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Perspectives on Environmental, Safety & Health

On Monday, March 31, a court in the Eastern District of Texas found unlawful and vacated the Food and Drug Administration’s 2024 Rule regulating as “devices” under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act FDCA, certain laboratory-developed tests used to diagnose, monitor, or determine treatment for diseases and conditions. The decision, American Clinical Laboratory Assoc. v. FDA, No.

After what has amounted to a multi-year rulemaking process, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) finalized amendments to the short-form warnings under Proposition 65 on December 6, 2024. The amendments (outlined in full here) require that short-form warnings include at least one chemical name, along with other options for safe

Automotive manufacturers, regulators and consumers face considerable uncertainty on how the incoming Trump Administration will attempt to reshape the automotive industry when President Donald Trump returns to the White House on January 20, 2025. Significant changes are on the horizon, with President Trump’s major campaign themes, including protectionist trade policies and an “all of the

As evidenced by the Department of Justice’s recent announcement of a US$2 million criminal fine assessed against the owners of the tanker P/S Dream as part of a guilty plea, violations of federal environmental laws governing vessel discharge can carry significant consequences.

Stakeholders should take note that the EPA recently announced the final Vessel Incidental

As the EU intensifies its focus on ESG, the new Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D) is poised to enforce stricter environmental accountability across corporate operations. This directive, along with recent EU court rulings, underscores the critical need for companies to strengthen their environmental due diligence to avoid significant legal and financial penalties. For a

On June 28, 2024, in a 6-3 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron doctrine, a decades-old precedent that largely pressed federal courts to defer to federal agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes under their jurisdiction. The opportunities, the challenges, and the uncertainty will grow for a long time before the dust settles

In a judgment delivered on Wednesday 5 September, the Court of Appeal reinstated the position as to when a party can assert Legal Professional Privilege, specifically Litigation Privilege, related to an investigation into circumstances that may lead a regulator to commence criminal proceedings.

The case centred on documents produced by solicitors and forensic accountants who

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) published its controversial final “walkaround” rule on April 1, 2024.  The final rule clarifies the rights of employees to authorize a representative – employee or non-employee – to accompany an OSHA compliance officer (CSHO) during an inspection of their workplace.  This can include a

On February 28, 2024, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) published a news release regarding the voluntary market phase-out of per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in grease-proofing substances used on food packaging. The FDA stated that the completion of this phase-out “eliminates the primary source of dietary exposure to PFAS from authorized food contact uses.”