Antitrust: White House Announces Plan to Increase Competition in Meat and Poultry Industries; USDA and DOJ Announce Joint Antitrust Initiative On January 3, 2022, the White House held a roundtable conference with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, and several independent producers to discuss anticompetitive industry practices and announce the administration’s Action
EPA’s Delivery of Draft Rule to OMB for Study Starts the Clock for Potential PFAS Reporting and Enforcement Activity by 2023
Gearing up for a potential final rule in summer 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on January 10 submitted a proposed rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to designate perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). OMB reviews are generally targeted to be completed within 90 days, but they can last much longer — or be concluded more quickly — depending on the rule being studied. The submittal is consistent with what EPA forecasted in its October 2021 PFAS Roadmap and its Unified Agenda.
OSHA ETS Stayed Again — Supreme Court Characterizes ETS as Public Health Measure Outside of OSHA’s Jurisdiction
By Adam R. Young, Patrick D. Joyce, A. Scott Hecker, Brent I. Clark, James L. Curtis, Benjamin D. Briggs, Mark A. Lies, Bradley D. Doucette, and Ilana R. Morady
Seyfarth Synopsis: On January 13, 2022, the Supreme Court stayed enforcement of OSHA’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing
Breaking News: Supreme Court Stays OSHA COVID-19 Vaccination Standard
Just about an hour ago, the Supreme Court reinstated a nationwide stay of OSHA’s temporary emergency standard related to COVID-19, including the vaccination/testing requirements that were scheduled to be enforced starting in February. The court, in an unsigned opinion that appears to have been supported by a 6-3 majority (Justices Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan dissented),
BOEM Begins Key Environmental Assessment in Preparation for Offshore Wind Development in the GOM
In support of the Biden administration’s goal of permitting 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) announced that it has been begun preparing its draft environmental assessment to evaluate the potential impacts of offshore wind development in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
The area to be
BOEM Announces Upcoming Wind Energy Lease Auction in the New York Bight; New York’s Next Offshore Wind Solicitation to Follow
Today, January 12, 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that on February 23, 2022 it will hold a wind energy lease auction for six areas in the New York Bight (NY Bight), the coastal area between Long Island and the New Jersey coast. BOEM’s issuance of the Final Sale Notice (FSN) for
Leveraging Taxonomies: How Asset Managers Are Using New Sustainability Classification Systems – Part II
The sustainable investing market is witnessing remarkable growth: since 2018, annual cash flows into sustainable funds have increased tenfold. Now, more than ever, investors and asset managers alike seek sustainable products and strategies offering robust financial returns. The field, however, has been haunted by greenwashing claims and a lack of consistency in identifying what, exactly, makes an investment “sustainable”.
Sustainability or “green” taxonomies developed by governments, international bodies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can help resolve these challenges and inconsistencies by identifying specific assets, activities or projects that meet defined thresholds and metrics that quantify sustainability. These systems can cover the full spectrum of sustainability topics, from achieving acceptable levels of greenhouse gas emissions to compliance with certain human rights standards. Among other benefits, sustainability taxonomies can:
- assist investors, asset managers and asset owners in identifying sustainable investment opportunities and constructing sustainable portfolios that align with taxonomy criteria;
- drive capital more efficiently toward priority sustainability projects;
- help protect asset managers against claims of greenwashing by providing an independent benchmark for the sustainability performance of investments; and
- guide future public policies and regulations targeting specific economic activities based on taxonomy criteria.
In this series of Blog Posts, we first provide a brief overview of some of the key existing and developing taxonomies around the world. We then set out our analysis of the ways asset managers are already leveraging taxonomies in their businesses based on a review of publicly available responsible investment reports. Finally, we highlight certain challenges that asset managers may encounter as these systems develop and interest in sustainable investing continues to grow.
Continue reading this Part II for our analysis of how asset managers are already leveraging taxonomies. You can find Parts I and III here and here.
Small, Domestic Water Permit Deemed Ministerial, Exempt From CEQA
In Mission Peak Conservancy v. State Water Resources Control Bd. (2021) 72 Cal.App.5th 873, the First District Court of Appeal held that the State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB) streamlined permitting process for small, domestic water appropriations was ministerial, reiterating that “CEQA does not regulate ministerial decisions—full stop.”
Mission Peak Conservancy and an individual
ISS, Glass Lewis Focus on ESG in 2022 Benchmark Proxy Voting Policies
The policies aim to provide crucial guidance to public companies amid the growing importance of ESG in proxy voting.
By Paul A. Davies, Michael D. Green, Andra Troy, and James Bee
In late 2021, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass, Lewis & Co (Glass Lewis), the two leading proxy advisory firms, released updated policy documents for the 2022 proxy season.
Notably, both ISS and Glass Lewis have given considerable attention to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters, reflecting the rapidly increasing importance of ESG to shareholder relations at public companies. The Glass Lewis policies will apply from January 1, 2022, and the ISS policies will apply from February 1, 2022.
This blog post reviews the major updates in the ISS and Glass Lewis policies as they relate to key ESG issues, and considers the similarities and differences of each firm’s policies in certain areas.
President Biden Outlines Comprehensive Plan for Federal Sustainability
The president’s executive order aims to use the US government’s procurement power to achieve “carbon pollution-free electricity” by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050.
By Jennifer Roy and Julie Miles
On December 8, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability (EO), which aims to set the federal government — the largest purchaser in the country with an annual purchasing power of $650 billion — on a path to net zero emissions by 2050. The EO establishes the following policies as part of a whole-of-government strategy.