In December of 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) released their much-anticipated draft proposed rule to re-write the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) (“2018 Rule”). The definition of WOTUS establishes the scope of agency jurisdiction over waters and wetlands under the Clean Water Act (CWA) ...
On December 11, 2018, Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene A. Depasquale released a long-awaited report discussing the role of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in Pennsylvania’s health care system ...
"What are the 'waters of the United States'? As it turns out, defining that statutory phrase—a central component of the Clean Water Act—is a contentious and difficult task." This observation, recently made by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, understates the difficulty in answering what should otherwise be an anodyne question: Does my project require a Clean Water Act permit? At this moment, answers to this question may be far from certain ...
The end is near. 2018 is fast coming to a close, and it is that time of year when corporate lawyers are counting—not the number of shopping days left until Christmas, but the number weeks, days and hours left before the end of the fiscal year. Admittedly, in the scramble to close deals, insurance requirements and indemnity provisions may not be at the top of the list of critical deal points for clients and counsel ...
The Supreme Court has handed down one of the most anticipated Endangered Species Act (ESA) rulings in recent years. In Weyerhaeuser Co. v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serv., the Supreme Court unanimously overruled the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, holding that the Fish and Wildlife Service can only designate property that is “habitat” as critical habitat under the ESA ...
The deadline for meeting the previously issued nursing home compliance mandate is approaching. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the mandate in 2016 and gave facilities three years to become compliant. On November 28, 2019, skilled nursing facilities (SNF) and nursing homes will be required to adopt and implement a compliance program as a condition for participation in Medicare and Medicaid ...
Educational institutions (“recipient” or “recipient institutions”) have been waiting for the Department of Education to issue formal Title IX regulations after it issued interim guidance in September 2017. This interim guidance rescinded previous Obama-era guidance that called for strict enforcement of Title IX and indicated that new formal guidance would be forthcoming ...
In a letter to state Medicaid directors on Nov.13, 2018, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Alexander Azar, announced a new demonstration opportunity that will allow states to provide improved care for adults with a serious mental illness (SMI) and children with serious emotional disturbance (SED) ...
In the last quarter of 2018, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) announced that ImmediaDent of Indiana, LLC (ImmediaDent), which operates nine dental care practices, and Samson Dental Partners, LLC (SDP), which provides administrative support to Immediadent, have agreed to pay the United States and the state of Indiana $5.1 million to resolve allegations that they improperly billed Indiana’s Medicaid program ...
In Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation Trust Ltd v Lakehouse Contracts Ltd [2018] EWHC 558 (TCC), England’s Technology and Construction Court had to decide on the extent of coverage (or inclusion) of a project insurance policy for a construction project and how that coverage was affected by a sub-contractor having its own insurance cover ...
The oil and gas sector has seen significant changes over the past few years, led by a significant reduction in global oil prices. This has increased the focus on operational efficiency and more flexible ways of working collaboratively to alleviate the effects of protracted price deflation ...
On 18 October 2018, the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Amendment Bill, 2018 was published for public comment. In terms of the Notice that accompanied the Bill, written representations on the proposed amendments may be furnished within 60 days of publication of the notice ...
Blockchain is a distributed ledger of data entries. The entries are processed and managed by a series of different computers, or ‘nodes’, which can be running on different servers. Every computer connected to the system keeps a copy of this ledger, meaning that different parties can view and manage the same information in real time. It also makes it exceptionally safe and secure. The energy sector has been relatively slow to adopt blockchain technology ...
The High Court judgment in Friends of the Irish Environment v. An Bord Pleanála (delivered in 2018 by Meenan J) decided that if a Section 5 referral is made by a third party, then the owners and occupiers of the lands must be identified and served with notice of the referral, and given an opportunity to make submissions in accordance with basic fair procedures ...
In Scots law, it is possible to acquire certain rights to land – access, for instance – simply by the passage of time. This process is known as “prescription” and is outlined in the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973. There are two forms of prescription: positive and negative. Negative prescription extinguishes certain rights after a period of time ...
The UKCS is the largest decommissioning market in the North Sea. There are around 475 fixed facilities, over 10,000 kilometres of pipeline and approximately 5,000 wells. These will all need to be decommissioned over the next 30 years, when they reach the end of their economic life, at an estimated cost of £59.7 billion ...
In Australia, we're seeing enormous opportunities and some policy challenges in renewable energy ...
The Ohio Supreme Court yesterday reversed the decision of a lower court of appeals and held that a general contractor is not entitled to insurance coverage for property damage arising out of its subcontractor’s faulty work, even when the general contractor purchased a CGL insurance policy with a rider pertaining to coverage related to a subcontractor’s faulty work ...
The Ohio Supreme Court yesterday reversed the decision of a lower court of appeals and held that a general contractor is not entitled to insurance coverage for property damage arising out of its subcontractor’s faulty work, even when the general contractor purchased a CGL insurance policy with a rider pertaining to coverage related to a subcontractor’s faulty work ...
Feeling the heat: the draft Climate Change Bill, 2018 Earlier this year, the South African Minister of Environmental Affairs (the “Minister”) published the draft Climate Change Bill, 2018 for public comment. Since then, the Department of Environmental Affairs (“DEA”) has undertaken a road show across the country to solicit comments to the Bill and held further bilateral meetings with stakeholders earlier this year ...
Earlier this year, the Minister of Mineral Resources (the “minister”) published a notice amending Chapter 4 of the regulations relating to explosives, binding in terms of the Mine Health and Safety Act, 1996. The regulations will come into effect at the end of the 2018 year ...
Towards the end of 2018, the South African Minister of Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe (the “Minister”), published the Broad-Based Socio-Economic Empowerment Charter for the South African Mining and Minerals Industry, 2018 (the “2018 Mining Charter”). It is indicated that “implementation guidelines” are to be published in the near future. What follows is a summary of a few of the salient features of the 2018 Mining Charter ...
On 1 January 2020, the maximum allowable sulfur content of marine fuels will be drastically reduced from the current 3.50% to 0.5% m/m. 2020 is rapidly approaching, but is the shipping industry really prepared? In this article, we provide an overview of the regulations and the main alternatives for compliance that shipowners and operators are faced with. Introduction On 1 January 2020, the maximum allowable sulfur content of marine fuels will be drastically reduced from the current 3.50% to 0 ...
