On Monday, January 13, 2025, California withdrew requests for Clean Air Act waivers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needed to support four recently adopted vehicle emissions regulations: 1) the Advanced...more
The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and Viskase Companies, Inc. (“VCI”) entered into a May 6th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing an alleged violation of...more
On July 21, 2023, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a long-awaited final rule that will make it difficult for sources to continue to rely on an “emergency” to avoid liability for permit violations under...more
The Tel Aviv District Court recently allowed a motion to certify a class action against the Volkswagen Group and its importer in Israel, Champion Motors Ltd. The class action focuses on the Dieselgate scandal, after an...more
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (“TDEC”) and Magpro, LLC (“Magpro”) entered into a September 23rd Settlement Agreement and Order (“Settlement”) addressing an alleged violation of an air permit. See...more
The Tennessee Air Pollution Control Board (“Board”) issued a June 14th proposed Technical Secretary’s Order and Assessment of Civil Penalty (“Order”) to Cooper’s Steel Fabricators, Inc. (“Cooper’s”) addressing an alleged...more
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management (“ADEM”) and Circle K Scrap Metal, LLC (“Circle K”) entered into an April 12th Consent Order (“CO”) addressing an alleged violation of the Alabama air regulations. See...more
The updates attempt to provide more clarity for modern vehicles and parts - On November 23, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) updated its policy for enforcement of vehicle and engine tampering and...more
The Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Resources Board announced a joint settlement totaling roughly $1.5 billion with Daimler AG and its US subsidiary Mercedes Benz to resolve...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and Boro Sand and Stone, Corp. (“Boro”) entered into a January 30th Consent Agreement and Final Order (“CA”) addressing alleged violations of a Clean Air Act air...more
Last week, the EPA announced two significant settlements for violations of the Clean Air Act relating to emissions of volatile organic compounds (“VOCs”) from upstream oil and gas production facilities. These enforcement...more
In 2015, when confronted with a United States Environmental Protection Agency Notice of Violation of the Clean Air Act, Volkswagen admitted to installing defeat devices in the diesel engine software of approximately 500,000...more
Focus - EPA will not approve labels that say Roundup chemical causes cancer - U.S. News & World Report – August 8 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced this Thursday that it will not approve...more
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management (“ADEM”) and American Midstream Chatom, LLC (“AMC”) entered into a January 11th Consent Order (“CO”) addressing alleged violations of an air permit. See Consent Order No.:...more
The Tennessee Air Pollution Control Board (“TAPCB”) issued a September 11th Technical Secretary’s Order and Assessment of Civil Penalty (“Order”) to Yamaha Jet Boat Manufacturing U.S.A., Inc. (“Yamaha”) for an alleged...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and Alliance Castings Company, LLC (“Alliance”) entered into an August 23rd Consent Agreement and Final Order (“CAFO”) addressing alleged violations of a Clean Air Act...more
OMB official Kathleen Kraninger is likely to face serious questions as she takes to the Hill today to begin confirmation hearings for her surprise nomination to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Why? Her lack of...more
We all know the saying – A fish rots from the head. Sometimes a clear and simple statement says it all. The Volkswagen diesel emissions cheating scandal is yet another example of C-Suite, even CEO, misconduct....more
A U.S. federal district court, on February 20, 2018, declined to dismiss class plaintiffs’ civil RICO claim against GM and a major automotive supplier, where plaintiffs alleged that GM and the supplier conspired to defraud...more
In naming Gregory Abel and Ajit Jain vice chairs, Berkshire Hathaway took another big step this week in laying out LAWB (Life After Warren Buffet)....more
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management (“ADEM”) and Vardaman Enterprises, Inc., d/b/a Jerry’s Cleaners (“VEI”) entered into a September 14th Consent Order (“CO”) addressing alleged National Emission Standard for...more
A Volkswagen manager pleaded guilty to conspiracy and violating the Clean Air Act and could get seven years in prison. A Volkswagen engineer who agreed to testify against the Volkswagen manager was sentenced to three years in...more
Ex-VW-Chairman Ferdinand Piech has thrown a wrench in the automaker’s official narrative of the emissions cheating scandal by suggesting, in sworn testimony, that the company knew of the cheating months before it was...more
As is our annual tradition, this is the first in a series of posts that provide industry and legal outlooks for manufacturers as we head into 2017. I will start with corporate compliance and litigation. Matt will follow...more
The emissions cheating scandal that recently cost VW $4.3 billion and a mess of criminal indictments isn’t, it seems, confined to the Germans. We heard months ago about a similar probe into Mitsubishi, and yesterday we...more