Category: General

Clean Air Act / Climate Change / EPA / General
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The Replacements: DC Circuit Partially Vacates EPA’s HFC Rule

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit invalidated part of a 2016 EPA rule that made hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) unacceptable for various uses in aerosols, automobile air conditioners, commercial refrigerators, and foams.

In the waning years of the Obama presidency, EPA made an effort to combat climate change by enacting two rules restricting the use of HFCs, which are greenhouse gases. EPA claimed it had authority to do so under Title VI of the Clean Air Act. Section 612 of the Act …

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EPA / General / New York
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Emerging Contaminants: Testing Finds 1,4-Dioxane Present in Dozens of Household Products

Testing conducted by the group Citizens Campaign for the Environment, which is purportedly pushing for a New York state ban on 1,4-Dioxane in household products, has found the chemical at various levels in “65 of 80” commonly used (and commonly disposed of) high-end and less expensive personal care and detergent products. In conjunction with an uptick in 1,4-Dioxane litigation, these new studies likely provide lawyers, litigants, and other concerned parties a hint at what’s to come.

As a refresher, 1,4-Dioxane is a synthetic industrial …

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EPA / General
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Partially Stripped

On March 15, 2019, the EPA proposed as a Final Rule a scaled down version of the total ban on the use of methyl chloride in paint stripper. The EPA proposed the Final Rule in connection with its administration of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Under the scaled down version, methyl chloride is banned from all consumer use paint removers but this toxic chemical can still be used for commercial applications provided there is appropriate training. This version of the Final Rule is a …

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General
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A “Natural”? Court Dismisses Trace Glyphosate Claim Against Orange Juice Growers

Glyphosate litigation continues to grow apace.  In addition to the massive numbers of personal injury cases based on exposure to the popular herbicide, on which we have reported previously, the plaintiffs have begun to file cases alleging deceptive trade practices against companies that market food products containing trace amounts of glyphosate with labels like “Natural” or “Pure”.

 

​One such case was brought in federal court in New York against Florida’s Natural Growers, Inc. and its parent company, Citrus World, Inc., makers of Florida’s Natural …

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General / Missouri
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Di-can’t-a Part 3: Revenge of the Dicamba

Last year, we noted the commencement of several class action lawsuits involving dicamba, a widely-used herbicide that has come under fire recently based on allegations that its use has resulted in collateral damage to crops and other plant life on neighboring properties that have not been genetically modified to resist dicamba.

Dicamba Updates

Yesterday, Monsanto Co. and BASF Corp. asked a Missouri federal judge to toss a proposed class action by farmers alleging the companies purposely distributed dicamba and withheld information about its harmful …

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Emerging Issues / General
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George Buermann to speak at CLM Southeast Conference on Mitigation Tools for Environmental Crisis Management

Join Goldberg Segalla’s George Buermann on November 9 at the 2018 CLM Southeast Conference in Atlanta, GA. George will be part of a panel discussion titled, “Weathering the Storm: Effective Mitigation Tools for Environmental Crisis Management.” The panel will discuss the actions insurers and businesses can take to shift their posture from being reactive to a preplanning and preventative stance as well as ways to minimize and mitigate damages that arise from environmental disasters and emergencies.  The panel will offer instruction on how to prepare …

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California / General
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Breaking News / Glyphosate Update: Plaintiff Accepts Significantly Reduced Award in First of Its Kind Glyphosate Verdict

Last week, we reported that the judge who presided over the first trial related to alleged personal injuries from exposure to Monsanto’s glyphosate-containing herbicides slashed $211 million off of the $250 million awarded to the plaintiff in punitive damages. The reduction effectively brought the jury’s prior total award of $289 million down to $78.5 million – $39.25 million in punitive damages and $39.25 million in compensatory damages. The court had ruled that the plaintiff had to decide whether to accept the reduced award or seek …

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California / General
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Landmark Glyphosate Verdict Reduced by $211 Million

We previously reported on the first glyphosate exposure case to go to a jury trial where a California jury awarded a former school groundskeeper $289 million. Of the $289 million award, $250 million were for punitive damages against Monsanto.

On Monday, the judge who presided over the trial slashed $211 million off of the punitive damages award, bringing the total award down to $78 million. The $211 million reduction was based on the judge’s finding that the jury’s punitive damages award had to be reduced …

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General
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WEBINAR: Unregulated (Mostly), Uncertain, and Ubiquitous-PFAS and the Highly Anticipated ATSDR Report

Join Goldberg Segalla’s George H. Buermann and Oliver E. Twaddell​ for a complimentary, live, and  interactive webinar on PFAS substances and how companies, insurers, and counsel should prepare themselves for what might be the next mass tort. George and Oliver will present on the most recent — and perhaps most significant — indicator of these developments, a report from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), which includes a toxicological profile of PFAS and a comprehensive analysis of the current state of these …

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