Industrials Regulatory News and Trends - September 6, 2024

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.

Court says EPA must make more disclosures under TSCA. The US District Court for the District of Columbia has ruled that the EPA must disclose more information than it currently does about chemicals pending review under the Toxic Substances Control Act. In the ruling, the court sided with a coalition of environmental groups, including the Center for Environmental Health, Defend Our Health, Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), finding that the TSCA “creates a freestanding right to information independent from the risk-determination process.” That law, she wrote, vests “an enduring right to information that lasts before, during, and after any risk determination” in the same way as would the Freedom of Information Act or the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

Louisiana court permanently blocks EPA from enforcing tougher pollution rules in poor and minority communities. On August 22, the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana issued a permanent injunction against the US Department of Justice and the EPA blocking them from using the “disparate impact” requirements in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act – which hold that a regulation may disproportionately harm one group of people more than others – to determine how Louisiana regulates industrial facilities. Find out more in the latest issue of our bulletin Horizon.

EPA extends waiver for sale of blended fuel. On August 30, EPA issued its sixth extension of its waiver for E15 gasoline, a blended fuel that is 85 percent petroleum and 15 percent ethanol – a lower petroleum content than otherwise required by law (90 percent petroleum). The waiver will allow retailers to sell the blend across the US through mid-September. EPA cited factors including global production cuts and ongoing global conflicts as causing low domestic petroleum inventories and supporting a further extension of the E15 waiver.

Canadian rail lockout: government compels arbitration, union files appeals. On August 29, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents 10,000 rail workers in Canada, filed four separate appeals in the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal challenging the federal government’s recent actions seeking to end a bitter nationwide railway contract dispute. The dispute has significant implications for cross-border trade and the supply chain. On August 22, negotiations broke down between Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and their employees who are members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC). CN and CPKC announced they would lock out their employees, bringing their trains to a halt nationwide. That same day, Federal Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon invoked Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, ordering the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to impose binding arbitration and ordering the railroads and the union members to return to work. He also directed CIRB to extend the terms of the current collective agreements until a binding decision is made. CIRB then ordered the TCRC members to return to work until binding arbitration could produce new contracts. In its appeals, TCRC alleges that the Labour Minister’s directives went beyond the powers of his jurisdiction and that the directives and CIRB’s decision breached the TCRC’s freedom of association enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A work stoppage would impact both the Canadian and US economies: about 75 percent of Canadian exports (such as grain and other agricultural products, ferrous scrap, coal, autos and auto parts, and chlorine and other chemicals used to treat drinking water) are sold to the US. A work stoppage of more than three or four days, sources note, could bring US auto production to a halt. At this writing, the parties remain divided on key terms of a new union employee contract.

Appeals court says GM must face class action on allegedly faulty transmissions. On August 28, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a trial court’s class certification in a large class action brought against General Motors. The lawsuit alleges GM violated state consumer protection laws by selling several hundred thousand cars, trucks, and SUVs that the manufacturer knew had faulty transmissions. The class action, which was initially filed in 2018, covers approximately 800,000 2015 – 2019 model year Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC vehicles equipped with certain eight-speed automatic transmissions. Drivers of some of these vehicles had claimed their vehicles “shudder and shake in higher gears,” and hesitate and lurch in lower gears, even after repair attempts. The claimants also accuse GM of telling dealers to provide assurance that harsh shifts were “normal.” GM is also facing two other class action suits related to similar alleged transmission issues, in Michigan and in Canada.

US shifts position on global plastics treaty. The US has pivoted in its stance on the global management of plastic production and pollution, with significant potential impacts for industry. The change comes amid ongoing negotiations toward a legally binding UN treaty aiming to address the growing issue of plastic pollution – our alert looks at this critical shift.

California moves to ban plastic grocery bags. California’s legislature has passed a law that will effectively ban all plastic grocery bags offered at point of sale. The bill, which awaits Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature, would completely prohibit grocers from offering shoppers any types of bags that aren't made of recycled paper. The goal of the bill is to cut down plastic bag waste going to landfills and drive consumers to bring their own reusable bags. Ten years ago, California tried to ban the use of plastic grocery bags but left a loophole that allowed grocers to offer customers thick, heavy plastic bags that could theoretically be reused after purchase. A 2024 report from consumer advocacy group CALPIRG showed that Californians threw out 157,385 tons of plastic bag waste in 2014; by 2021, they were discarding 231,072 tons of plastic bags, a 47 percent jump.