Environmental

By Seyfarth Shaw LLP on October 16, 2019

By Brent I. Clark, James L. Curtis, Mark A. Lies, II, Adam R. Young, and Craig B. Simonsen Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA reminds employers of the hazards of distracted driving. OSHA has recently released a “Guidelines for Employers to Reduce Motor Vehicle Crashes.” OSHA states that “every 12 minutes someone dies in a motor vehicle crash, every 10 seconds an injury occurs and every 5 seconds a crash occurs. Many of…

Law & The Environment

DOE Must Promulgate Energy Efficiency Standards Finalized By the Obama Administration

By Seth Jaffe on October 16, 2019

Last week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a District Court ruling requiring the Department of Energy to publish in the Federal Register four rules finalized by the Obama administration, but not previously published. Energy Efficiency with man holding a tablet computer The problem with DOE’s argument is that the error-correction rule is clear that error correction is a ministerial task. The rule explicitly states that, whether: (1) no corrections are suggested; (2) corrections…

Kelley Green Law

New York Mandates First in Nation Feminine Product Ingredient Disclosure

By Joseph Green on October 15, 2019

shopping-for-tampons-picture-id1139042380

With the signature of Governor Andrew Cuomo last Friday, October 11 (not coincidentally also the United Nations’ “International Day of the Girl”), New York became the first state to require manufacturers of tampons and other feminine hygiene products to include on the product package a full list of ingredients. The Menstrual Products Right to Know Act (Bill A1664B/S2387) takes effect in 180 days (April 2020), after which product manufacturers will have 18 months to comply…

Environmental Law Blog

Dennis Toft and Bozena Diaz to Share Insight on Opportunity Zones at Brownfield Listings’ OZ Boot Camp & Pitch Competition

By CSG Blog Admin on October 15, 2019

Dennis M. Toft and Bozena M. Diaz will participate as panelists in the Opportunity Zone Boot Camp & Pitch Competition at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, NJ. Bonnie will cover tax considerations during the 9:00-9:50am panel, “Redevelopment 102: Real Estate Redevelopment in Opportunity Zones” – and they will serve together on the 1:30-2:20pm “Redevelopment 300: Managing Environmental Risk in Opportunity Zone Redevelopment Projects” panel. For more information and registration, please visit the event …

Workplace Safety and Environmental Law Alert Blog

CBD Lawsuit Reflects Trucker Termination for THC Tainted Drug Products

By Craig Simonsen on October 15, 2019

By Jennifer L. Mora, Adam R. Young, and Craig B. Simonsen Seyfarth Synopsis: The Western District of New York, in Horn v. Medical Marijuana, Inc., et al., issued an initial procedural order last week in a case where the plaintiff’s purchase and use of the defendant products resulted in a failed drug test that resulted in his employer terminating his employment. Horn v. Medical Marijuana, Inc., et al. No. 15-cv-701-FPG (W.D.N.Y.) We have…

Law & The Environment

Boston’s Climate Action Plan Update: The Time Has Come For Buildings!

By Seth Jaffe on October 15, 2019

Last week, Boston released its Climate Action Plan 2019 Update. The Update identifies “priority actions” for the next five years necessary to put Boston on a trajectory towards carbon neutrality by 2050. There’s a lot in the Update, but because it states that 71% of Boston carbon emissions come from buildings and it thus leads with its discussion of buildings, I’m going to focus there. Here are among the initiatives that Boston wants to…

Louisiana Law Blog

Comments on Social Media Could be Costly Under HIPAA

By Steven Boutwell on October 14, 2019

By: Jennifer J. Thomas The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”), announced on October 2, 2019, that it had entered into a settlement with a private dental practice that had violated the HIPAA Privacy Rule by posting patient protected health information (“PHI”) on Yelp. The OCR received a complaint in 2016 from a patient alleging that the dental practice had responded to the patient’s online Yelp review of the…

The Nickel Report

Federal District Court Poised to Consider Petition for Issuance of a New Rule Versus Petition for Amendment of an Existing Rule

By Andrew D. Knudsen on October 14, 2019

In December 2018, an article in this blog flagged a petition for EPA rulemaking under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that, if denied, had the potential to set up precedent-setting litigation on citizens’ ability to use the courts to require EPA action under TSCA. Now, nearly a year later, the scenario that article described is coming true. In a challenge to EPA’s denial of that petition, a federal district court is poised to decide…

Law & The Environment

Particulate Matter Has Not Clouded My Crystal Ball

By Seth Jaffe on October 14, 2019

Last month, I noted that EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards had released a draft reassessment of the particulate matter NAAQS. In a bold moment of speculation, I indicated that it would be difficult for EPA to avoid lowering the PM2.5 NAAQS to between 8.0 and 10.0 micrograms/cubic meter. Following issuance of the draft, and in order to ensure that EPA does not ignore the emerging scientific consensus, the Union of Concerned Scientists …

frESH

US District Courts Start Applying Kisor v. Wilkie; Is Auer Deference Now a “Paper Tiger”?

By Brent Owen on October 14, 2019

As we’ve covered extensively on this blog, the administrative state responsible for implementing environmental, health, and safety policy in the United States is in flux. A few months ago in Kisor v. Wilkie the US Supreme Court upheld but significantly narrowed Auer deference. Auer instructs that courts must defer to an agency’s construction of its own regulation unless that interpretation is “plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the regulation.” After Kisor though, lower courts reviewing an…

Environmental

OSHA Updates on Distracted Driving in Employment and in the Workplace

DOE Must Promulgate Energy Efficiency Standards Finalized By the Obama Administration

New York Mandates First in Nation Feminine Product Ingredient Disclosure

Dennis Toft and Bozena Diaz to Share Insight on Opportunity Zones at Brownfield Listings’ OZ Boot Camp & Pitch Competition

CBD Lawsuit Reflects Trucker Termination for THC Tainted Drug Products

Boston’s Climate Action Plan Update: The Time Has Come For Buildings!

Comments on Social Media Could be Costly Under HIPAA

Federal District Court Poised to Consider Petition for Issuance of a New Rule Versus Petition for Amendment of an Existing Rule

Particulate Matter Has Not Clouded My Crystal Ball

US District Courts Start Applying Kisor v. Wilkie; Is Auer Deference Now a “Paper Tiger”?

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