On December 27, 2001, President Bush signed the Administrative Simplification Compliance Act (the "Act") that delayed the effective date of the electronic data interchange ("EDI") requirements of HIPAA. The EDI regulations required health claim transactions transmitted electronically to be in a standard format. The Act delays the effective date of the EDI regulations until October 16, 2003 or 2004 depending upon the size of your group health plan ...
Many employers are busy planning and preparing for the HIPAA privacy regulations which become applicable on or after April 14, 2003 or 2004, depending on the size of the group health plan. In the past, many employers wrapped all welfare plans into one plan document to reduce their Form 5500 filing requirements ...
As employers face the uncertainties of the post 9/11 era, we issue this Alert addressing five significant issues that the terrorist attacks raise for employers: (i) discrimination claims; (ii) the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994; (iii) workplace violence; (iv) background checks; and (v) security, evacuation, and safety. 1 ...
Enron announced in court Friday, January 11, that it had selected UBS Warburg’s bid for its wholesale commodity trading business. Many details concerning the sale remain to be resolved through the bankruptcy court process. Importantly for Haynes and Boone’s energy clients, there are many other Enron assets remaining on the auction block ...
On Monday, January 14, 2002, the United States Supreme Court decided 6-3 that the EEOC is not limited by an arbitration agreement signed by an individual employee, but may seek back-pay, reinstatement or damages on behalf of that employee when it litigates. The lower appellate courts had split, with the most arbitration favorable courts holding that where an arbitration agreement existed, the EEOC was limited to seeking injunctive relief ...
On January 11, 2002, President Bush signed the “Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act” (the “Act”). As its name suggests, the Act provides relief to small businesses and funding for Brownfields (“real property, the expansion, re-development, or re-use of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant”) ...
On January 9, 2002, in Chao v. Mallard Bay Drilling, Inc., the United States Supreme Court concluded that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's ("OSHA") authority to maintain workplace safety for "uninspected" vessels (such as offshore drilling rigs) is not pre-empted by the Coast Guard's power to control maritime operations ...
ERISA requires plan fiduciaries to discharge their fiduciary duties solely in the interests of the participants and beneficiaries of the plan, and imposes personal liability on plan fiduciaries who fail to do so. While these obligations have existed under ERISA for over 25 years, Enron has brought them into sharp focus and caused many employers to revisit the structure of, and the fiduciary responsibilities imposed on employees under, their 401(k) plans and other retirement plans ...
Department of State: DOS is now requiring all male nonimmigrant visa applicants between the ages of 16 and 45, regardless of nationality and regardless of where they apply, to submit Form DS-157 in addition to the usual Form DS-156 Nonimmigrant Visa Application. Posts may also require women to submit the form at their discretion. ∙ Jerusalem is the first post to require all applicants age 16 to 45, regardless of gender, to submit form DS-157 in addition to form DS-156 ...
Introduction President of Mexico Vicente Fox has announced that one of the priorities of his administration will be the development of the energy sector. He is well aware of the current needs for investment in this sector, particularly in power generation and non-associated gas exploration and production. He is also aware that the government will not have the necessary funds to match the anticipated growth of energy demand ...
If you are a building owner planning any renovation or demolition, under a new Texas law, you must demonstrate that you have an asbestos survey before your city will issue a building permit for the project. Asbestos surveys by licensed asbestos inspectors have been a requirement for public buildings for some time; the new statute is intended to publicize and enforce that requirement. Each city has its own requirements for what must be shown to get a permit ...
There is a multi-million dollar market segment that petroleum and energy product companies may not have considered previously -- namely sales to the U.S. Government. The principal federal government agency for the purchase and management of energy products is the Defense Energy Support Center (DESC), a part of the Defense Logistics Agency, with headquarters at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia ...
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) new recordkeeping regulations became effective on January 1, 2002. OSHA, however, has agreed to refrain from enforcing the regulations during the first 120 days of the rule, or until May 1, 2002 ...
IRS SUSPENDS 5500 FILING REQUIREMENTS FOR CAFETERIA PLANS, EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PLANS, AND ADOPTION ASSISTANCE PLANS The Internal Revenue Service announced, in Notice 2002-24, that plan sponsors of cafeteria plans, educational assistance plans, and adoption assistance plans are excused indefinitely from the requirement to file Schedule F to Form 5500 for such plans. Thus, an employer whose health plan would not require the filing of a Form 5500 (e.g ...
On April 29, 2002, the United States Supreme Court decided that the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") does not require non-union employers to make an exception to their seniority system as a reasonable accommodation for a disabled employee. US Airways, Inc. v. Barnett, No. 00-1250 (April 29, 2002). This is the latest in a series of Supreme Court decisions narrowing the reach of the ADA ...
1. APPLICATIONS FOR THE MACT HAMMER PERMIT DUE MAY 15, 2002 Section 112(j) of the federal Clean Air Act requires that major sources of hazardous air pollutants (HAP) submit an application for a Title V Operating Permit Revision if the source is a member of a source category for which the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not adopted a Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standard within 18 months after the deadline for development of that standard ...
University of Houston Law Foundation 2002 Oil and Gas Short Course Introduction The proposal for and conduct of operations are the primary souce of disagreement and litigation under AAPL Model Form Operating Agreement Form 610. This Model Form Operating Agreement has been in use in sustantially the same form since the first Form 610-1956 ...
University of Texas Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Institute Introduction This paper does not cover pooling from A to Z. If you are interested in a more basic treatment of pooling, see Smith and Weaver, "Texas Law of Oil and Gas," Lexis 2000, Section §4.8. Rather, this paper will first examine selected recent cases, which to some extent involved exercise of the pooling authority under the oil and gas lease ...
Earlier today, the Texas Supreme Court gave a green light to company required arbitration programs. In Re Halliburton Company And Brown & Root Energy Services, No. 00-1206 (Tex. May 30th, 2002). The underlying case arose when both the district court and court of appeals refused to order a case brought under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act to arbitration ...
Most of the attention about the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Act), now awaiting President Bush’s signature, has been focused on the reform of public accounting firms and the financial reporting obligations of publicly held companies. However, the Act has other provisions that potentially impact a much broader range of employers. The legislation will be implemented at various times following the President’s signature, but employers should begin preparing for the following changes: 1 ...
A reference guide to articles, speeches and presentations created by Allen Cummings ...
Most of the attention about the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Act), signed into law by President Bush on July 30, 2002, has been focused on the reform of public accounting firms and the financial reporting obligations of publicly held companies. However, the Act has other provisions that potentially impact a much broader range of employers ...
The deadline for compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 final regulations regarding standards for electronic claims transactions, October 16, 2002, is quickly approaching ...
ALI-ABA Pension, Profit-Sharing, Welfare, and other Compensation Plans; Washington, DC Many of the defined contribution health plans being marketed involve a higher deductible indemnity type of coverage either with or without a network of managed care providers (the “Policy”) accompanied by a “personal care account” or “PCA” which is funded either by employer, employee or both contributing to the PCA ...
A SUMMARY OF THE FINAL REGULATIONS ON THE STANDARDS FOR PRIVACY OF INDIVIDUALLY IDENTIFIABLE HEALTH INFORMATION ISSUED DECEMBER 28, 2000 AS MODIFIED BY THE FINAL REGULATIONS ISSUED ON AUGUST 14, 2002 CAVEAT: This outline summarizes the HIPAA Privacy Regulations as modified. No one should rely on this as legal advice. In every situation, the application of the rules requires careful analysis of a counsel who is familiar with your particular situation. I ...
