Legal Resources
California PFAS Laws Take Aim At Consumer Goods
The end of May 2022 saw two new significant California PFAS laws make their way through the legislature, taking significant steps forward to becoming laws that are presented to the Governor for signature. Both bills to some degree focus directly on consumer goods....
Environmental Justice Enforcement Actions To Increase By EPA
The EPA recently indicated that it will ramp up its activity with respect to environmental justice enforcement initiatives using pre-pandemic tools such as on-site facility inspections. The EPA's focus on environmental justice reverse some Trump-era policies that...
ESG Climate Lawsuit Allowed To Proceed In MA
On May 20, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Court upheld a Massachusetts state court decision to allow an ESG climate lawsuit to proceed against ExxonMobile (Exxon) by the Commonwealth's Attorney General. While the issue addressed by the state's Supreme Court was...
PFAS Legislative Developments (May 2022)
May 2022 PFAS Legislative Developments May Legislation Tracking (May 1, 2022 – May 31, 2022)Current Trends in Legislation – May 2022PFAS Monitoring and PFAS Task Force Federal Level Key point addressed: Clean water standards, PFAS testing and cosmetics products...
McDonald’s ESG Board Battle Ends…For Now
Last week, McDonald's scored a victory in a months long battle over the makeup of its Board of Directors that brought McDonald's environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices directly into the spotlight. At issue was McDonald's alleged mistreatment of pigs in...
SEC Anti-Greenwashing Rules Approved At Hearing
On the heels of the Securities and Exchange Commission's ESG Task Force settlement order of $1.5 million with BNY Mellon Investment Advisor, Inc., the SEC on May 25, 2022, approved two significant proposals that would increase the disclosure requirements for funds and...
ESG Task Force Climate Settlement Is First Of Many To Come
Earlier this month, we wrote regarding the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) ESG Task Force filing its first complaint against a publicly traded company for allegedly presenting fraudulent information to investors regarding the safety of its dams, which...
PFAS Products Ban Set To Hit Colorado
A PFAS products ban bill now sits on the desk of the governor of Colorado, the last step before the piece of legislation becomes state law. The bill, HB 1345, would ban the use of PFAS in a variety of consumer goods, which follows in the footsteps of several other...
PFAS and Waste Industry CERCLA Concerns
We previously provided an update regarding the EPA’s notification to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that it intends to move forward with regulating PFOA and PFOS as “hazardous substances” under CERCLA. We further detailed the growing movement...
DOJ’s Environmental Justice Policies Strengthened
On May 5, 2022, The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced two significant steps in addressing environmental justice issues, including unveiling a comprehensive environmental justice strategy document and reinstating the DOJ's power to authorize community projects as...
SAB PFAS Report May Be Finalized This Week
We previously commented on the significance of the four days of hearings held by the Science Advisory Board (SAB) on issues related to the EPA’s proposals to regulate two legacy PFAS – PFOA and PFOS – in drinking water. On April 1, 2022, the SAB PFAS report was...
SEC ESG Task Force Charges First Company For ESG Fraud
We previously wrote about the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) committing in 2022 to pursue companies that misrepresent or otherwise present misleading information to investors regarding issues that touch on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). It did...