The National Government, considering the economic, social and environmental emergency caused by COVID-19, has issued Decree 574 of 2020, aiming to conjure the effects of the emergency over the mining sector and to adopt measures that seek to guarantee the continuity of the power energy and gas public service provision. The National Government has identified the need to temporarily relief and suspend the compliance of certain legal and contractual obligation of some mining titles ...
On 6 April 2020, the Government approved a bill on certain measures to mitigate the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus epidemic on the tourism sector. On 8 April 2020, the bill will be discussed by the Chamber of Deputies Committee for Public Administration and Regional Development and subsequently by the Chamber of Deputies. The Act applies to package tours starting on 20 February 2020 through to 31 August 2020 ...
The set of several emergency measures of the Ministry of Health dated 23 March 2020 banned the retail sale of goods and services. It also banned the public presence at selected premises or selected times, prohibited the operation of certain premises, prohibited the free movement of persons or restricted the activities of public authorities and administrative bodies. On 26 March 2020 the Ministry of Health amended these measures ...
The nearly global response to the spread of the deadly Coronavirus has led to governmental authorities at all levels issuing “stay-at-home orders,” “orders to close non-essential businesses,” and bans on gatherings of 10 people or more. The resulting shut-down, as well as the impact of widespread remote-working practices and displacement of personnel, may disrupt or interrupt trading and hedging activity ...
This is not a coronavirus update, but as you can expect, the number of Prop. 65 filings has not decreased significantly during the pandemic. Between March 2nd and April 14th, there were four hundred sixty-nine (469) 60-Day Notices of Violation filed, compared to five hundred ten (510) 60-Day Notices filed between January 1st and March 1st. As you may know, California’s courts are not likely to re-open until around June 1st ...
On April 10, 2020, the U.S. EPA published an interim memorandum titled “Interim Guidance on Site Field Work Decisions Due to Impacts of COVID-19,” available here, intended as guidance to EPA's regional field offices amid growing concerns regarding the impact of COVID-19 on-site cleanup activities. Specifically, the memorandum provides guidance regarding decisions to continue, reduce, or halt on site cleanup activities amid the challenges posed by the COVID-19 outbreak ...
Amidst growing concerns regarding the spread of the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, disinfectants and cleaners falsely claiming to prevent infection from the virus have started to infiltrate U.S. markets. In light of the widespread shortage of hand sanitizers, latex gloves, and face masks brought about by panic-buying in response to the outbreak, many Americans have fallen prey to these dupes. So much so that, according to a recent New York Times article, U.S ...
As COVID-19 cases have continued to spread across the country resulting in government-issued “shelter in place” orders, few industries have felt the impact as swiftly and deeply as the restaurant industry. Indeed, such government orders have required restaurants to shut down all onsite dining, causing a sharp decline in restaurant revenue. According to restaurant ...
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is devoting significant resources to combat deceptive COVID-19 advertising in a range of industries as consumer complaints to the FTC pick up steam. Companies are shifting marketing spend to cover COVID-19 messaging and should be mindful of the FTC’s increased scrutiny. Through April 9, 2020, the FTC has received 15,006 consumer complaints relating to COVID-19 advertising and business activities ...
In order to implement transitional measures to mitigate the adverse effects of the fall in international hydrocarbons prices and the public health emergency caused by COVID-19, the National Hydrocarbon Agency (“ANH”), issued Agreement 2 of 2020 (the “Agreement”) ...
The mining industry has been subject to some specific measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I. Collective Safe-Passage Permits. According tonumber 10.bof theinstructionsfor travel permitsissued bythe Ministry of Internal Affairs and Public Security1,updatedonApril2nd, 2020, mining companies and their related industries are considered as part of those basic services, utilities, and services with a high degree of social worth ...
Does the COVID-19 pandemic (or actions taken to counter the spread of COVID-19) constitute Force Majeure and is there any implied remedy (e.g. implied force majeure relief) arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic? Under English law, unlike civil law systems, force majeure is neither defined nor automatically applicable to commercial contracts ...
In their March 3, 2020 Law 360 article, our colleagues, Rob Patterson and Shu-Shu Wong, commented on the trend of certain buyers evaluating the feasibility of invoking force majeure as an excuse for not performing their purchase obligations under their liquefied natural gas long-term sale and purchase agreements (LNG SPAs) due to the COVID-19 outbreak ...
The Supervisory Agency for Investment in Energy and Mining ("OSINERGMIN") and the Ministry of Energy and Mines ("MINEM") have carried out a series of pre-publications of draft regulations in the electricity and hydrocarbons sector, including: Minimum Power: on July 31, 2020, through OSINERGMIN Resolution No ...
On 8 March 2020, Saudi Arabia initiated a price war with Russia which has caused a major fall in the price of oil. This is disastrous for an industry that had only just recently recovered from the 2014 crash and companies are now looking at how to best get through another difficult downturn ...
The power sector has responded rapidly to the Coronavirus pandemic by following Emergency Operations Plans, some of which specifically include responses to epidemics. The reliability of the grids across the United States have been maintained and power providers are necessary to the continued functioning of the country ...
Companies operating in the oil & gas industry in the UK can find the most up-to-date information and guidance relating to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic on the websites of Oil & Gas UK (“OGUK”), Step Change in Safety and the Health and Safety Executive (“HSE”), amongst others. OGUK & Step Change in Safety OGUK is continuing to publish the latest information and guidelines relating to COVID-19 on its website ...
The Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) published an administrative resolution declaring the extension of the suspension of all terms and proceedings before such authority until April 30, 2020. This resolution was published in the Federal Official Gazette on April 07, 2020. The administrative resolution A / 014/2020 published today amends CRE's prior resolution A / 010/2020 dated March 24, 2020 (which previously suspended all terms and proceedings from March 24 to April 17, 2020) ...
Many environmental impact reports and negative declarations will breeze through analyses of a development project’s impacts on cultural resources ...
South Africa is a party to a number of international environmental agreements, including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Control (“UNFCCC”), 1992, the Kyoto Protocol, 1997 and the Paris Agreement. In terms of the Paris Agreement, governments have made a commitment to ensure that global average temperatures remain below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. For South Africa, a country that relies heavily on fossil fuels to generate energy, this is a mammoth task ...
Integrated projects are pointing to the future of land use in increasingly crowded Singapore, but will they become white elephants as technology brings us (virtually) closer together than before? As an Alpha+ world city, Singapore sits alongside commercial powerhouses like Beijing, Paris and Sydney as one of the world’s most globalised cities ...
With most of the country working from home, many are wondering how to get their documents notarized. Thankfully, several states, including Texas, have authorized online notarization ceremonies. Under the new telecommunications statutes, individuals can have documents notarized from a healthy distance. Historically, Texas required both in-person notarization and the filing of the original notarized document, which precluded any possibility of a telecommuting notary ...
Introduction: The new reality As a result of the sudden and dramatic fall in the oil price that had occurred between June 2014, when oil had been trading at prices of around US$115 per barrel of Brent crude, to January 2015 by which time it had fallen to around US$35 per barrel, I was prompted to prepare a “Guide for Contractors”. Parties in the offshore oil and gas sector, and in particular contractors in the industry, were facing turbulent and unpredictable times ...
