In the initial months of 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicated that it will increasingly pursue cases relating to worker safety and safe working conditions through formal collaboration with the Department of Labor (DOL), as well as its subsidiary agencies including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
In January 2022, former Reed
The OPSS has published details of its enforcement actions during the six months from 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021. Actions related to product safety included orders for forfeiture and destruction, compliance notices and the issue of mandatory withdrawal and recall notices. Relevant businesses included businesses based in Great Britain, but also a significant number of online sellers based in China. The data shows that the actions related to breaches of the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 and also, in some cases, of specific legislation relating to electrical equipment and toys. In addition to product safety, there was enforcement action taken in relation to heat networks and timber.
We analyze the key CEQA cases from 2021 and their effects on development in California this year and beyond.
By Marc Campopiano, Jennifer Roy, Winston Stromberg, Daniel Brunton, and Natalie Rogers
Every year, we publish a comprehensive summary of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) judicial opinions and provide analysis of the
The Biden administration recently announced major investments in the domestic production of key critical minerals and materials.
The minerals targeted by the Administration are the rare earth elements, lithium, and cobalt—found in products from personal rechargeable electronics and television screens, to household appliances, as well as those used in clean energy technologies like batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels. The administration has framed its push as essential given the world’s transition to a clean energy economy, and the global demand for these critical minerals, the processed versions of which the U.S. has increasingly become dependent on foreign sources for. The administration particularly noted the anticipated demand for minerals such as lithium and graphite used in electric vehicle batteries, which it anticipated will increase by as much as 4,000 percent.
Last week, AIG significantly restricted its underwriting of and investment in fossil fuel projects. Specifically, it announced the following actions:
Last week, in Residents of Gordon Plaza, Inc. v. Cantrell, the Fifth Circuit denied a petition for rehearing en banc of a recent decision affirming the dismissal of a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) citizen suit. The key issue in the underlying appeal, 25 F.4th 288 (5th Cir. 2022), was whether certain maintenance activities qualify as a “removal” action under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The court affirmed that the maintenance activities do indeed constitute a “removal action.” Therefore, the suit was barred under 42 U.S.C. § 6972(b)(2)(B)(iv), which precludes RCRA citizen suits where a “responsible party is diligently conducting a removal action” pursuant to a CERCLA consent decree with EPA.
Superfund lawyers often confront vexing problems in allocating responsibility among parties jointly and severally liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). Litigation cost is prominent among those problems. With no statutory limitations on what “equitable factors” might matter to an allocation, see 42 U.S.C. § 9613(f)(2), literally any fact could be
Our European Public Policy team is pleased to share with you our monthly newsletter, Sustainability Outlook – European Union which looks at key developments in EU sustainability law and policy. This month’s edition includes the following:
Companies supporting democratic values will not only be awarded with high ESG scores, but also championed by the overwhelming number of people shocked and dismayed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, who want to see more good and humanity do better at repairing the world.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought to the forefront the key role that energy policy plays in international relations. Many countries sympathetic to Ukraine, but not wanting to escalate the conflict by sending troops, have discussed or actually imposed economic sanctions on Russia. One obvious target area for sanctions is Russian
