On Thursday, November 7, 2013, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced measures to definitively eliminate all the artificial trans fats from processed products in the United States. The purpose of the proposal, which is released for public comments for a 60-day period, is to remove trans fats from the “generally recognized as safe” (“GRAS”) category, which would allow these products to be commonly used in food products ...
THE 1979 STATUTE It is well known that, under the legal regime for the protection of agricultural lands, the acquisition of agriculturally zoned lands with a surface area of four hectares or more by a person not residing in Quebec is subject to the authorization of the Commission de protection des terres agricoles. This is the object of the Act respecting the acquisition of farm land by non-residents (CQLR chapter A-4.1) (the “Act”), which has been in force since December 21, 1979 ...
Purchasers and lessees of commercial or industrial properties know to obtain Phase I environmental site assessments to identify the presence of contamination - so-called recognized environmental conditions (RECs) - because of the very substantial liabilities these conditions may create. And their lenders generally require them. The industry standard for Phase I’s is based on EPA regulations that flesh out Superfund’s “all appropriate inquiry (AAI)” standard ...
Introduction Last week, the federal government took a big step toward bringing the Fisheries Act (Canada) and its application into line with the federal government’s responsible resource development plan ...
The European Parliament’s Auken Report made it clear that Spain is coming up short as far as protecting its coastline is concerned. Application of Coastal Law 22/1988, of July 28, 1988, fast-tracked in recent years, not only brought with it no little confusion for all concerned, it also failed to contribute to the protection of the coastline, which clearly leaves a great deal to be desired along certain stretches of the Spanish coast ...
What is a PPA? The purpose of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) is to set out the terms and conditions for the sale of electricity between a producer (seller) and the take-off entity (buyer), particularly regulating important matters on timing and the initiation of production, the terms of delivery of electricity, payment mechanisms, force majeure clauses and the termination of sales and purchases. The PPA represents a crucial project document in a renewables project ...
On 3 October 2013, DG Environment of the European Commission published its final report following the public consultation on ‘Unconventional fossil fuels’ (e.g. shale gas). Since this is an important stage in the legislative process, the purpose of this note is to provide you with a brief outline of its findings and follow up. Importantly, the European Commission has announced that in December 2013 the impact assessment will follow ...
On October 17th, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada released its long-awaited decision in Castonguay Blasting, commonly referred to as the fly-rock case. To summarize, Castonguay was doing some blasting work and rock was unexpectedly projected outside the work site, landing on someone’s property and damaging a home and a vehicle. No one was hurt and there was no environmental damage ...
On August 6, 2013, the Quebec Court of Appeal rendered a very interesting decision in the case of Anglo Pacific Group plc v. Ernst & Young Inc., 9261-0690 Québec Inc., Northern Star Mining Corp. and Jake Resources Inc ...
In 1956, the American Association of Professional Landmen (“A.A.P.L.”) published the first version of its model form Joint Operating Agreement (“JOA”), which it later revised in 1977, 1982, and 1989 (the “A.A.P.L. form”). Since that initial publication, the oil and gas industry has universally adopted the A.A.P.L. form as its standard JOA. The industry has also since adopted horizontal drilling and development as a popular method to recover hydrocarbons ...
In the innovativeness of its economy, Poland ranks 4th from last in the European Union, but greater support is planned for highly innovative projects that show promise for implementation and commercialisation in Poland. At a session of the Polish Parliament’s Innovation and New Technology Committee on 19 June 2013, the Ministry of Regional Development presented the guidelines for operational programmes Smart Growth 2014–2020 and IT & Telecommunications 2014–2020 ...
In September 2013, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality updated its guidance on the use of the Texas Environmental, Health, and Safety Audit Privilege Act to reflect changes recently made by the 83rd Texas legislature to allow prospective purchasers of facilities to take advantage of the protections afforded by the Act ...
I. Introduction The development of projects and business opportunities, particularly in the natural resource industries, requires government decision making, from the issuance of resource tenures, through environmental assessment of proposed works and activities, and through licences, permits and authorizations ...
In June 2013, the Land and Environment Court handed down a judgment in a case concerning parent company liability for environmental pollution caused by a subsidiary, (Case No. M 11429-12). Initially, we give a brief description of the term operator followed by an account of the judgment in question ...
Since our last update (in June 2013), progress has been made on the key outstanding issues we identified; namely, geology, taxation, community benefits and planning ...
Denmark has a large life science sector, including a number of biotech and pharmaceutical companies and research activities. The sector is highly regulated and covered by extensive and complicated statutory requirements, executive orders and ethical standards. Denmark has incorporated most of the EU regulation and Danish law is thus to a large extent in conformity with the general EU regulation and practice of, for example, the European Medicines Agency (‘EMA’) ...
On 13 June 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down its unanimous decision in the ongoing case of Association for Molecular Pathology et al v Myriad Genetics, Inc. et al 12-398, 569 US __ (2013). This case is the first brought in the US directly challenging the patentability of human genes and for that reason is extremely important to any entity involved in the biotechnology industry which relies on human genetics research as part of innovation strategy ...
The $400 million package agreed by JP Morgan with the US federal energy regulator to settle its energy market abuse case against the firm, announced at the end of July, is a great example of the legal risks energy firms now run in exploiting loopholes in the frequently complex bidding rules governing energy wholesale markets ...
On May 29, 2013, Alberta issued three regulations and two rules under the Responsible Energy Development Act (“REDA”). The new regulations and rules became operational on June 17, 2013, the same day that REDA came into force. With REDA, the regulations and the rules now in place, the new regulatory regime for energy development in Alberta has started to take shape ...
In response to solar industry concerns that its regulations were stifling the country’s solar energy development, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission initiated a rulemaking on January 17 to amend its regulations applicable to the interconnection of facilities of 20 MW or less to the grid ...
One way to change the law fast is to amend or repeal statutes in budget legislation. That is what the federal government of Canadadid in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Federal programs, staff positions and budgets for environmental science, conservation and protection have been eliminated. That leaves a lot of responsibility with the provinces and territories, and many open questions for industry. This article describes what has happened and identifies what to look out for ...
