By: Adam R. Young and Mark A. Lies, II
Most employers understand that they are required to report serious injuries and illnesses to OSHA shortly after they occur. Even employers in low hazard industries who are not required to keep written OSHA records still face reporting obligations. Federal OSHA regulations require employers to report work-related
Many involved in carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) policy foresaw several years ago the situation we are in now: lots of Class VI Underground Injection Control (UIC) permit applications to store CO2, not enough speed at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to get them processed, and not enough speed by EPA to divvy up the work by delegating the permitting authority to the States.
That’s why Congress included funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for Class VI UIC permitting: $50 million for EPA to help States defray costs of taking over the Class VI permitting program and $25 million total for fiscal years 2022-26 for EPA itself to get the job done.
In McCann v. City of San Diego (2023) 94 Cal.App.5th 284 (McCann II), the Fourth District Court of Appeal held the trial court exceeded its jurisdiction by failing to discharge a writ of mandate. The writ was issued for the failure to analyze whether a set of projects approved through a mitigated negative
GHG Emissions: California Senate Passes New Emissions Disclosure Requirements for Billion-Dollar Businesses
On September 11, 2023, the California Senate approved Senate Bill 253, which will require all private and public companies operating in California with a total revenue of $1 billion or more to comply with new disclosure requirements that reflect the emissions disclosure
Pesticides: Federal Court Approves Settlement in 2011 EPA Pesticide Registration Dispute
On September 12, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order approving a stipulated settlement agreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and plaintiff environmental groups, resolving a longstanding dispute over EPA’s registration of 382 pesticide active
There is general awareness of the need to perform environmental due diligence on virtually any transaction that involves commercial/industrial property. However, even with such general awareness missteps or lack of attention to detail during the process can risk exposing a purchaser or new tenant to significant liability. Having been involved in counseling on environmental due
When building occupants are put on an energy diet will charging smartphones be banned from the office?
On September 21, 2023, the Biden administration outlined plans to expand federal agencies’ consideration of the social cost of carbon—a metric for the economic cost of each additional ton of carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere. This announcement tilts the balance of cost-benefit analyses in favor of activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and it
In a partially published opinion filed on September 7, 2023, the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed a judgment denying a CEQA challenge to Sacramento County’s approval of a mixed-use development project known as the Mather South Community Master Plan (the “project“); if implemented, the project would result in, inter alia, up to 3,522 residential dwelling units; 225,000 square feet of retail space; 49 acres of environmental education campus and research and development park uses; two elementary schools; and about 200 acres of parkland and open space areas on an 848-acre site. The issues on appeal were limited to the adequacy of certain aspects of the project EIR’s analyses of GHGs and criteria air pollutants. Tsakopoulos Investments, LLC v. County of Sacramento, et al. (Mather South, LLC, et al, Real Parties) (2023) 95 Cal.App.5th 280. (The unpublished portion of the opinion: (1) upheld the EIR’s qualitative analysis concluding that, with compliance with the State’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard and other air quality mitigation measures, construction-related GHG impacts would not be significant; and (2) concluded the EIR adequately explained, in compliance with the Supreme Court’s decision in Sierra Club v. County of Fresno (2018) 6 Cal.8th 502, why it was not feasible to correlate the level of the project’s air emissions to specific human health impacts from the project. In keeping with this blog’s practice, this post will not further discuss these unpublished portions of the Court’s opinion, except to note that they appear worthy of publication, and that the Court’s docket reflects that a request to publish was filed by Remy Moose Manley LLP on September 18, 2023. So stay tuned on that front…)
Michigan Attorney General (AG) Dana Nessel has filed suit against the Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority to enforce demands by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) related to alleged per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) contamination of the regional drinking water supply caused by the airport authority.
