On May 3, 2021, EPA announced its first major climate change rule under the Biden Administration, proposing to phase down the manufacture and import of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are potent greenhouse gases. EPA...more
Key Takeaways What Is Happening? On April 21, 2021, the Washington State legislature passed a sweeping new minimum recycled content bill, SB5022, which creates recycled content minimums for some plastic products sold in...more
Parties to the Basel Convention are considering legally binding amendments to the Convention that would dramatically expand controls and trade bans governing international shipments of used products managed for reuse and...more
On January 1, 2021, new Basel Convention controls on international shipments of non-hazardous plastic waste will go into effect in countries around the world. As Parties to the Convention implement their obligations,...more
On December 3, 2020, Science published a peer-reviewed scientific study linking 6PPD, a common rubber antioxidant chemical found in tire preservatives, to coho salmon mortality in the Pacific Northwest. The New York Times,...more
On September 14, the European Commission (Commission) released the roadmap for its Sustainable Products Initiative (Initiative) – an ambitious new vision for legislative reform that will establish minimum sustainability and...more
On April 29, 2020, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) released the Measures of Environmental Management and Registration of New Chemical Substances (“MEE Order 12”) – a revision of Measures of Environmental...more
Participants in the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) now have increased certainty over eligible carbon offsets. At its March 2020 Council meeting, the International Civil Aviation...more
The European Commission (EC) has adopted a new set of eco-design requirements for ten categories of energy-consuming products, including refrigerators, washing machines, and televisions pursuant to the Ecodesign Directive...more
Beginning in December 2019, the Ban Amendment to the Basel Convention will prohibit shipments of hazardous waste from OECD countries to non-OECD countries for disposal or recovery. While the Ban Amendment was originally...more
Following California’s lead, Washington State has revived, at the state level, federal limits on greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and is contemplating additional restrictions in the future. HFCs are...more
The European Union has finalized an expansion of phthalate restrictions under REACH, with most new restrictions to be phased in effective July 7, 2020. Diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP) will be restricted in the plasticized...more
On September 18, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) released an advance copy of a rule proposing to rescind the agency’s 2016 extension (“2016 Rule”) of certain appliance refrigerant leak repair rules to...more
This September in New York, UN member states will begin to negotiate a new, binding international instrument to govern the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction....more
On February 8, 2018, the United States Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) filed a petition with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) requesting that the Agency establish a food labeling requirement that the term...more
In a case with wide-reaching implications for the European Union’s (EU) regulation of products developed using CRISPR/Cas9 and other targeted genome-editing techniques, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) released an advisory...more
This week, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted to expand existing phthalate restrictions in children’s toys and child care articles. ...more
This week, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted to form an advisory panel and begin drafting a rule to restrict the use of halogenated flame retardants in four consumer product categories:
children’s...more
On June 29, 2017, the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD or Task Force) released its Final Report providing recommendations on voluntary climate-related financial disclosures. The recommendations,...more
On May 17, the European Union and seven EU member states ratified the Minamata Convention on Mercury, pushing past the 50-state threshold needed for its entry into force. The treaty – the most recent of the global...more
Norway has nominated perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (also known as perfluorohexane sulfonate or PFHxS, Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) # 355-46-4) for inclusion in the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) Division of Corporate Finance issued a new statement adding some uncertainty to company obligations and enforcement exposure under the SEC conflict minerals rule...more
A flurry of activity on conflict minerals in recent months has added new uncertainty to the long-simmering debate over the future of U.S. conflict minerals reporting requirements. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission...more
In a break from European Commission and prevailing industry interpretations, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) held on September 10, 2015 that REACH concentration thresholds for substances of very high concern (SVHCs) that...more
In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reaffirmed its previous decision striking down a narrow portion of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) conflict...more