Companies around the country are continuing to assess the operating status of their businesses as the COVID-19 crisis evolves and changes on a daily basis. Amidst the flurry of state Shelter-in-Place (“SIP”) orders over the past week, industrial enterprises across a wide range of sectors – chemicals, energy, mining, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and steel – along with manufacturers providing equipment and supplies to these industries, have been positioning themselves as ”essential businesses” required to keep their…
Earlier this week, we provided guidance on the development of an “Environmental Action Plan” to address potential environmental regulatory and compliance challenges arising from the COVID-19 crisis. Our recommendations included – in the context of limited or unavailable EHS staff or resources and in response to plant shutdown orders – (i) a prioritized assessment of potential risks to human health and the environment and compliance concerns with permits or cleanup order obligations, (ii) effective communication…
Operational Disruptions The ever-evolving COVID-19 crisis continues to pose significant challenges for industrial enterprises across the United States. Until very recently, the engines of industry continued to hum while the broader world wrestled with this unprecedented public health crisis. However, with growing constituencies across the public and private sector calling for more aggressive action on social distancing and with states now beginning to issue strict shelter-in-place orders, more and more manufacturing facilities are closing their…
Baker McKenzie’s annual International Environmental Conference will take place in Chicago on June 22 and 23, bringing together Global Environmental Group attorneys from around the world and leading industry experts to discuss current environmental law and policy issues impacting global business operations. We are pleased to have Scott Fulton, President of the Environmental Law Institute, join us as our keynote speaker along with a number of distinguished industry experts, including Chris Walker, North American Director…
We are pleased to announce that Who’s Who Legal has recognized our Global Environmental Practice Group in its 2016 edition of Who’s Who Legal: Environment. The publication is an international guide sponsored by the ABA Section of International Law and published by Law Business Research on the environmental legal market. The notable achievements of David Hackett, John Watson, Richard Saines, Chicago; Martijn Wilder, Paul Curnow, Sydney; Arnaud Cabanes and Marie-Laetitia De La Ville-Baugé, Paris; were highlighted.…
Much of the fireworks and rancor around U.S. Presidential campaign politics in this 2016 election year has been directed at the issue of international trade. At the center of this debate is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (“TPP”) signed on February 4, 2016 by the United States and eleven of its trading partners in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Australia. The TPP is the most extensive multilateral free trade initiative ever pursued and, if ratified by participating countries,…
On December 9, 2015, we were given a chance to more clearly understand the legal arguments being mounted by industry groups and environmentalists against EPA related to the definition of solid waste (“DSW”) rule that was promulgated nearly a year ago under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”). In their opening briefs filed in the consolidated lawsuit American Petroleum Institute v. EPA, both sets of parties are calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for…