May 2021
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California’s COVID-19 Workplace Safety Standard May Be Revised on Short Notice
On May 20, 2021, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (“Board”) held a public meeting to consider revisions to the State’s COVID-19 emergency temporary standard (“ETS”), which had been the applicable law for California workplaces since November 30, 2020. Continue reading
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Supreme Court Narrows Triggers for CERCLA Contribution Actions
In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Thomas, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in the case of Guam v. United States, No. 20-382, 593 U.S. __ (2021), that a party must resolve “CERCLA-specific liability” in order to trigger contribution rights under § 113(f)(3)(B) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act… Continue reading
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Supreme Court Procedural Clarity Provides Win for Industry in Climate Case
On May 17, 2021, the United States Supreme Court ruled 7-1 that the Fourth Circuit should have considered all of the fossil fuel companies’ grounds for removal to federal court in the BP PLC, et al. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore case. Continue reading
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EPA Announces Plans to Require Additional Chemical Reporting under its Toxic Release Inventory
On Friday, April 30, 2021, The Biden Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced significant steps the agency intends to take under the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program to implement expanded reporting requirements for companies that store and utilize hazardous chemicals, including new obligations to report the storage, use and any releases of ethylene oxide, a… Continue reading