By Bruce Pasfield and Elise Paeffgen, Attorneys, Alston & Bird LLP On June 21, 2012, the Supreme Court in Southern Union Co. v. U.S., 567 U.S. __ (2012) held that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial requires juries not judges to decide the... Read More
On September 15, 2015, US EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance published a proposed list of national enforcement initiatives (NEIs) for fiscal years 2017–19. This latest NEI list includes NEIs from the last round (FY2014–16... Read More
By Steven M. Siros, Partner, and Allison Torrence, Associate, Jenner & Block As Hurricane Sandy swept across the Eastern Seaboard, the images of its destructive power were humbling. As everyone begins to dig out from the damage caused by the... Read More
Judging by a recent hearing, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee appears ready to move forward with the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 (S. 847) (SCA2011) . SCA2011 was introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg earlier this year in his continued... Read More
On April 1, 2011, a new reporting requirement for chemicals came into effect in Japan. This new requirement originated in the 2009 amendment to Japan's chemical control law and requires that companies submit an annual report on chemical substances... Read More
An interesting two-piece assessment has been published by KQED, the San Francisco PBS radio and television station. They are succinct and informative. Links to the two articles can be found at: http://blogs.kqed.org/science/audio/who-profits-from... Read More
On June 13, 2013, the House Environment and the Economy Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing entitled “Title I of the Toxic Substances Control Act: Understanding its History and Reviewing its Impact.” Given the... Read More
The California Safer Consumer Products Regulations (SCPR) took effect on October 1, 2013. http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/LawsRegsPolicies/Regs/upload/Text-of-Final-Safer-Consumer-Products-Regulations-2.pdf The CA Dept of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) released... Read More
The Official Journal of the European Union has published Directive 2011/65/EU on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (recast RoHS), following the European Council's formal adoption of the... Read More
January 31 is an important upcoming deadline for companies that manufacture or import polymers under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) "polymer exemption." [1] The one-time notification to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA... Read More
The Safer Chemicals/Healthy Families Coalition (which includes Earthjustice, Environmental Defense Fund, Greenpeace, League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, US Public Interest Research Group, several environmental... Read More
A series of stakeholder meetings on Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) (15 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq. ) "reform" began in the Senate on June 21, 2011. Billed as bipartisan stakeholder talks, these meetings may bring us closer to a viable TSCA... Read More
By Karen F. Lederer and Eric L. Unis On October 5, 2013, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill amending the state’s notorious Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, commonly known as Prop 65, giving some protection... Read More
By William J. Walsh, Of Counsel , Pepper Hamilton LLP The late Ed Koch (former mayor of New York) famously used to ask his constituents "How am I doing?" Answering this question is also prudent (if not required) in evaluating environmental... Read More
By Gabrielle Sigel, Partner, Jenner & Block The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has issued a mandate to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, requiring the lower court to determine whether contamination from... Read More