As we reported at the beginning of the year, President Biden has been making environmental justice one of his priorities since long before he took office. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently took...more
Growing evidence suggests that corporate focus on ESG—Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance—may offer short- and long-term advantages to both companies and investors. These advantages are in addition to and apart...more
4/23/2021
/ Business Plans ,
Business Strategies ,
Capital Investments ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Investment Management ,
Manufacturers ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Sustainability
As a part of its ongoing efforts to increase workplace attention on COVID-19, OSHA recently released a new COVID-19 National Emphasis Program (NEP), signaling a commitment to expand its inspection and enforcement efforts to...more
This week, we continue with our 2021 outlook series with a focus on environmental, health, and safety. This year brings a new Presidential administration, and with it will come a host of new programs, as well as some new...more
1/15/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Environmental Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Manufacturers ,
Manufacturing Facilities ,
OSHA ,
PFAS ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Workplace Safety
As we previously reported, EPA published a PFAS Action Plan in 2019 designed to enhance and improve data gathering, regulatory development, enforcement, and communication related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)....more
12/4/2020
/ Clean Water Act ,
Contamination ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Manufacturers ,
NPDES ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Stormwater Discharge Permits ,
Wastewater ,
Water Quality
As COVID-19 cases have continued to rise across the United States, so have COVID-related OSHA complaints and investigations. OSHA has been tracking statistics on COVID-related complaints, referrals, inspections, and citations...more
Since at least March, manufacturers, and the entire U.S. economy, have been experiencing unprecedented conditions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has not only changed where and how manufacturers operate, but...more
9/4/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health & Safety Standard ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Manufacturers ,
Manufacturing Facilities ,
OIG ,
OSHA ,
Whistleblowers ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Injury ,
Workplace Safety
While Federal OSHA has issued numerous COVID-related guidance documents, it has declined to issue an enforceable COVID standard. Instead, OSHA continues to reference numerous other statutory and regulatory standards that...more
Yesterday, OSHA issued guidance aimed at educating workers and employers on how to properly use face coverings at work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Structured as a series of frequently asked questions with answers, the...more
As the country slowly begins the reopening process, OSHA has issued two new guidance documents—an Updated Interim Enforcement Response Plan for COVID-19 and Revised Enforcement Guidance for Recording Cases of COVID-19....more
5/21/2020
/ AFL-CIO ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Essential Workers ,
Manufacturing Facilities ,
Occupational Exposure ,
OSHA ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sick Employees ,
Workplace Illness and Injury Reporting ,
Workplace Injury ,
Workplace Safety
In these days of working from home and managing countless other demands on our time, we offer this post to help you decide whether to add the latest Clean Water Act (CWA) cases and rules to your must-see legal watch list....more
5/13/2020
/ Clean Water Act ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Groundwater ,
Hawaii Wildlife Fund v County of Maui ,
Inland Waterways ,
Manufacturing Facilities ,
Navigable Waters ,
Trump Administration ,
Waters of the United States
OSHA previously issued guidance on preparing workplaces for COVID-19, which we covered on the blog a few weeks ago. The agency has been busy issuing additional materials to guide employers through these uncharted waters....more
Last week, OSHA issued guidance on preparing workplaces for COVID-19. The guidance provides recommendations to help employers plan for the impact of COVID-19 on their businesses, workers, customers, and the public....more
Welcome to 2020! As always, we at the Manufacturing Law Blog are starting the year with our annual forecasts of hot topics....more
1/10/2020
/ Air Quality Standards ,
Bodily Injury ,
Clean Water Act ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Failure to Comply ,
Health & Safety Standard ,
Inspection Rights ,
Manufacturers ,
Manufacturing Equipment ,
Manufacturing Facilities ,
National Enforcement Initiatives (NEIs) ,
Occupational Exposure ,
OSHA ,
PFAS ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Safety Inspections ,
Strict Compliance ,
Water Quality ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Injury ,
Workplace Safety ,
Wrongful Death
Earlier this year, we wrote about EPA’s PFAS Action Plan, the agency’s blueprint for addressing contamination and protecting public health from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). ...more
12/6/2019
/ Comment Period ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Contamination ,
Drinking Water ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Groundwater ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Health and Safety ,
Manufacturers ,
Manufacturing Facilities ,
National Action Plan ,
PFAS ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Right To Know ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Toxic Chemicals
On October 9, 2019, President Trump issued two executive orders regarding agency guidance – one focused on the development of new guidance and the other on the appropriate use of guidance in enforcement actions. And EPA is...more
On September 25, 2019, OSHA issued a final rule approving two additional quantitative fit testing protocols for inclusion in appendix A of the Respiratory Protection Standard....more
Yesterday, OSHA issued a final rule approving two additional quantitative fit testing protocols for inclusion in appendix A of the Respiratory Protection Standard. These protocols are....more
Over the summer, EPA published a policy document to enhance cooperation between it and the many state agencies that enforce federal environmental programs. ...more
9/9/2019
/ Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Manufacturers ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Policy Statement ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government ,
Trump Administration
My partner Bob Melvin and I recently gave a presentation on environmental, health, and safety considerations in mergers and acquisitions. While it would be impossible to cover our entire presentation in a blog post, I thought...more
OSHA recently announced that it is considering whether it should revise the Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout (LOTO)) standard to accommodate recent technological advances concerning control circuit-type devices....more
OSHA recently announced that it is considering whether it should revise the powered industrial trucks standards for general, construction, and maritime industries. Powered industrial trucks include forklifts, fork trucks,...more
4/8/2019
/ Comment Period ,
Construction Industry ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health & Safety Standard ,
Maritime Transport ,
OSHA ,
Powered Industrial Truck (PIT) ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Injury ,
Workplace Safety
As we previously outlined, the Toxic Substances Control Act (“TSCA”) was amended in 2016 to provide EPA with much broader authority to regulate “existing” chemical substances (i.e., those that are already in use in commerce)....more
On Valentine’s Day, EPA showed a little love for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), announcing a sweeping plan to address PFAS contamination and protect public health. ...more
2/15/2019
/ Drinking Water ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hazardous Substances ,
National Action Plan ,
Pollution Control ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Research Reports ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Water Supplies
This is the last of our three-part series of predictions for 2019. First Matt provided our thoughts and predictions in the labor/employment arena. Last week, Jeff gave our outlook for corporate compliance and litigation. ...more
1/25/2019
/ Clean Water Act ,
Deregulation ,
Environmental Liability ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Health and Safety ,
Manufacturers ,
Navigable Waters ,
OSHA ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Safety Inspections ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) ,
Trump Administration ,
Waters of the United States