Since President Joe Biden issued his “Path Out of the Pandemic” memorandum and Executive Order 14042 on September 9, 2021, employers have had to navigate piecemeal instructions on vaccine mandates. For example, federal contractors and subcontractors received vaccine mandate guidance
EHS Law Insights
Comment and analysis by Reed Smith lawyers on the latest developments in Environmental Health & Safety
EHS Law Insights, published by Reed Smith LLP, focuses on legal developments and regulatory changes in environmental health and safety (EHS). The blog covers topics such as carbon removal credit regulations, chemical substance bans like PFAS, environmental rule rollbacks by agencies like the EPA, and shifts in enforcement priorities under different administrations. It also addresses compliance strategies for industries affected by environmental laws, updates on air and water pollution standards, and the impact of federal and state regulatory actions on corporate environmental responsibilities. The blog provides analysis relevant to industries navigating evolving environmental regulations and sustainability mandates.
Latest from EHS Law Insights - Page 8
COP26 – The benchmarks for its success or failure
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was established at the first Rio Earth Summit in 1992. More than 200 countries are “party” to the UNFCCC, and these countries meet every year (with the exception of 2020, due…
U.S. EPA releases Roadmap to address PFAS contamination
On October 18, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) Strategic Roadmap (the Roadmap) detailing steps that the EPA plans to take to address PFAS contamination. PFAS are largely unregulated, but…
UK plan for Waste Shipments updated
The UK plan for shipments of waste (the Plan) has been amended, with the key update being to emphasise that interim disposal operations should be carried out in the UK wherever possible.
Earlier this year Defra consulted on various amendments…
UK plans carbon border adjustment mechanism
Last month, the Environmental Audit Committee (‘EAC’) launched an inquiry into a potential future carbon border adjustment mechanism (‘CBAM’) for the UK. The objective of introducing a CBAM would primarily be to address the risk of carbon leakage in the…
EU proposal to amend the Radio Equipment Directive to require single mobile chargers
By Adam Hedley & Oliver Rieche
On 23 September, the European Commission took a step towards consumers’ convenience and minimising the environmental footprint associated with the production and disposal of chargers. A proposal to amend the Radio Equipment Directive 2014/54/EU (RED) aims to make a single…
American Bar Association article on U.S. Climate Litigation Trends – 2021 update
In an article by Casey J. Snyder, Associate at Reed Smith, published by the American Bar Association, we highlighted key U.S. climate litigation trends from 2015-2020. This timeframe showed a general increase in overall climate litigation and an emphasis in…
Recent C-Suite analysis regarding ESG indicated genuine commitment overall, but “least” focus on environmental issues
A report published September 1, 2021 by analytics provider Intelligize (“Report”) revealed that companies were “all over the map” when it came to current disclosure practices on Environmental Social and Governance (“ESG”) issues and that their executives and…
European Commission publishes new initiatives concerning sustainable transportation
Last month, the European Commission published two new proposals for EU regulations to encourage the use of sustainable fuels in aviation and shipping – namely the ReFuelEU Aviation and FuelEU Maritime initiatives, respectively. Both proposals are subject to public feedback…
Court rejects attempt to scrutinize nonbinding state agency policy under Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment
Litigation seeking to broaden the application of Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment, Pa. Const. art. I, §27 (“ERA”) was rejected on August 6, 2021, when the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania dismissed an amended petition for review filed by the Pennsylvania Environmental…