At long last, the Securities and Exchange Commission has finalized its rules regarding disclosures for climate-related risk for public companies. The SEC significantly softened the rules since the last proposal, including phasing in requirements based on company size, dropping Scope 3 emissions disclosure requirements, and only requiring disclosure of “material” information. Please read a detailed … Continue reading
The “chasing arrows” symbol has been ubiquitous since its introduction in the late 1980’s. Consumers interpret packaging bearing the symbol as recyclable, but according to CalRecycle, the state agency with authority over recycling and waste management, whether a material is accepted for recycling and actually recycled is often dependent on geographic location. In other words, … Continue reading
The California Legislature was especially busy this past year in the consumer markets space, enacting several key pieces of legislation aimed at addressing concerns over the environment and consumer protection. These include: Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253) Climate-related risk disclosures (SB 261) Disclosures regarding voluntary carbon offsets, net zero and carbon neutrality claims … Continue reading
California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s (OEHHA) is once again attempting to change the Proposition 65 safe harbor warning regulations. OEHHA has twice before attempted to make changes to the short-form warnings. Each time, industry has pushed back, and both attempts to change the regulations were ultimately unsuccessful. On October 27, OEHHA announced a … Continue reading
The recent California legislative session saw the enactment of three pieces of climate legislation that are expected to have a significant impact on companies doing business in California, whether public or private. Senate Bill 253: The Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act SB 253 represents the first concrete climate emissions disclosure requirement in the US. The … Continue reading
On October 17, 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued an enforcement advisory letter to manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of food packaging and cookware regarding enforcement of California’s PFAS restrictions for these product categories. The advisory letter details the requirements and restrictions under AB 1200, many of which went into effect in January 2023, with … Continue reading
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed AB 1817 into law, adding to the growing list of state legislation restricting the use of PFAS substances in a variety of consumer products. As of January 1, 2025, AB 1817 prohibits the manufacture, distribution, sale, or offer for sale in the state of “any new, not previously used, … Continue reading
While we will have more to say shortly on the strategy itself, we wanted to make sure you all saw that the U.S. Government has released its enforcement strategy for the UFLPA, as well as its initial “entity” list. Check back soon for some insights from us on the guidance. Strategy: UFLPA Strategy | Homeland … Continue reading
The US continues to trail much of the world in the business human rights space, as there currently are no broad-based federal modern slavery laws similar to the UK or Australia modern slavery acts, nor any proposed federal legislation addressing modern slavery. Similarly, very little has happened at the state level. Historically, the only piece … Continue reading
There has been yet another update in the series of the latest Proposition 65 proposed rulemaking regarding short-form warnings. On January 8, 2021, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s (OEHHA) announced that it would amend the regulation relating to short-form Proposition 65 warning. After two sets of revisions to the proposed regulation, OEHHA … Continue reading
In a fitting continuation of the battle for light bulbs, the US Department of Energy recently finalized rules prohibiting the sale of most general use lamps with an efficiency rating of less than 45 lumens per watt (lpw)(for anyone new to the area, “lamp” in this context means what you typically think of as a “light … Continue reading
In the latest twist in California’s never-ending saga to amend the Proposition 65 “short-form” warning regulation, there’s now been a second proposed change. The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has been for some time attempting to limit the use of short form warnings, although encountering significant push back and concerns from the … Continue reading
Eleven months after issuing its original proposal to significantly restrict the use of so-called “short-form” Prop 65 safe harbor warnings, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) published a revised proposed regulation on December 13, 2021. The original proposal, which we summarized here, would have required businesses to make significant revisions to their … Continue reading
Check out this recent post on our NT Analyzer blog from my colleagues, Steve Roosa and Dan Rosenzweig, regarding data privacy impacts on the consumer markets/retail space. Steve and Dan will be featured tomorrow, June 3, at the International Association of Privacy Professionals Global Privacy Summit to discuss best practices in managing digital privacy risk, … Continue reading
Earlier this month, we saw an eye-opening Ninth Circuit opinion regarding products liability theories applied to social media apps. In short, the Ninth Circuit held section 230 of the Communications Decency Act does not shield the owner of a social media app from liability for third party content when the dispute involves the design of … Continue reading
In the first few months of the Biden Administration, the Food and Drug Administration has continued to actively pursue companies marketing and selling CBD products in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (the “FD&C Act”), picking up where the Trump administration left off. FDA’s recent efforts target products marketed as unapproved drugs … Continue reading
In the dawn of the new administration, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) withdrew its “Cannabidiol Enforcement Policy,” a document that stakeholders had hoped would deliver long-overdue guidance on cannabidiol (CBD) regulations. The White House had completed its review of the document back in July, although no subsequent action followed, and the contents were … Continue reading
On December 21, 2020, Congress passed The Safer Occupancy Furniture Flammability Act (SOFFA), which was presented alongside other legislation in a $1.4 trillion COVID relief omnibus bill. SOFFA requires the adoption of California’s TB 117-2013 as a federal flammability standard for residential upholstered furniture. TB 117-2013 outlines performance standards and methods for testing the smolder … Continue reading
On January 8, 2021, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking significantly limiting the use of the short-form warning as a safe harbor. The proposed regulation makes the following changes: Limiting the use of the short-form warning to products with 5 square inches or less of label … Continue reading
As more and more consumer markets brands turn to influencers and social media stars to promote their products, novel legal issues are bound to arise! Sue Ross and Eva Yang provide their analysis on a case recently litigated in the Southern District of New York that includes claims under California’s Talent Agency Act and the … Continue reading
In a sign of the dramatically uncertain nature of next steps, more states have issued orders to partially reopen their economies, while others have extended closure orders that were set to expire at the end of the month. Reopening Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vermont all have taken the … Continue reading
State coalitions forming In an effort to plan for reopening their economies, several states have announced regional collaboration efforts. This includes New York and six other Northeastern states, and California, Oregon, and Washington in the west. Earlier this week, California Governor Gavin Newsom outlined a framework to reopen the western economies, predicated on six key indicators:… Continue reading
We are continuing to track state and local restrictions, updated daily, here. In a sign of things that may be coming nationally, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has issued an “emergency order” requiring employees of “Essential Businesses” to wear face coverings. The order also requires customers visiting such businesses to wear face coverings, at the … Continue reading
What seemed like a novel and crazy idea a little over a week ago has now become the majority approach to “flattening the curve” in the United States. And those states that have not yet adopted “stay at home” or “shelter in place” orders generally have comparable restrictions at the county, city, or municipal levels. … Continue reading