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The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is moving forward with plans to issue a permanent rule aimed at requiring employees of large employers to either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or face weekly testing. OSHA announced on January 25 it is withdrawing the emergency temporary standard (ETS) it issued on November 5 and that […]
The U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of a major part of the Biden administration’s plan to boost the vaccination of workers against COVID-19 means many large employers can stand down on their plans to comply with a rule requiring the shots or testing, but they are free to institute their own mandates as long as such […]
On January 7, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments concerning the COVID-19 vaccine-or-test emergency temporary standard (ETS) issued in November by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Petitioners, which include business groups and several states, want a federal injunction to block OSHA from implementing and enforcing the emergency rule. OSHA earlier announced plans […]
Maine can move ahead and enforce a COVID-19 vaccine mandate against designated healthcare employees after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant an injunction to a group of affected workers last Friday, when the statute was supposed to take effect. The employees had challenged the law because it doesn’t allow a religious exemption. 4 Takeaways […]
By a narrow margin, on June 29, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled states cannot use sovereign immunity as a defense to prevent federally approved pipeline projects from being built on state-owned land.
Environmental activists mourn the loss of U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on September 18, 2020, due to complications of metastatic pancreas cancer at the age of 87.
By a tally of 6 to 3, the U.S. Supreme Court found that under certain circumstances, a discharge of pollution from a point source that travels in groundwater before entering a navigable water subjects the discharger to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
Opposing opinions by three U.S. appeals courts (two issued by the same circuit on the same day) have led to a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to address the core Clean Water Act (CWA) question—Is a point source discharging pollutants to navigable water via a groundwater pathway the functional equivalent of a direct discharge […]
In his 12 years as a justice on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Brett Kavanaugh has been a prolific author, writing nearly 300 opinions, including a handful addressing the legality of major EPA regulations. These writings have generally indicated Kavanaugh’s skepticism about EPA actions that do not strictly adhere to the […]
Brett Kavanaugh has been announced as President Donald Trump’s choice to replace Anthony Kennedy on the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court. Here’s a brief summary of the judicial nominee’s decisions, rulings, and court opinions on various EHS-related cases in recent years on the D.C. Circuit.