By A. Scott Hecker, Adam R. Young, James L. Curtis, and Craig B. Simonsen
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA is promoting grain safety and compliance with the Grain Handling Facilities Standard on it’s website and links to additional information about Stand Up for Grain Safety Week, which takes place March 27-31, 2023
Companies must recognise that they are subject to increased expectations in terms of effective identification and management of social issues. A failure to do so – and the resulting inequality – is increasingly seen as representing a systemic risk to the resilience of business operations and value chains. Expectations are reinforced by the wave of new due diligence regulations and reporting standards focussed on addressing both the ‘E’ and ‘S’ in ESG (see, for example, our earlier blog posts on the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive here, as well as on the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s Greenwashing rules here).
CFOs have a critical role in communicating how companies are addressing wider social issues linked to their business operations and ensuring companies’ compliance with related regulations and reporting standards. To help CFOs execute this role effectively, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (the “WBCSD“) and Shift have released a primer for CFOs for advancing the ‘S’ in ESG (the “Report“). The Report aims to provide a starting point for CFOs working to address the demands and challenges associated with the ‘S’ in ESG, covering both an overview of the what, the who and the how of corporate social performance and key recommendations for improving the measurement of that performance.
The regulator is concerned that ESG-related disclosures are not meeting expectations.
By Nicola Higgs, Becky Critchley, Anne Mainwaring, Ella McGinn, and Charlotte Collins
The FCA has published a Dear CEO letter sent to benchmark administrators on 20 March 2023, expressing concerns about the quality of their ESG-related disclosures. The FCA’s concerns are based upon a preliminary review of ESG benchmarks, which assessed the disclosures made by a sample of UK benchmark administrators. The review found the quality of ESG-related disclosures to be poor, and the letter sets out the FCA’s specific findings in this regard. The FCA states that it is acutely aware that poor practices in this area could lead to claims of greenwashing and dilute trust and confidence in ESG labelling. Therefore, the FCA is not only concerned about technical compliance with disclosure requirements, but also about ensuring the integrity of ESG-related products.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court granted cert in the case of Great Lakes Insurance SE v. Raiders Retreat Realty Co., LLC. The question before the Court is whether, under federal admiralty law, a choice-of-law clause in a marine insurance policy can be rendered unenforceable if enforcement is contrary to a strong public
On March 14, 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the proposed National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) for six PFAS. The public comment period will be open for sixty (60) days following publication in the Federal Register. EPA anticipates finalizing the regulation by the end of 2023.
If finalized, the NPDWR will
In a published opinion filed March 8, 2023, the Second District Court of Appeal (Division 8) affirmed the trial court’s judgment denying writ relief in a lawsuit challenging approval of a CEQA-exempt eldercare facility project in Pacific Palisades, an oceanside area of the City of Los Angeles. Pacific Palisades Residents Association, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles (Rony Shram, et al, Real Parties in Interest) (2023) 88 Cal.App.5th 1338. The decision capped almost six years of “vociferous” NIMBY opposition to a much-needed project – an opposition that failed on its merits at every governmental and judicial level of review to which it was taken, yet relentlessly continued nonetheless.
The New York state legislature has passed a bill (S.1322/A.994) to modify previous legislation that largely bans per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) in clothing and apparel by 2025 that was signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul in the final hours of 2022.
In agreeing to the ban, Governor Hochul called upon
On March 13, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took the long-anticipated step of proposing maximum contaminant level goals (MCLGs), as well as individual maximum contaminant levels (MCLs), for six PFAS compounds under the Safe Drinking Water Act. PFAS are a large family of synthetic chemicals that have been in use since the 1940s. Many PFAS have unique physical and chemical properties that make them highly stable and resistant to degradation in the environment, which is why they are sometimes referred to as “forever chemicals.”
As part of “A Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net Zero Age” to respond to the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) (see our alert), the European Commission (the “Commission”) adopted on 9 March 2023 its Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework for State Aid measures to support the economy following the aggression against Ukraine by Russia (the “TCTF”). The text amends the Temporary Crisis Framework last amended on 28 October 2022 (see our blog).
These are the three most important things you need to know about the TCTF:
On February 17, 2023, the Securities Commission Malaysia (“SC”) published the revised Guidelines on Sustainable and Responsible Investment Funds (“Guidelines”) setting out the reporting and disclosure requirements for a fund to qualify as a Sustainable and Responsible Investment (“SRI”) Fund and, under a new chapter added to the Guidelines, an ASEAN Sustainable and Responsible Fund (“SRF”). The amendments revise the first version of the Guidelines issued in December 2017 and are effective on the date of issuance.