Legal Resources
EPA’s About-Face On Asbestos Regulatory Position
On June 30, 2020, the federal government released its Spring Unified Regulatory Agenda (SURA), which provides uniform reporting of data on regulatory and deregulatory activities under development throughout the Federal Government, covering approximately 60...
EU Stepping Up PFAS Regulation Process
In May 2020, we reported that five European Union countries (Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark) took the first step in an effort to try to restrict the manufacture and sale of all per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the EU. Now, the...
Bayer’s Settlement and the Future of Glyphosate Litigation
Bayer, the parent company of Monsanto and current producer of Roundup brand weed killer, has agreed to pay more than $10 billion to settle an estimated 95,000 active cases involving allegations that Roundup causes non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The settlement represents...
PFAS Use Awareness Could Protect Companies Against Future Litigation
Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) are a collection of over 7,000 man-made chemical compounds. PFAS are malleable into thousands of commercial applications due to their unique physical characteristics. Common and well-known uses of these compounds include...
TSCA Update: Current status, What to expect next, What does it all mean?
In 1976, Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act (“TSCA”). TSCA gives EPA the authority to require reporting, record-keeping and testing requirements, and restrictions relating to chemical substances and/or mixtures. In 2016, Congress passed the Lautenberg...
Youth Sports COVID-19 Reopening: Reducing the Risks of Liability
One of the chief priorities of youth sports organizations is the health and safety of their athletes. The current outbreak of COVID-19 has created unprecedented challenges to maintaining this priority, particularly when the narrative changes so frequently on what is...
Major Drinking Water Advisory Group Releases PFAS Guidance Document
The Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA) recently released its "PFAS – Source Water Protection Guide and Toolkit", which contains information regarding PFAS, state efforts thus far to regulate PFAS in drinking water, and recommendations that will...
No Smoking? No Problem. New DNA Defenses in Non-Smoking Lung Cancer Cases
In asbestos-related litigation involving cases of lung cancer, the question of whether asbestos was a cause in the development of the plaintiff’s lung cancer is nearly always hotly contested. Cancers are caused by mutations that may be inherited, induced by...
Attorney General Healey Continues to Urge COVID-19 Health and Safety Compliance
In response to concerns about the safety of returning to work during the COVID-19 pandemic, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey launched a new website last month to provide individuals and small businesses with resources to help them navigate this uncertain...
CMBG3 PFAS Team Attends Webinar On PFAS Liability For Water Suppliers & Municipalities
On June 17, 2020, CMBG3 PFAS team member Jessica Deyoe, Esq. attended a three hour webinar hosted by the Environmental Business Council of New England, which was entitled "PFAS Liabilities for Water Suppliers and Municipalities: Perspectives on Risk Management and...
PFAS Comment Period Closes For EPA – What’s Next?
In February of this year, the EPA preliminarily determined that setting a legally enforceable National Primary Drinking Water Regulation is appropriate for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). Currently, the EPA has only established a...
Civil Unrest Adds to Challenges Facing Business Interruption Claims
The COVID-19 pandemic brought a wave of business interruption claims and related coverage lawsuits from business impacted by widespread closures. As we noted in our previous analysis, these businesses face significant hurdles in obtaining coverage for pandemic-related...