Seyfarth Synopsis: In a move that may be employer-friendly, President Trump has re-nominated Heather MacDougall to the OSHRC. MacDougall represents a Republican vote on cases appealed before the Commission....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The DOL has published its 2017 OSHA civil penalties.
We had blogged previously about the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) 2016 adjustments to the maximum civil penalty dollar amounts for OSHA...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a significant proposal, EPA moves to ban the use of TCE in aerosol degreasing and spot cleaning at dry cleaning facilities, as part of a larger effort to ban TCE in other industrial uses.
The U.S....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: With significant objection from Industry, EPA has issued its Final Report on whether hydraulic fracturing activities can impact drinking water resources under certain circumstances.
The U.S....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Keep your holidays happy and safe. At this time of year, with all of the joy, parties, and excitement the season brings, employers need to be especially vigilant to keep and maintain a safe workplace...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The EPA’s new “Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule,” while containing some changes that industry welcomes, also contains new requirements that present challenges for the regulated community. We will...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Federal District Court has denied industry’s request to enjoin OSHA’s new rules on mandatory post-accident drug screenings and safety incentive programs, workplace retaliation, and requiring employers...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Despite Congressional direction to the contrary, OSHA just adopted a significant 500+ page final rule on industry, and only provided employers sixty days to comply!
Despite a Congressional “request”...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: With a dramatic change from a progressive democratic to a conservative republican administration, we anticipate that EPA is not only likely to pivot away from an enforcement heavy to a more business...more
11/15/2016
/ Clean Power Plan ,
Clean Water Act ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Coal Mines ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Exports ,
Federal Land ,
Fracking ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Groundwater ,
Mineral Leases ,
Moratorium ,
National Enforcement Initiatives (NEIs) ,
Offshore Drilling ,
Paris Agreement ,
Presidential Elections ,
Renewable Energy ,
Repeal ,
Stream Protection Rule ,
Supreme Court Appointments ,
Trump Administration ,
Waters of the United States
Seyfarth Synopsis: Despite an ongoing lawsuit over its rules, OSHA issues interpretation for its May 2016 retaliation and recordkeeping rule.
We previously blogged that OSHA had again delayed, to December 1, 2016,...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: EPA publishes new Retail Strategy in an attempt to address the unique challenges the retail sector faces in complying with RCRA’s hazardous waste regulations.
The regulation of hazardous waste in...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Northern District of Indiana rejected the insurer’s assertion that its pollution exclusion clauses unambiguously included all contaminants.
Indiana, unlike other jurisdictions, is pro-insured when...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: For companies in the freight industry, if sustainability is important at your company or to its board of directors, then you may wish to investigate the EPA’s updated Smartway program, with its new...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: EPA finalized its new per violation penalty rules that in some cases now increase by substantial amounts.
In a federal rulemaking published last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA finalized a 78% increase to per violation penalties.
In a an interim final rulemaking published last week, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) finalized amendments to adjust the maximum civil...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA’s new final rules call into question mandatory post-accident drug screenings and safety incentive programs, open the door to new retaliation citations, and will require employers to post OSHA logs...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA’s new final rules call into question mandatory post-accident drug screenings and safety incentive programs, open the door to new retaliation citations, and will require employers to post OSHA logs...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: OSHA’s new Silica Rule will have a lasting effect on nearly 2.3 million workers and over 675,000 employers. The chances are high that the new Silica Rule will affect your business and may require you to...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Supreme Court decided that Army Corps’ jurisdictional determinations are judicially reviewable. This decision leaves open the question of whether other types of administrative decisions are immediately...more
6/6/2016
/ Administrative Appeals ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Final Judgment ,
Hawkes Co v United States Army Corps of Engineers ,
Judicial Review ,
Jurisdictional Determination (JD) ,
Land Developers ,
Permits ,
Property Owners ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 404 ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Eighth Circuit found that a class action could not be sustained in an environmental pollution case because “the class lacks the requisite commonality and cohesiveness to satisfy Rule 23.”...more
6/1/2016
/ Appeals ,
CERCLA ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Commonality ,
Contaminated Properties ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Environmental Liability ,
FRCP 23 ,
FRCP 23(b)(2) ,
FRCP 23(b)(3) ,
General Mills ,
Homeowners ,
Negligence ,
Private Nuisance ,
RCRA
Seyfarth Synopsis: U.S. Supreme Court: mere violation of a statute creating a private right of action is not itself sufficient to satisfy the standing requirement under Article III’s “case or controversy.” To establish...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: An alcohol induced accident involving an intoxicated employee can be an OSHA recordable incident.
OSHA recently opined in an Interpretation Letter that, where an employee sustained an injury at work...more
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) just announced that it has amended the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR)....more
Long awaited proposed regulations were published for notice and comment on March 14, 2016 (81 Fed. Reg. 13638) by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen its Risk Management Program (RMP), 40 C.F.R. Part 68....more
On Thursday, February 11, 2016 OSHA and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hosted a public workshop to discuss draft Best Practices in Communication Tower Safety, which were compiled after a meeting of industry...more