In April 2017, the UK Joint Committee on Human Rights suggested that it might be appropriate for a “failure to prevent” mechanism, such as the one found in section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010, to be applied to business and human rights. Earlier this year, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (“BIICL”) … Continue Reading
On April 10, 2020, US EPA issued updated interim guidance to regional offices for dealing with the “challenges posed by the COVID-19 situation.” The guidance applies to all US EPA field activities, including cleanup under the Superfund program, RCRA corrective action, TSCA PCB cleanup provisions, the Oil Pollution Act, and the Underground Storage Tank program. … Continue Reading
In Vedanta Resource PLC and another v Lungowe and others the UK Supreme Court has held that a claim for negligence and breach of statutory duty against a mining company based in Zambia and its English parent can be heard by the UK courts. In so doing, this landmark decision has potentially opened the door to … Continue Reading
The US Supreme Court has denied review of a July 2017 Sixth Circuit ruling that revived two federal class action lawsuits seeking redress for plaintiffs alleging injury as a result of the lead-tainted water crises in Flint, Michigan. In addition to ensuring that the Flint, Michigan water crises remains active in the national conversation, the Supreme Court’s … Continue Reading
The UK Government has published a Green Paper on Industrial Strategy, which identifies a number of challenges over the coming years, including: building on existing strengths and extending excellence into the future (with reference to the UK’s global reputation in industrial sectors – from automotive and aerospace to financial and professional services and the creative … Continue Reading
As 2015 came to a close, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals quietly notified the parties in a decades-long environmental dispute that, in April 2016, the court will hear arguments in a case that could reshape CERCLA liability forever. The basis for the pending appeal is a district court order holding that air emissions could … Continue Reading
The US District Court for the Eastern District of Washington recently held in Anderson v. Teck Metals, Ltd. that CERCLA displaces federal common law claims for public nuisance based upon the standard for displacement set out by the US Supreme Court in American Elec. Power Co., Inc. v. Connecticut and the Ninth Circuit in Native Village of Kivalina v. Exxon … Continue Reading
What is Nanotechnology? Nanotechnology is a generic term used to describe the design, engineering, production and use of substances and materials at the nanoscale (1 nanometre representing 1 billionth of a metre). To illustrate, one sheet of standard paper is approximately 100,000 nanometres thick and one nanometre is roughly how long a human fingernail will … Continue Reading
The US Supreme Court has again reiterated that the federal Superfund law should be interpreted narrowly and plainly, this time while addressing the statute’s impact on state tort theories arising from releases of hazardous substances. In CTS Corp. v. Waldburger, the Court held that the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) does not preempt … Continue Reading
On September 23, 2013, the Third Circuit denied GenOn Power Midwest LP’s Petition for Rehearing En Banc in the Bell v. Cheswick Generating Station, GenOn Power Midwest, L.P. appeal. As we previously reported, the petition sought review of the court’s September 3, 2013 decision finding that the Clean Air Act does not preempt state law … Continue Reading
On September 3, 2013, GenOn Power Midwest LP filed a Petition for Rehearing En Banc in response to last month’s decision by a panel of the the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Bell v. Cheswick Generating Station, GenOn Power Midwest, L.P., finding that the Clean Air Act (CAA) does not preempt state law tort claims brought by … Continue Reading
The plaintiffs in Lozar, et al. v. Birds Eye Foods, Inc. ( Case No. 12-1945) took another hit on June 27, 2013, when the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit confirmed the granting of defendant Birds Eye Foods, Inc.’s (BEF) motion for summary judgment based on plaintiffs’ failure to demonstrate causation. Noting that there must … Continue Reading
