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Companies have a substantial impact on human rights when carrying out their business activities. The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights set the expectation that companies conduct human rights and environmental due diligence (“HREDD“) with respect to their business activities, which includes assessing and responding to actual and potential human rights issues.

The expectation for companies to conduct HREDD is increasingly becoming mandated by legislators across the globe. For example, in Germany the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act will enter into force on 1 January 2023. It is arguably the most comprehensive law in this area to date, since in-scope companies will have to comprehensively analyse their global supply chains, assess the risks within their supply chains and act accordingly. Further, in the European Union an equivalent directive is upcoming. The European Commission’s draft corporate sustainability and due diligence directive (the “Draft Directive“) – which is anticipated to be adopted in 2023 – sets out a proposed HREDD standard, under which companies will be obliged to identify actual and potential adverse human rights and environmental issues arising from their operations or those of their subsidiaries and, where related to their value chains, from their “established business relationships” (for more information on the Draft Directive, read our earlier blog posts here and here). Involving and engaging stakeholders in a meaningful way will be critical for in-scope companies to successfully implement HREDD processes and ensure compliance with these obligations.

To help companies engage with stakeholders, the UN Global Compact Network Germany (“GCNG“) – an organisation created to assist companies in meeting their human rights-related responsibilities – has recently published its “What makes stakeholder engagement meaningful? 5 insights from practice” report (the “GCNG Report“). The GCNG Report highlights five “selected success factors” that companies can adopt to help ensure their engagement with stakeholders is effective and meaningful.

Mobile device manufacturers may be subject to regulations that aim to mitigate the environmental impact of such devices.

By Paul A. Davies, Michael D. Green, and James Bee

On 31 August 2022, the European Commission published draft “ecodesign” regulations covering various components of smartphones and tablets, seeking to improve the environmental performance of these products.

Proposed Ecodesign Requirements

Under the Ecodesign Directive, a framework established in 2009 by the EU for the purposes of setting eco-design requirements for energy-related products, the Commission is empowered to develop regulations that lay down requirements as to the design of certain products that have significant environmental impact. These ecodesign requirements aim to harmonise resource efficiency requirements for impactful products throughout the EU to improve their environmental performance.

The Commission indicated that it chose to introduce regulation on smartphones and tablets (similar regulations have previously been introduced for products including dishwashers, domestic ovens and vacuum cleaners) due to the steep increase in demand for the products in the EU over the past decade resulting in an increase in demand for energy and materials to manufacture the devices. The Commission also noted that smartphones and tablets are often replaced prematurely by users and are, at the end of their useful life, not sufficiently reused or recycled, leading to a waste of resources.

Under the draft regulations, 15 components of smartphones and tablets, including batteries and charging ports, would be made available for at least five years from the date the device is placed on the European market. Additional requirements would also be imposed in relation to the capacity of batteries, and for smartphones and tablets to be tested for resistance to being scratched, exposed to water, and dropped (with the requirement that phones can be dropped 100 times without losing functionality).

In order to pass the Inflation Reduction Act (“Act”) last month, a deal was struck with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) to create separate legislation to reform federal energy project permitting.  Now that the Act has been signed into law, Senate Democrats are making good on their promise but, as might be expected, not all parties…

On August 26, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) released its highly anticipated plan to categorize two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) as “hazardous substances” subject to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”). This action is one of the more high profile elements of the Agency’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap, which…

Dave and Anna kick off a PFAS podcast series taped on location at the Missouri Water Seminar to provide an on-the-ground perspective of how state and local governments are dealing with the emerging regulatory framework for PFAS. Our first guest — Water Program Director Chris Wieberg of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources — explains how the “Show-Me” state uses data collection, collaboration, and risk communication to advance PFAS regulatory and management efforts statewide.

On September 6, 2022, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal Register its proposal to designate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), including their salts and structural isomers, as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as “Superfund.”  Comments to EPA’s rule proposal must be…

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration intends to implement additional requirements that auto safety groups argue do not go far enough.

By Arthur F. Foerster and De Vann S. Sago

On July 15, 2022, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a Final Rule effective January 2023 that requires additional protection in rear underride protection on trailers and semi-trailers.[1]