Welcome to Industrials Regulatory News and Trends. In this regular bulletin, DLA Piper lawyers provide concise updates on key developments in the industrials sector to help you navigate the ever-changing business, legal, and regulatory landscape.
White House announced nominees for positions at EPA, NRC. Douglas Troutman, interim co-CEO of the American Cleaning Institute (ACI), has been nominated to serve as assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. The office is charged with regulating the use of pesticides and chemicals. Troutman has worked at the ACI since 2007 and currently serves as its general counsel and vice president for government affairs. The White House also nominated Ho Nieh, vice president of regulatory affairs at Southern Nuclear, to serve the remainder of former Democratic Chair Christopher Hanson’s term on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Nieh, Southern Nuclear stated, is currently “on loan” to the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, a nonprofit organization that conducts periodic evaluations of nuclear plants.
DOJ will defend the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements in court. In a filing on August 4, the EPA asked the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit to lift the abeyance on American Water Works Association v. EPA (Case No. 24-1376) so that litigation over the EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Improvements regulation may proceed. That 2024 regulation, promulgated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, mandates the replacement of virtually all lead pipes in the US by 2037; the litigation was put on paus e in February this year to allow the Trump Administration time to review the rule. The compact brief asks the court “to lift the abeyance and establish a briefing schedule concerning this action.” An EPA spokesperson told the media outlet E&E News that DOJ is “moving forward with the process of defending the rule.”
EPA proposes to rescind landmark greenhouse gas endangerment finding and eliminate mobile source emissions standards for GHGs. The EPA has published a controversial proposed rule that, if finalized, would rescind the agency’s landmark 2009 “endangerment finding,” which concluded that greenhouse gas emissions contribute to air pollution that endangers public health and welfare. Rescission of that finding would eliminate the legal basis for regulating vehicle GHG emissions, and the EPA proposal also would repeal GHG emissions standards for motor vehicles and engines manufactured for sale in the US. See our alert.
Federal lawsuit targets Oregon’s Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act. Oregon’s Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act (RMA), one of the first extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws implemented in the US, is facing its first challenge in court. The outcome of the suit could have significant implications for both the RMA and similar EPR laws taking effect in other states. See our alert.
Trade group sues Oregon over EPR law. On July 30, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District Of Oregon, Portland Division challenging Oregon’s Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act, SB 582. The suit alleges that the “deeply flawed” law violates the US Constitution and inhibits interstate commerce. SB 582 was the second packaging EPR law enacted in the US and the first to go into effect: producers of covered material sold in Oregon had until March 31, 2025, to file their first reports with the Circular Action Alliance on such data as the number, weight, and material categories of all covered items purchased by consumers or businesses in the state during 2024. The lawsuit calls on the court to, among other things, “declare the Act and regulations promulgated thereunder to be invalid and unenforceable.” This case is in its earliest stage. See the complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief.
Foxconn sells Lordstown EV factory. Taiwan-based contract manufacturing giant Foxconn has sold its Lordstown, Ohio plant to Crescent Dune LLC, for approximately $375 million. Foxconn is reported to have described Crescent Dune, a Delaware entity created in July, as an existing business partner. When Foxconn purchased the former GM plant in 2022, it announced that it would use the facility to develop and manufacture electric vehicles. Foxconn Chairman Young Liu stated at the time that the plant would become the “most important electric vehicle manufacturing and R&D hub in North America.” To date, Foxconn has manufactured a few hundred electric tractors for the Monarch Tractor company at the Ohio plant and some electric Endurance pickup trucks for now-defunct Lordstown Motors. Taiwan stock exchange filings reportedly indicate that Foxconn sold the Lordstown plant and real estate for about $88 million, along with machinery and equipment from its EV subsidiaries for another $287 million. On August 4, Automotive News reported that a Foxconn representative said the company will remain “committed to customers and suppliers” in the automotive industry. However, that same day the Wall Street Journal reported that “Foxconn plans to work with partners” to convert the plant into a site for manufacturing cloud computing hardware for artificial-intelligence applications.
Dr. Copper takes a dive. Copper prices this week fell 25 percent in the wake of last week’s announcement of immediate 50 percent tariffs on some - not all – imports of copper into the US. Covered by the latest tariffs are semi-finished products, like pipes and wires; refined forms of copper, the most commonly imported forms of the metal - such as cathodes, ores, and concentrates - were exempted. As we reported last month, in the past few months massive volumes of copper were being shipped to the US over tariff concerns. By market close on July 8, copper futures stood at $5.69 per pound, which, the Wall Street Journal noted, was copper’s "largest single-day price surge in records going back to 1968.” For comparison, on March 28, copper futures had soared to $5.13 per pound, itself a 30 percent increase over 2024 prices. Last week saw huge selloffs, with copper plunging to a weekly low of $4.3325; on July 31 alone, copper’s price plunged 20 percent. Concerns are now being raised that the US may have an oversupply of copper and that excess inventory could be re-exported, with the potential to exert further downward pressures on global prices. COMEX stockpiles, Business Insider reports, are at a 21-year high.
18th package of EU sanctions against Russia. The EU has adopted its 18th package of sanctions against Russia. According to the European Commission, the measures aim to “cut Russia’s energy revenues, hit its banking sector, further weaken its military-industrial complex, strengthen anti-circumvention measures, and hold Russia accountable for its crimes against Ukrainian children and cultural heritage.” See our coverage here.
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