David Gabor is a shareholder at Weintraub Tobin. He is a trial lawyer and represents production companies, infomercial companies, direct response companies and multi-level marketing organizations asto both operational and compliance matters. In particular, David is focused on advertising and compliance issues, including FTC counseling and litigation, class actions, and multi-agency governmental compliance involving the marketing… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Environmental and Land Use
Subscribe to Environmental and Land Use RSS FeedProposition 65 – Twenty-Seven Years Later And Still No Observable Effect
Posted in Agriculture Law, Food Safety, Prop 65, Water Law, Water QualityProfessor Michael L. Marlow of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo recently published a preview of his paper on cancer rates and Proposition 65 entitled, “Too Much (Questionable) Information?” See Wall Street Journal, page A13, January 21, 2014. Proposition 65 is the popular name for the California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986,… Continue Reading
EPA Publishes Final Environmental Site Assessment Rule Accepting ASTM E1527-13 as Superceding Existing ASTM E1527-05
Posted in Environmental and Land Use, Hazardous Waste, Real Estate Acquisitions and Dispositions, Real Estate DevelopmentAs we discussed in our prior blog the new ASTM standard E1527-13 had been promulgated and that industry was critical of EPA for accepting both standards, despite the fact that E1527-13 was expressly drafted to resolve continuing issues with E1527-05. On December 30, 2013, however, EPA published a final rule finding that ASTM E1527-13, released on… Continue Reading
FDA Announces that it will Revise Produce Safety and Preventive Controls for Human Food in Response to Farmers’ Significant Comments
Posted in Agricultural Law, Agriculture Law, Food Safety, Food Safety Modernization Act, Water QualityThe comment period on the proposed FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) rules on produce safety and preventive controls for human food, originally published in January 2013, was recently closed after being extended several times due to the volume of comments that they received. The rules consist of new far reaching controls imposed on producers including farmers… Continue Reading
New ASTM Standards for Due Diligence and Why You Should be Aware of Them
Posted in Due Diligence, Environmental and Land Use, Hazardous Waste, Real Estate Acquisitions and Dispositions, Real Estate Development, Real Estate Litigation, Secured Lending and FinanceWHY YOU NEED TO ENGAGE IN DUE DILIGENCE PRE-ACQUISITION Prior to purchasing or leasing property, it is necessary in most instances to engage in at least a screening environmental review. The purpose of a pre-transaction investigation is two-fold: first, to determine whether there are issues that must be dealt with in the relevant agreement (or… Continue Reading
Preliminary Endangerment Assessment (PEA) Guidance Manual Released in Draft by DTSC
Posted in Due Diligence, Environmental and Land Use, Real Estate DevelopmentThe Department of Toxic Substances Control has released a revised version of its Preliminary Endangerment Assessment (PEA) Guidance Manual. The manual is used to perform an initial evaluation of contaminated property. This is the most recent version since 1999. This version was intended to include information required by the All Appropriate Inquiry (“AAI”) standard included… Continue Reading
What You Need to Know About the California Green Chemistry Regulations Which Are Now In Effect
Posted in Environmental and Land Use, Green Chemistry, Prop 65, UncategorizedAs of October 1, 2013, the California Green Chemistry Law and its regulations are officially part of the landscape . The California legislature passed the Green Chemistry Law in 2008, which authorizes and requires the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (the “DTSC”) to adopt regulations to establish a process to identify and prioritize chemicals… Continue Reading
Weintraub Tobin to Help Sponsor Western Dairy Air Quality Symposium
Posted in Agricultural Law, Air Quality, DairiesWestern States Dairy Producers Trade Association is sponsoring the 2013 Western Dairy Air Quality Symposium in Boise on April 16-17. The purpose of this symposium is to have a round- table exchange on the status of air quality research, demonstration projects, and pending regulations in the west, and to plan for coordination of research efforts… Continue Reading
Environmental Screening Levels Bay Area 2013
Posted in Environmental and Land UseThe California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Region, has recently updated the May 2008 version of the Environmental Screening Levels (ESLs). ESLs are NOT intended to serve as cleanup goals but are conservative concentrations for chemicals commonly found in soil, soil gas, and groundwater, below which it can be assumed to not pose… Continue Reading
California Cap and Trade Auction Results Released
Posted in Air QualityCalifornia Air Resources Control Board released the Cap and Trade auction results. They can be found here:http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/capandtrade/auction/november_2012/auction1_results_2012q4nov.pdf. All of the 2013 allowances were purchased at a low price and only a small fraction of the 2015 allowances were purchased. One would presume that many companies were not willing to bet that the Cap and Trade… Continue Reading
California Greenhouse Gas Auction is challenged by California Chamber of Commerce One Day Before the Auction
Posted in Air Quality, Environmental and Land UseThe California Chamber of Commerce on November 13 filed a suit in Sacramento Superior Court in order to challenge the auction of Green House Gas (“GHG”) allowances that were scheduled for auction on November 14. This is the key section of the AB 32 cap and trade program that allocates allowances and then reduces those… Continue Reading
Garland Court Holds that Discharge into ditch/swale that Drain to Waters of the United States Sufficient to Trigger Clean Water Violation
Posted in Environmental and Land Use, Water Law, Water QualityGarland v. Central Valley Regional Water Control Board, (3rd Dist. 12 C.D.O.S. 12051 filed Oct. 24, 2012) involves the question of whether the discharge of storm water with sediment from a residential construction site constitutes a violation under the federal Clean Water Act. The main issue was whether the adjacent ephemeral drainages encompassing swales, ditches, and culverts… Continue Reading
Food Facility Registration Requirements Food Safety Modernization Act Will Be Ready on Monday 10/22
Posted in Agriculture Law, Food Safety, Water QualityThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today issued further information and guidance regarding registration requirements for domestic and foreign manufacturers, processors, packers or holders of food for human or animal consumption based on changes made by the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). The… Continue Reading
Green Chemistry Regulations
Posted in Environmental and Land UseThe California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) in July 2012 released the eighth draft of California’s Safer Chemical Products Regulation in the last four years. The agency has targeted the end of the year as its goal for actual finalization. The last version of the regulations created a large industry backlash and the new… Continue Reading
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