Elizabeth Reese

Firm/Organization: Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP

Latest Articles

SHARE Information Act Could Increase Companies’ Product Liability Litigation Risk

By Alexandra B. Cunningham, Elizabeth Reese & Sarah Ingles

January 30, 2020

A new bill introduced in Congress earlier this month could increase litigation risk for the retail industry by leaving companies unable to prevent the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) from disclosing inaccurate or premature information about potential product hazards. The Safety Hazard and Recall Efficiency (SHARE) Information Act, introduced on January 9, 2020, by U.S. Representative Bobby L. Rush (D-IL), would also increase the maximum civil penalty for violations of the Consumer Product Safety Act…

Manufacturing Operations

The Nickel Report

EPA Reportedly Expecting Manufacturers and Importers of Products Containing 20 Common Chemicals to Self-Report and Share in Costs of Chemical Risk Evaluations

By Elizabeth Reese & Alexandra B. Cunningham

January 21, 2020

Companies that manufacture or import products containing one or more of 20 common chemicals may soon be required to disclose those activities and pay fees to offset the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) review of those chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). In December 2019, EPA finalized its list of 20 high-priority chemicals for risk evaluation and potential regulation under TSCA: Formaldehyde, a chemical commonly used in building products and as a…

Hunton Retail Law Resource

EPA Imposes $544,064 Penalty for 17 Noncompliant Products in First Formaldehyde Enforcement Action

By Alexandra B. Cunningham & Elizabeth Reese

September 10, 2019

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has imposed the first penalty for violations of its new rule limiting formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products just over one year after the rule became effective. The $544,064 penalty assessed against construction product supplier Global Sourcing Solutions, a Division of Turner Logistics, LLC (Global Sourcing Solutions), comes as part of a consent agreement between EPA and the company, which will also be required to implement a corrective…

Hunton Retail Law Resource

EPA Designates 20 Common Chemicals as High Priorities for Possible Regulation

By Alexandra B. Cunningham & Elizabeth Reese

August 29, 2019

As reported in an August 27, 2019 client alert by the Product Liability and Mass Tort Litigation practice, on August 23, 2019, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated 20 chemicals commonly found in consumer products as “high priorities” for risk evaluation and possible regulation. EPA’s identification of these chemicals comes under the authority conferred by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Lautenberg Act), which amended the Toxic Substances…

Hunton Retail Law Resource

EPA Issues Significant New Use Rule Banning Certain Uses of Asbestos and Foreshadows Forthcoming Asbestos Risk Evaluation

By Alexandra B. Cunningham, Lori Elliott Jarvis & Elizabeth Reese

April 18, 2019

On April 17, 2019, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final “significant new use rule” (SNUR) prohibiting over one dozen uses of asbestos from returning to the marketplace without EPA review and approval.…

The Nickel Report

Retail Industry on High Alert After $289 Million Glyphosate Verdict Against Monsanto

By Frederick R. Eames, Lori Elliott Jarvis, Malcolm C. Weiss & Elizabeth Reese

September 10, 2018

Weeks after a federal judge called the science behind the alleged carcinogenicity of glyphosate “shaky,” a California state court jury hammered Monsanto with a $289 million verdict, connecting a former groundskeeper’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma to his exposure to the Roundup® chemical. The August 10, 2018 verdict in Johnson v. Monsanto Co., No. CGC16550128 (California Superior Court, County of San Francisco)—which included $250 million in punitive damages—was the first in the nearly 8,000 Roundup-related cases currently pending…

Hunton Retail Law Resource

Retail Industry on High Alert After $289 Million Glyphosate Verdict Against Monsanto

By Lori Elliott Jarvis, Malcolm C. Weiss, Frederick R. Eames & Elizabeth Reese

September 6, 2018

Just weeks after a federal judge called the science behind the alleged carcinogenicity of glyphosate “shaky,” a California state court jury hammered Monsanto with a $289 million verdict, blaming a former groundskeeper’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma on his exposure to the Roundup® chemical. The August 10, 2018, verdict in Johnson v. Monsanto Co., No. CGC16550128 (California Superior Court, County of San Francisco)—which included $250 million in punitive damages—was just the first in the nearly 8,000 Roundup-related cases…

Hunton Retail Law Resource

California Bans Use of Most Chemical Flame Retardants in Children’s Products and Furniture as the CPSC Prepares to Take Action on the Flammability of Upholstered Furniture

By Alexandra B. Cunningham & Elizabeth Reese

September 6, 2018

On August 29, 2018, despite industry criticism, the California state legislature passed AB 2998 (the “Bill”), which will require that levels of chemical flame retardants in covered products be below 1,000 parts per million. The Bill, which the governor is expected to sign into law, states that starting January 1, 2020, distributing children’s products, mattresses and upholstered furniture containing most chemical flame retardants will be illegal in the state of California. Samples of covered products…

Elizabeth Reese

SHARE Information Act Could Increase Companies’ Product Liability Litigation Risk

EPA Reportedly Expecting Manufacturers and Importers of Products Containing 20 Common Chemicals to Self-Report and Share in Costs of Chemical Risk Evaluations

EPA Imposes $544,064 Penalty for 17 Noncompliant Products in First Formaldehyde Enforcement Action

EPA Designates 20 Common Chemicals as High Priorities for Possible Regulation

EPA Issues Significant New Use Rule Banning Certain Uses of Asbestos and Foreshadows Forthcoming Asbestos Risk Evaluation

Retail Industry on High Alert After $289 Million Glyphosate Verdict Against Monsanto

Retail Industry on High Alert After $289 Million Glyphosate Verdict Against Monsanto

California Bans Use of Most Chemical Flame Retardants in Children’s Products and Furniture as the CPSC Prepares to Take Action on the Flammability of Upholstered Furniture

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