The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) recently issued a proposed rule and a notice of future of rulemaking under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”) regarding standards for “all appropriate inquiry,” which are important to a variety of businesses, especially those engaged in real estate transactions ...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Corps of Engineers recently issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the definition of “waters of the United States,” which was published in the Federal Register on January 15, 2003. EPA and the Corps will be accepting comments that the agencies will use in developing rules clarifying what waters are subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act ...
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 ...
Under Section 113 of the Clean Air Act, when it finds that a regulated party is engaged in unlawful activity, EPA may, among other things, issue an administrative compliance order (ACO) that directs that party to comply, provided: (a) the ACO is based upon any information available to the Administrator; (b) the ACO is issued thirty days after the issuance of a Notice of Violation; and (c) the regulated party is given an “opportunity to confer” with the Administrator ...
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 ...
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”) recently published an Interoffice Memorandum (“the Memorandum”) that directs the agency’s offices how to handle reporting of spills and releases, including the discovery of historic contamination. It defines “historic contamination” as a “release” from an inactive source, whether of known or unknown quantities, citing as an example, contamination discovered during excavation activities ...
Related Practice Groups Environmental The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”) recently published an Interoffice Memorandum (“the Memorandum”) that directs the agency’s offices how to handle reporting of spills and releases, including the discovery of historic contamination. It defines “historic contamination” as a “release” from an inactive source, whether of known or unknown quantities, citing as an example, contamination discovered during excavation activities ...
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 ...
In our October 22, 2002 Alert, we discussed the importance of the new compliance history rules of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”). Basically, a company’s compliance history will affect permitting, availability of innovative programs, and enforcement, including unannounced inspections. Be alert that the TCEQ compliance history rules ignore traditional distinctions between mergers and assets acquisitions involving successor liability ...
In our October 22, 2002 Alert, we discussed the importance of the new compliance history rules of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”). Basically, a company’s compliance history will affect permitting, availability of innovative programs, and enforcement, including unannounced inspections. Be alert that the TCEQ compliance history rules ignore traditional distinctions between mergers and assets acquisitions involving successor liability ...
Related Practice Groups Environmental During the 78th Legislative Session, the Texas Legislature passed a massive tort reform bill, H.B. 4, that will result in sweeping changes not only to tort cases but also to litigation generally. Several changes critically impact environmental cases. The purpose of this memorandum is to alert you to some of these changes ...
Chemical manufacturers, processors, and distributors, petroleum refiners and distributors, and other manufacturers are potentially affected by a “policy clarification and reporting guidance” issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on June 3rd, 2003, relating to § 8(e) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) ...
In response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and other threats related to hazardous materials, the U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) has revised its regulations related to the transportation of hazardous materials ...
According to the fourth quarter 2001 report of Lodging Econometrics, the accelerated decline in the operating performance of the lodging industry will continue until the middle of the first quarter of 2002 due to the events of September 11, 2001 and the recession. Further, while the operating performance of the lodging industry may show signs of improvement by September of 2002, their effects may not be felt until the first quarter of 2003 ...
The recent media coverage of the ENRON crisis and the related Congressional investigations have combined to precipitate new discussions about the adequacy of corporate governance, accounting oversight and financial disclosures. As a result, there is a strong push afoot for new federal requirements in these areas primarily through new SEC regulations. We are again reminded that “bad facts make for bad law” and a crisis often leads to over reactions ...
To Our Public Company Clients: The SEC has adopted new rules that generally require domestic public companies to publicly disclose information regarding the potential share “overhang” that exists as a result of all of their equity compensation plans. The new rules affect Regulation S-K and S-B Items 201 and 601, Items 10 and 14 of Schedules 14A and 14C, as well as Item 12 of Form 10-K and Item 11 of Form 10-KSB ...
Resignation of Two Argentine Presidents. In late December 2001, Argentina saw the rare occurrence of the resignation of two Argentine Presidents. First, Fernando de la Rúa resigned after public protests to the administration’s economic policies resulted in civil unrest. Also resigning at the same time was his Minister of Economy Domingo Cavallo ...
To Our Public Company Clients: The Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered the chief executive officer and chief financial officer of public companies with revenues in excess of $1.2 billion during the last fiscal year to certify personally under oath in writing that their company’s SEC filings are materially correct (the “Order”). See http://www.sec.gov/rules/other/4-460.htm ...
Introduction One of the important legislative initiatives for the Fox Administration was a tax reform package that could improve tax collection, while reducing the government’s historic reliance on Pemex for its tax revenues (typically approximately one-third) ...
Artificial intelligence (“AI”) is big news at the moment, so it’s no surprise that lawyers are considering the IP issues relating to AI. Some of the implications are really quite profound. In this article, I will discuss some of the copyright and trade mark implications. The copyright issues of AI have been discussed by a number of people ...
At the recently heldSummit 100Business Forum in Sarajevo, many topics of contemporary relevance for the region of Southeast Europe were expectedly touched upon. Be it the supply of sustainable energy, the position of women in business, or the issues related to infrastructure & transport conditions, it was an opportunity for a number of prominent experts and government officials to weigh in with their opinions on how to improve the overall business situation in our region ...
The new Home Secretary, James Cleverly, announced a five-point plan aimed at reducing the recently announced record high net-migration figures. The planned changes will have a big impact on many employers’ ability to sponsor workers from overseas. The changes will be brought into force in the Spring, although an exact date has yet to be confirmed. The Government estimate that these changes will reduce net migration by 300,000 (based on estimations of new entrants to the UK last year) ...
Information is often the most valuable asset that a business has. Businesses that think strategically about how they create and develop their information assets are able to increase their value, frequently by substantial amounts. For example, data analytics can help a business understand its clients, what they are likely to buy - when and how. Cloud computing offers efficiencies and cost savings ...
