads you see may be less relevant, and you may still continue to see other non-targeted advertisements on our Sites and elsewhere.

You may opt out from the collection of navigation information about your visit to our Sites by Google Analytics by using the Google Analytics Opt-out feature.

8.  How can you opt out from commercial communications?

If you receive commercial emails from us, you may unsubscribe at any time by following the instructions contained within the email or by sending an email or letter to the address provided in the “How do you contact us?” section.

If you opt-out of receiving commercial email from us it may take up to 10 business days for us to process your request.

9.  What special rights do you have if you are a California resident?

In addition to the rights as explained in this policy, under California’s "Shine the Light" law, California residents who provide personal information (as defined in the statute) in obtaining products or services for personal, family, or household use are entitled to request and obtain from us, once a calendar year, information about the personal information we shared, if any, with other businesses for marketing uses.

If applicable, this information would include the categories of personal information and the names and addresses of those businesses with which we shared such personal information for the immediately prior calendar year (e.g., requests made in 2018 will receive information about 2017). To obtain this information please contact us provided in the “How do you contact us?” section.

10. How do we comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation?

Beginning May 25, 2018, the processing of personal data of users in the European Union is subject to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). This section provides information as relates to EU users’ rights, and our responsibilities, under this regulation.

a. What are EU user rights?

If you are a user of our products or services in the EU, you have the following rights with respect to our handling of your personal information. To exercise these rights, please contact us as set forth below under “How do you contact us?”.

Users outside the EU may also request explanation, correction, deletion or copies of their personal data.

  • Explanation and copies of your data
  • You have the right to request an explanation of the information that we have about you and how we use that information.
  • You also have the right to receive a copy of the information that we collect about you if collected on the basis of consent or because we require the information to provide the products and services or membership that you request.
  • Correction and deletion
  • If we have information about you that you believe is inaccurate, you have the right to request correction of your information. You may also request deletion of your account or information at any time. See the section above entitled “How can you access, correct, or delete personally identifiable information?” for more information. 
  • Objections and complaints
  • Users or our products and services in the EU have the right to object to our processing of personal data, including for marketing purposes based on profiling or automated decision making. We may continue to process your information notwithstanding the objection to the extent permitted under GDPR.
  • Users in the EU also have the right to file a complaint relating to our handling of your personal information with the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, the Dutch Data Protection Authority. Their contact information is as follows:

Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens
Postbus 93374
2509 AJ DEN HAAG
(+31) - (0)70 - 888 85 00

b.  What are the grounds for processing information under GDPR?

The GDPR requires that companies processing the personal data of EU users do so on the basis of specific legal grounds. As described below, we process the information of EU users based on one or more of the grounds specified under the GDPR:

  • The processing is necessary to provide the products, services, membership, and features you request
  • The processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of our users or of others
  • The processing is necessary for our legitimate interests
    • To maintain and enhance our users’ safety and security
    • To prevent, detect and combat fraud in connection with the use of our products and services
    • To inform law enforcement officials regarding criminal acts or threats to public safety
    • To provide customer support
    • To optimize our products, services, and memberships, and develop new products, services, and memberships
    • For research and analytical purposes
    • For direct marketing purposes
  • The processing is necessary for the legitimate interests of other persons or parties
    • We collect and use personal information to the extent necessary for the interests of other persons or the general public. This includes sharing information in connection with legal or insurance claims, or to protect the rights and safety of others.
    • We may also process personal information when necessary in regards to a substantial public interest, on the basis of applicable laws.
  • The processing is necessary to fulfill our legal obligations
  • Consent
    • We may collect and use your information on the basis of your consent. You may revoke your consent at any time. If you revoke your consent, you will not be able to use any product, service, membership, or feature that requires collection or use of the information we collected or used on the basis of consent
    • We rely on consent in connection with data collection or uses that are necessary for membership or for you to purchase our products and services, for commercial marketing, or to communicate with you.

11.  How do we protect your information?

We implement commercially reasonable security measures to help protect against unauthorized access to or unauthorized alteration, disclosure, or destruction of data.  Except for directory and registration lists and the sharing of information as set forth in this policy, we restrict access to personal information to certain companies who may need to know that information in order to operate, develop, or improve our services.

Unfortunately, no data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Accordingly, and despite our efforts, we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us, or to or from our online products or services. If you have questions about this policy, please contact us as set forth in “How do you contact us?”.

12.  How do you contact us?

You may contact us by email at info@fnrel.org. You may also contact us in writing at The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law, 9191 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 203, Westminster, CO 80031, Attn: Associate Director. Please include your full name and address.

Last updated June 8, 2018

 

Disclaimer |  Privacy Policy  |  Media Policy  |  Whistleblower Policy   

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THE FOUNDATION FOR NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY LAW (THE FOUNDATION) MEDIA POLICY FOR THE FOUNDATION’S PROGRAMS

The Foundation’s institutes, courses, and other educational programs are generally open for registration by the public, including members of the media. However, in consideration of our speakers, and the desire of our audiences for open and candid communication, the Foundation has adopted the following general policies to seek to balance free communication and forthright discussion. These policies may be waived or modified in particular circumstances at the discretion of the program chairs and the Executive Director of the Foundation.

  1. Members of the press, print, broadcast, web, or other forms of mass media, including those acting on behalf of organizations or on their own, are welcome at the Foundation’s programs unless decided otherwise in advance by the program chairs or the Executive Director of the Foundation. However, members of the media are not specifically invited to such programs.

  2. No video or audio recording is permitted, unless expressly authorized in advance by the Foundation.

  3. Members of the media must register in advance for any program. The registration fee may be reduced or waived, but advance approval must be obtained from the program chairs and the Executive Director of the Foundation.

  4. Speakers will be informed in advance if members of the media will be present at a program.

  5. The Foundation programs will be held under the Chatham House Rule, which states that "When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed". Speakers may separately agree with a journalist or other media representative to be directly quoted, but the Chatham House Rule must be strictly adhered to regarding other program participants.

  6. Should any speaker agree to be directly quoted, that speaker will be entitled to review the quote for correctness before it is published unless the speaker expressly indicates the contrary.

  7. The list of attendees at the program may not be published. This will not preclude mentioning or listing speakers and the topic of their presentation, so long as such mention or list is not tied to particular statements or content.

  8. The Foundation reserves the right to exclude any member of the media who fails to comply with these policies from the remainder of the relevant program, if still in session, and from any or all of the Foundation's future events.

 

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THE FOUNDATION FOR NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY LAW WHISTLEBLOWER POLICY

A.  Application and Objective 

  1. This Whistleblower Policy (“Policy”) applies to all of The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law’s (“the Foundation’s”) staff, whether full-time, part-time, temporary, or unpaid intern (collectively, “employees”), officers, directors, trustees, and volunteers.  

  2. The Foundation is committed to the highest possible standards of ethical, moral and legal business conduct.  The objective of this Policy is to establish policies and procedures for the receipt, retention, and treatment of reports received by the Foundation regarding any alleged illegal practice or violation of the Foundation's policies (a “Concern”).

B.  Reporting Credible Information 

  1. Each employee, officer, director, trustee, and volunteer is encouraged to report any information relating to a Concern that such person in good faith has reasonable cause to believe is credible. 

  2. Anyone reporting a Concern must act in good faith and have reasonable basis in fact for believing that the information disclosed indicates that a Concern has occurred.  The act of making allegations that that the Audit Committee determines were unfounded or made maliciously, recklessly, or with the knowledge that the allegations are false, will be viewed as a serious disciplinary offense and may result in discipline, up to and including dismissal from the volunteer position or termination of employment.

C.  Reporting Procedure

  1. Officers, directors, trustees, and volunteers should submit Concerns in writing directly to the Chair of the Audit & Risk Management Committee (the "Audit Committee”). 

  2. Employees may submit Concerns to the Audit Committee Chair or to the Executive Director, either orally or in writing.  If the Concern is reported orally, the reporting individual, with assistance from the Audit Committee Chair or Executive Director, shall reduce the Concern to writing.  The Executive Director shall promptly transmit any such written Concern to the Audit Committee Chair.

  3. The Audit Committee Chair’s contact information may be obtained through the Foundation’s website.

D.  Investigation

  1. The Audit Committee is responsible for investigating all reports of Concerns.

  2. The Audit Committee Chair will immediately notify the Audit Committee, the President, and the Executive Director of any reported Concern (unless the Concern relates to one of those individuals, in which case the notification need not be made to that individual).

  3. All reported Concerns will be promptly investigated by the Audit Committee using all appropriate measures deemed necessary by the committee, including the retention of outside legal counsel, accountants, private investigators, or any other resource deemed necessary to conduct a full and complete investigation of the Concern.

  4. The Audit Committee will prepare a written report to the Board of Directors making appropriate recommendations, including corrective action if warranted by the investigation.

E.  Confidentiality

  1. In receiving and investigating the Concern and additional information, the Audit Committee, President, and Executive Director shall endeavor to protect the confidentiality of all persons involved and any reports of Concerns, and investigations pertaining thereto.  However, given the size of the Foundation's staff and close proximity in which employees work, it may not be possible to maintain confidentiality in all cases.  Additionally, confidentiality may not be maintained where identification is required by law or in order to enable the Foundation or law enforcement to conduct an adequate investigation.  

  2. The Foundation encourages anyone reporting a Concern to identify himself or herself when making the report in order to facilitate the investigation of the Concern.  While written reports may be submitted anonymously and will be investigated, the Audit Committee will give consideration to the following factors in deciding the course of the investigation: (a)  the seriousness of the issue raised; (b) the credibility of the allegations; and (c) the likelihood of confirming the allegation from attributable sources.

F.  Protection from Retaliation 

  1. No person who reports a Concern in good faith and with a reasonable basis in fact shall be subjected to retaliation, intimidation, harassment, or other adverse action for reporting a Concern or information in accordance with this Policy.  Any person who believes that he or she is the object of any form of retaliation for such participation should immediately report the same as a violation of and in accordance with this Policy.

  2. Any individual within the Foundation who retaliates against another individual who has reported a Concern in good faith, or who in good faith has cooperated in the investigation of a Concern, is subject to discipline, including termination of employment or volunteer status.

G.  Dissemination of Policy

  1. This Policy shall be disseminated in writing to all affected constituencies. 

 

Adopted by the Board of Directors this 12th day of September, 2014.

 

The chair of the Audit & Risk Committee can be contacted at:

Jan Steiert
303-898-0404
jsteiert@comcast.net 

 

Disclaimer |  Privacy Policy  |  Media Policy  |  Whistleblower Policy  |  Diversity Policy | Hardship Policy

THE FOUNDATION FOR NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY LAW DIVERSITY POLICY

WHEREAS, natural resources law has a direct effect on the welfare and livelihood of all peoples; and

WHEREAS, aspects of natural resources law have varying impacts on diverse groups of peoples; and

WHEREAS, different governments, communities and cultures have developed diverse legal systems and customs that govern the use and management of natural resources;

WE RESOLVE: that the following policy statement shall be adopted and implemented by The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law:

The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law values and encourages diversity among its members, Board of Directors, officers, trustees, committees and staff consistent with the objectives and purposes of the Foundation. “Diversity” means participation of women and men from different national, regional, cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds, of different ages, and with different skills, abilities and other unique characteristics.

 

Adopted by the Trustees Council July 18, 2007

 

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THE FOUNDATION FOR NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY LAW HARDSHIP POLICY

 

Financial Hardship Policy for Illinois

Prospective attendees requesting credit in Illinois who are unable to afford continuing legal education program registration fees due to financial hardship may request registration fee waivers or discounted program fees. A request for a reduced fee should be sent to the Foundation prior to registration, stating the reasons why the normal fee associated with the program causes the individual financial hardship. This request should be sent to info@fnrel.org. The Foundation may, at its sole discretion, reduce or waive the program fee for that individual.

For programs costing over $500, attorneys who qualify for a waiver under this policy will receive at least a 50% price reduction for the program.

 

Financial Hardship Policy for Pennsylvania

Prospective attendees requesting credit in Pennsylvania who are unable to afford continuing legal education program registration fees due to financial hardship may request registration fee waivers or discounted program fees. A request for a reduced fee should be sent to the Foundation prior to registration, stating the reasons why the normal fee associated with the program causes the individual financial hardship. This request should be sent to info@fnrel.org. The Foundation may, at its sole discretion, reduce or waive the program fee for that individual.